I Became a Law School Genius

Chapter 43

『 Translator – Divinity 』

[Bar Exam Channel]
[A space to discuss the bar exam and law school life.]

The ‘Bar Exam Channel’ was a small forum on an internet community known for covering all sorts of topics.

You might wonder if real law school students would use such a public forum, but it was a space frequented by quite a few of them.

‘There’s nowhere else to talk about law school or share information.’

Of course, each university had its own community, and within that, there were forums for discussing law school matters.

But in reality, where many students went to law schools different from their undergraduate universities, not everyone could use their undergraduate community.

In the end, the Bar Exam Channel was where law school students from all over the country gathered.

[Looking for Civil Law memorization book recommendations for 3rd years.]
(Recommendations: 1, Replies: 6)

[Are the Taejong internship results out yet?]
(Recommendations: 0, Replies: 4)

Like this, they would seek or provide information.

[Can’t you guys air out your cigarette smell before entering the reading room?]
(Recommendations: 12, Replies: 23)

They would also vent about the hardships of law school life.

But the true value of this forum lay elsewhere.

[Title: Guys, why is the answer to this 2016 Civil Law multiple-choice question number 4?]
[Content: Option 4 is ‘Even if the obligor and the third-party obligor mutually rescind the contract after the notification of the exercise of the creditor’s subrogation right, the effect of the rescission cannot be asserted against the creditor’, right?
But isn’t there a precedent that says if the contract is rescinded, it’s not considered disposal, so the effect of prohibition of disposal doesn’t apply?]
(Recommendations: 0, Replies: 0)

A freshly posted question.

The essence of a law school student was being an examinee.

Naturally, the Bar Exam Channel also had a strong characteristic of being an examinee community.

As if to live up to its name, various questions related to the bar exam were posted on the Bar Exam Channel.

Then, mysterious experts would appear from somewhere and leave replies.

[ㅇㅇ(27.615): Are you stupid? That’s for cases of default.]
[Original Poster (38.64): What does that mean?]
[ㅇㅇ(27.615): Seeing as you don’t understand even after I explained it, you’ll probably fail the bar exam lol good luck]
[Original Poster (38.64): No;]

However, since most users were anonymous, the language wasn’t always polite, and fights often broke out.

‘But there’s no need to be anonymous.’

Although most people preferred anonymity because they didn’t want to draw attention or be identified, creating an ID and using a unique nickname wasn’t prohibited.

And for my purpose, I needed to draw attention and be identified. As much as possible.

For that, a flashy name might be better, even if it was a bit childish. After a bit of thinking, I started typing on the keyboard.

[Invincible Master of Law: If the obligor fails to fulfill their obligation to a third-party obligor, causing the third-party obligor to terminate the contract, the non-performance itself is a factual act and does not cause a change in rights. It’s the third-party obligor who exercises the right to terminate the contract. Therefore, the effect of prohibiting disposal under the creditor’s subrogation right, which applies to the ‘obligor’, does not extend to this case.]

[Invincible Master of Law: On the other hand, in the case of mutual termination, it becomes the disposal of the subrogated claim by the obligor’s own will, and thus cannot be asserted against the creditor.]

Since the replies would be read by law school students, not laypeople, I provided answers that captured the legal principles behind the precedents instead of detailed explanations.

Indeed, the original poster, who wasn’t completely clueless about studying, quickly replied.

[Original Poster (38.64): Oh, I understand! The issue was whether the debtor himself disposed of it. Thank you, thank you!]

With that, the original poster’s question was resolved.

But it wasn’t over yet.

Since questions and answers on a public forum could be seen and responded to by anyone.

[ㅇㅇ(117.111): That’s a neat explanation.]
[ㅇㅇ(118.235): That’s the most expert-like answer I’ve seen lately. I acknowledge it.]
[ㅇㅇ(27.615): But what makes him call himself the Master of Law? That’s hilarious.]
[ㅇㅇ(27.615): Did he pass the bar exam or something? Does he even go to Hankuk University Law School?]

