I Became a Law School Genius

Chapter 41

『 Translator – Divinity 』

Small gasps could be heard from all around.

“Ah.”

“No.”

“What is this…”

It wasn’t surprising at all that they were reacting as if they had been slapped.

The exam questions we were facing were a million miles away from the current style.

[Question 1. Read the following facts and discuss, to the best of your ability, the legal relationship between A, B, C, D, and E (However, it is not necessary to cover the Law of Obligations, and it is assumed that all facts claimed by each party have been legally proven in court).]

‘Discuss to the best of your ability’, what a vague instruction that seemed like something out of a Joseon Dynasty civil service exam. It made me sigh involuntarily.

But…

[A borrowed 300 million won from B on March 28, 2002, and to secure this, he established a mortgage on his X land on March 29, 2002. However, A had been building Y building on X land since March 3, 2002… (omitted)…
Then, on September 14, 2002, A sold X land to C, who was unaware of these circumstances, and C occupied and used X land without registering it, and then sold X land to E on March 4, 2016… (omitted)…]

‘These facts are familiar.’

This question was practically copied from Professor Jeon Gyu-wan’s bar exam research material.

Of course, specific details like dates and types of registration were slightly modified.

But even with those changes, the issues being asked and the logical structure to be extracted were almost identical, only the conclusion would be slightly different.

Even if it weren’t for that, this exam format was very advantageous for me.

In a typical question, for example, “Is A’s argument that this contract is an abuse of agency valid?”, almost everyone knows what to write.

It’s just the detailed points, the richness of the precedents and legal principles used as grounds, and the correctness of the conclusion that determine the score.

On the other hand, in this kind of question, even figuring out what’s being asked is a challenge.

Even students who have studied well can construct a plausible framework, but they inevitably miss some of the essential issues.

‘That’s where I get my points.’

Not missing any issues was my specialty.

Even if my discussion of individual issues was somewhat lacking, I would find and write down every single issue on the answer sheet without missing any.

Since points are awarded based on the issues, this method makes it easier to get a high score.

‘Let’s see…’

I skimmed through the question, underlined a few parts, and then nodded.

‘Let’s see… tacit consent of the mortgagee to bear the legal easement, independence and inducement of property rights, scope of return for a bona fide possessor when exercising the right to claim the return of property, progress of the statute of limitations for the right to claim registration, claim for transfer registration for recovery of true ownership… is that about it?’

I listed the extracted issues in a corner of the exam paper and evaluated their importance.

In this type of question, while there were a lot of issues to cover, the space on the answer sheet and the exam time were limited, so deciding where and how much to write was also a skill.

‘Legal easement? It’s a minor issue in this problem. Skip the general discussion and just write one line about the precedent. Considering the scope of this exam and Jeon Gyu-wan’s usual teaching style, I should write about the right to claim registration in more detail.’

The rough framework of the answer was drawn in my mind.

Then there was no time to waste.

I immediately picked up my pen and started writing the answer smoothly.

My classmate sitting next to me, who was clutching his head, looked at me in a daze.

“Please don’t turn your head to the side. It could be considered cheating.”

With the invigilator’s sharp warning, he returned to clutching his head.

Using his sighs as background music, I continued to move my pen.

“Hey, how was the exam?”

Han Seol, her face pale as soon as the exam ended, rushed towards me.

“Hmm, so-so.”

“So-so…? That? It was completely a bar exam question!”

‘That’s why I said so-so.’

Actually, I was confident that I had written a perfect answer, but there was nothing more uncool than being arrogant when the results weren’t even out yet.

I was trying to be humble, but Han Seol shook her head in disbelief.

“Sometimes I wonder,”

“What do you mean?”

“If the real Park Yoo-seung is actually dead, and what I’m seeing is someone else possessed by the ghost of a repeat bar exam taker.”

‘Gulp.’

She probably wasn’t serious, but it was a comment that made me sweat a little.

“Don’t be dramatic. You must have done well.”

“No, I missed two issues.”

“Well done, then.”

It was too much to ask first-year students who were just starting to adapt to law to find all the issues in this kind of question.

Realistically, the best they could do was to clearly write down the parts they could, even if they missed some points.

No one could match Han Seol in that certainty.

She probably submitted an answer that was like a copy of the textbook for the parts she wrote.

That would be more than enough to get a good score.

Since most students would have missed more issues than Han Seol and written less detailed answers,

“It’s okay to be anxious because it’s the first time you couldn’t write everything on an exam. But that’s how law exams are. Usually, the top score in a 100-point essay exam is around 60 or 70.”

“Is that so…?”

“Well, I found and wrote about all the issues without missing any.”

“Hey!”

Despite saying this, the difference between my score and Han Seol’s probably wouldn’t be that big.

Although I had written down all the issues worth points, I omitted a lot of detailed explanations to manage the space, and Han Seol would have included every detail that could earn extra credit.

I left Han Seol, who was pouting, and went out for a short break.

In a few hours, I had the Civil Law I exam, and tomorrow was the Criminal Law I exam.

The day after that was Constitutional Law, and then International Transaction Law, my elective subject.

Since I had to go through a tightly packed schedule for four days, I had to rest whenever I could.

‘The exams have only just begun.’

Fortunately, the Civil Law III exam was structured in a way that was advantageous for me.

But there was no guarantee that the other subjects would be the same.

Unless someone had given an order to unify the midterm exams in the style of the bar exam, there was no way that would happen.

Therefore, I didn’t let my guard down until the last subject was over.

But then…

[Question 1. Examine the criminal liability of A, B, and C respectively (However, it is not necessary to consider special criminal laws, but they can be a subject for extra credit as part of a more comprehensive review).]

“Huh?”

Criminal Law I.

[Question 1. Examine all the defenses that A can raise.]

“Uh?”

Civil Law I.

[Criticize the following Constitutional Court precedent.]

Constitutional Law I.

“What the…?”

Why were all the exams filled with questions I already knew?

***

The four days of exams passed in the blink of an eye.

Of course, the hardships of that process couldn’t be expressed in such a short sentence.

I struggled to see and hear even one more thing, sleeping only an hour or two each day, and my hand muscles were cramping from writing pages and pages of answers.

‘I heard that real law schools take exams on computers now…’

But this story was set a bit before that time.

There was no choice but to write all the answers by hand.

In the end, when the exams were over, both my body and mind were exhausted.

Still, what was done was done.

Although it was tough, it felt like it passed even faster because I had concentrated and worked hard.

“Good work, everyone.”

After finishing the last elective subject exam, I exchanged greetings with the study group members who had gathered at the student cafeteria.

“We don’t have to have a celebratory gathering… right?”

When I asked to confirm, Lee Ha-ru answered in a dying voice,

“Can’t go. Going to collapse and sleep.”

“I’m also going home to rest.”

“I don’t even have the strength to lift a finger…”

“It wasn’t this hard even when I was writing articles all night, haha.”

A celebratory dinner after the exams was a luxury. Everyone was worn out after the forced march, and more than anything, they desperately needed to recharge.

Thanks to that, I was also able to return home alone after parting with them and enjoy a long-awaited rest.

I slept in, and spent the whole day sprawled on my bed, being lazy.

If you don’t properly rest at times like these, your mind and body will break down at a crucial moment.

‘The so-called burnout.’

I was someone who had decorated the end of my previous life with death from overwork.

I knew the importance of proper rest more deeply than anyone else.

Therefore, at least for the weekend after the exams, I intended to literally do nothing and just relax.

‘…But, I’m starting to get restless.’

However, after resting like that for Friday, when Saturday arrived, my soul, unfamiliar with a life of doing nothing, started to complain of boredom.

I was truly a terrible workaholic, or rather, a studyholic.

Even though I had decided to rest, I found myself sitting at my desk before I knew it.

“Ah, I want to study.”

It was a monologue that would make anyone who heard it call me crazy.

But what could I do, I was born this way.

Thinking of looking at some multiple-choice questions as a warm-up, I opened a thin question book.

“Huh?”

But the letters wouldn’t enter my eyes.

“I can’t read this…?”

It seemed like the mental exhaustion was greater than I thought.

The long and complex legal texts wouldn’t digest and just bounced off my brain.

It seemed like I needed to rest a bit more to recover.

But I couldn’t just lie around doing nothing.

Whether it was during my bar exam preparation days, my days working to pay off debt, or even after being possessed,

The diligence ingrained in me as a habit was rejecting laziness.

“Should I go to the library?”

I was thinking of going to the undergraduate central library, not the law school library, and killing time by reading some light novels.

Reading mystery novels had been a hobby of mine since my past life.

Borrowing books from the public library was one of the few leisure activities I could enjoy without spending money.

The central library I headed to was quite crowded.

Since the law school exam period was a week or two earlier than the undergraduate school’s, it seemed like the undergraduate students were just starting to prepare for their exams.

I borrowed a suitable book, but the reading room was already full.

I had no choice but to go to the book cafe attached to the library and find a seat.

Most of the tables here were also occupied by students studying or working on group projects.

But reading while drinking coffee with the soft chatter as background noise had its own charm.

“Ah, what should I do? I can’t understand this at all…”

“There’s a limit to searching online. I can’t even understand the lecture materials themselves.”

“Who suggested taking Property Transactions Law? Does this even help with getting into law school?”

The conversation from the next table suddenly caught my attention.

“What kind of crazy professor gives a group assignment a week before the exam?”

“I know, right? He just talks about whatever he wants in class and leaves, and we don’t understand anything. How are we supposed to do this assignment?”

“Is there anyone who can teach us? The senior who got an A+ last year cut off contact while retaking the law school entrance exam…”

A group of four, presumably undergraduate students, two girls and two boys, were huddled together, agonizing over something.

Property Transactions Law was a lecture that combined parts of the General Provisions of Civil Law and the Law of Obligations at the undergraduate level.

Since the establishment of law schools, all undergraduate law departments in universities that received accreditation were abolished.

However, law lectures as liberal arts courses hadn’t completely disappeared.

I had heard that with the recent intensification of entrance exam competition, there were students who took such undergraduate law lectures and submitted the credits as credentials.

‘Back in my day, even law students didn’t pay attention in class.’

Most students who dreamed of passing the bar exam would openly study and memorize textbooks from private academies even during lectures.

Considering that one of the aims of introducing law schools was to ‘normalize university education’, this might be a positive change.

Anyway, these students seemed to be struggling with the difficult assignment for their law class.

Especially with the Law of Obligations, it would be difficult to grasp the concepts without someone to properly explain them.

Just as I was picking up my coffee cup, cheering for these unknown juniors in my heart,

“Wait a minute.”

A female student with short hair in the group suddenly looked at me.

“Isn’t that our school’s law school hoodie?”

‘Huh?’

“I-it is.”

“With the scales of justice emblem and ‘HNU’, it must be.”

“Wow, crazy. I’m so envious… I wish I could go to our school’s law school.”

When the well-built male student muttered that, the short-haired girl who first started the conversation chided him.

“Oh, you idiot. Is this the time to be drooling with envy?”

Then she abruptly stood up and approached me.

“Hello, sunbae-nim!”

It was a bright and cheerful voice, completely different from when she was scolding her friend a while ago.

“We’re having a bit of trouble with our studies, would you mind helping us for a moment?”