Indeed, there were replies that genuinely praised the answer, but there were also those who nitpicked at the nickname.

However, I didn’t react to any of them and continued to answer various questions with the same nickname.

[Invincible Master of Law: Even if the lien holder possesses and uses the apartment for profit, it’s considered an act of preservation…]

[Invincible Master of Law: In the liability for constructed works, the owner is an indirect possessor…]

Using a fixed nickname, especially such a shameless one, on a forum where the vast majority were anonymous, would inevitably draw attention.

Soon, I became a hot topic on the forum.

[Title: Invincible Master of Law <- Who is this guy?]
[Content: Is he an attention seeker? This is the first time I’ve seen someone show off with a nickname on the Bar Exam Channel.]
(Recommendations: 6, Replies: 35)

[Original Poster (27.615): Right lol I hate seeing him]
[ㅇㅇ(118.235): Original poster, it shows that you’re the original poster when you reply to your own post]
[ㅇㅇ(117.111): That’s pathetic. That person’s answers are high quality and helpful, are you jealous or something? He’s the one who’s actually contributing to the channel]

Although there were mixed reactions, it seemed that everyone acknowledged that this ‘Master of Law’ who appeared out of nowhere could provide decent answers to any question.

My recognition had also increased considerably.

Thinking it was about time, I uploaded a post.

[Title: Accepting Civil Law and Criminal Law questions.]
[Content: Any question is fine. Questions from other exams are welcome, as are questions from each school’s midterms, and even original questions from commercially published workbooks. You can also request explanations for precedents or legal principles that you don’t understand. I plan to compile the questions and upload answers once a week, so please show your interest.]
(Recommendations: 12, Replies: 48)

Since it was a time when I was receiving a lot of attention, the response was naturally heated.

‘Alright.’

There was one flaw in my study method.

Single-book learning, where I chose one book for each subject, removed everything unnecessary, and built a framework by repeatedly reviewing only the essential content.

This method had the advantage of allowing me to efficiently prepare for comprehensive exams, but it also had the disadvantage of making me completely ignorant of questions not included in the reduced content.

‘Of course, it’s still much better than trying to read various books, collect all sorts of materials, and then end up lacking in the number of reviews and not being able to develop the skill to write answers…’

Besides ‘Untying the Knots of Civil Law’ and ‘Summary of Criminal Law’, which I had chosen, there were many other good books for studying Civil Law and Criminal Law.

Naturally, they would contain explanations and examples that weren’t in my books but were worth checking out.

But it was absurd to study new books from beginning to end just to get those parts.

Since most of the content would overlap with my books, it would be a huge waste of time.

I naturally had the desire to pick out and absorb only the essential parts that I didn’t have, without investing time or effort! But the problem was that I didn’t have a way to put it into practice.

“But I found a way.”

The Bar Exam Channel was a forum used by law school students across the country.

Naturally, the questions they brought would inevitably be focused on complex legal principles that were difficult to solve even after studying, hard-to-find precedents, and midterm questions created by professors at each law school for differentiation.

I could get my hands on such valuable data without any effort, just by pretending to answer questions.

It was a honey pot like no other.

[ㅇㅇ(223.232): This is a question from our midterms, is an explanation possible? It’s an issue related to the second-ranking mortgagee of a real estate security provider in subrogation. It’s so difficult that even the top students have different answers, and the professor didn’t give any feedback…]

[ㅇㅇ(175.223): This is a question from a lecturer’s book, but I don’t understand the explanation even after reading it ㅠㅠ Help me, Master of Law!]

“Hmm. Yummy.”

If I just sat still with my mouth agape, law school students from all over the country would bring me difficult problems that they couldn’t solve even after agonizing over them, and spoon-feed me.

It wouldn’t cost any time or money.

And it wasn’t just me who benefited.

Those who asked questions could also clearly understand the difficult problems they had been struggling with alone.

It was a win-win situation. Killing two birds with one stone.

Wasn’t this what symbiosis and positive influence were all about?

I transferred the pouring questions to a file and started examining them one by one. Perhaps because I had literally rested and done nothing yesterday, my fingers felt light and joyful as I wrote the answers.

Law was so much fun!

***

“Do you happen to know ‘Invincible Master of Law’?”

On Monday morning, as soon as I arrived at the classroom, Yoo Tae-woon’s voice made me almost trip and fall.

“W-what’s that?”

“I heard a crazy master appeared on the Bar Exam Channel over the weekend. The nickname is a bit cheesy, but they can perfectly solve any question you ask. Everyone’s talking about that person right now.”

“Is that so, uh…”

I subtly focused my ears, and indeed, I could hear the name “Invincible Master of Law” being chanted here and there.

“I was agonizing over it for three days, but after reading the Master of Law’s explanation, it was solved in one go. The nickname is a bit cheesy, though.”

“I asked about a question from a professor’s textbook, and I realized for the first time what it meant. The nickname is a bit cheesy, though.”

‘Just praise me or criticize me, pick one…’

I hadn’t thought of that.

The Bar Exam Channel was a site used by quite a few law school students, so if I became a hot topic there, it was only natural that it would be talked about in real life as well.

Of course, they didn’t know that the Master of Law was me.

Still, it was quite embarrassing to hear it mentioned right in front of me.

“Invincible Master of Law! Invincible Master of Law!”

“Who could it be? Their depth is extraordinary, are they already a working professional who graduated?”

“Maybe they’re a bar exam passer. Judging from the nickname, they sound like an old man.”

“Well, someone our age wouldn’t use a name like that.”

‘Ah.’

As they said, the soul of a man well over thirty was trapped in this body.

But even if that was true, it was hurtful to be told that my sense was outdated right to my face.

‘It’s unfair. I deliberately chose that name to draw attention.’

It was while I was swallowing my unspoken protest that,

“Park Yoo-seung!”

Han Seol, who seemed quite excited, came running and tapped me on the back.

You too?

I asked in a gloomy voice,

“Is ‘Invincible Master of Law’ that bad…?”

“Huh? What’s that?”

Han Seol asked back with a puzzled expression.

“…Oh, it’s nothing.”

Come to think of it, Han Seol wasn’t very familiar with the internet.

She was a busy person, and her parents had strictly controlled her internet usage since she was young.

“Rather than that,” Han Seol said, changing the subject.

“Look, it’s up.”

“Up? What’s up?”

“This.”

I took the smartphone Han Seol handed me.

[Notice Regarding the Mock Trial Competition Preliminaries]

‘Here it is.’

The Mock Trial Competition.

It’s a competition where participants are divided into plaintiff and defendant for civil cases, or prosecution and defense for criminal cases, and argue their legal positions as if in a real court, based on a given topic.

The judges sitting in the courtroom determine the winner.

Since the format was completely different from a typical exam, participating in the competition wasn’t necessarily helpful for academics.

Naturally, those with high exam scores and those who showed excellent performance in the competition didn’t always overlap.

Nevertheless, the Mock Trial Competition was very popular among many students, regardless of their grades.

There was only one reason for that.

“Park Yoo-seung, you said you wanted to be a prosecutor, right? You’re going to participate, aren’t you?”

When selecting public officials like prosecutors or judicial research officers, those with a winning record in the Mock Trial Competition were completely exempt from the first round of screening.

Since the first round of screening reflected various documents like grades and self-introduction letters, those preparing for public office would usually aim to win the Mock Trial Competition to eliminate uncertainty.

‘If your grades are low, this is practically the only chance.’

Moreover, in my case, I was Professor Jang Yong-hwan’s mentee.

As he declared at the beginning of the semester, he wanted his mentees to gain diverse experiences, and he even offered a reward of writing recommendation letters for internships at the prosecution for those with excellent participation records.

‘And the achievement points for this Mock Trial Competition are huge.’

While year-round Legal Clinic activities were worth 5 points, the Mock Trial Competition, which ended within two months from the preliminaries to the finals, was worth 20 points.

If I didn’t participate, the recommendation letter would practically disappear.

Therefore, the answer was obvious.

“I…”