I Became a Law School Genius

Chapter 51

『 Translator – Divinity 』

The law school building used by Hankuk University Law School boasts the largest scale among all law school buildings in Korea.

The facilities are state-of-the-art, and the janitors hired by the school meticulously clean several times a day, making everything gleam.

On the first floor of this splendid building stands a statue of Lady Justice holding the law book and scales.

It’s the same model as the one in front of the Supreme Court, so her eyes are not covered.

They say that a blindfolded Lady Justice symbolizes objective justice that is not swayed by prejudice, while an unblindfolded one signifies the intention to clearly discern the wicked with her own two eyes.

The irony is that something not so righteous is always posted on the wall facing this Lady Justice.

[Announcement of Interim Midterm Exam Rankings]

1st place, Park Yoo-seung
2nd place, Shin Seo-joon
2nd place, Han Seol
4th place, Jeong Min-sik
…
.
.
.

Ranking itself is necessary.

The positions in this society that entail great power and responsibility are limited, and to ensure things run smoothly, we need to select capable and excellent people to fill those positions.

Those who can withstand the pressure of the throne must be chosen.

‘But still, posting it like a public execution…’

It’s as if they’re pushing the students, saying, “Study if you don’t want to endure the shame and humiliation, and study if you want to enjoy glory and adoration.”

Because they squeeze these young people so much, some even become ill from studying.

Moreover, seeing my name at the very top still feels surreal.

If you ask me whether I’m proud or not, of course, I’m proud.

There’s also a sense of accomplishment.

For one thing, I no longer have to worry about dropping out of school because I can’t pay tuition.

— I kept my promise.

— [Photo]

After the first preliminary match and returning home, I immediately contacted Park Geon.

I even attached a photo of the transcript and this notice, looking all respectable.

The reply came faster than expected.

— Come to the main house two weeks from this weekend.

— Think about the content of the ‘bet’ by then as well.

The bet with Park Geon.

He had clearly said that if I got first place in the midterm exams, he would grant me any one request.

The right to ask for anything from the chairman of one of the largest conglomerates in the country.

I couldn’t waste it. I had to carefully consider how to use it.

As I was lost in thought, looking up at the notice, I heard whispers from afar.

“Hey, look…”

“It’s Park Yoo-seung. I can’t believe the day would come when he’d be at the top.”

“Should we call this a human victory? Or should we cry that talent can’t be beat?”

“Isn’t he like a cheetah that’s finally started running?”

Park Yoo-seung’s ears were unnecessarily good.

Perhaps because he was so used to being badmouthed, he could pick up on any mention of him, no matter how small the voice.

It seemed that the weight of the word ‘top student’ couldn’t be ignored.

Despite the numerous negative impressions accumulated so far, there were many who acknowledged the greatness of my achievement.

Of course, not everything I heard was positive.

“Ha… are good materials that effective? As expected, it’s good to be rich and well-connected.”

“But what about the people who gave him the materials? And those who hang out with him? Do they have no shame?”

Since I had bluffed before, there were still many who criticized me, saying that I was just leeching off my talented friends.

I couldn’t say anything about that since I had brought it upon myself.

But I couldn’t just overlook them badmouthing the people around me.

Weren’t they the ones who willingly stayed by my side despite the negative attention directed at Park Yoo-seung?

Just as I was about to say something, turning towards them,

“You idiots.”

An icy voice came from behind the group badmouthing me.

“Wh-who are you?”

“Jeong, Jeong Min-sik?”

They flinched and backed away.

It was widely known that Jeong Min-sik didn’t have a good personality.

He was somewhat restrained when Shin Seo-joon was around, but Jeong Min-sik alone was like a ticking time bomb.

Lately, he had been walking around with a frown, as if in a bad mood, so even those who were usually close to him were treading carefully.

“Do you think you can become first place just by looking at some good materials and clinging to those who are good at studying?”

“No, but this is Park Yoo-seung himself…”

“It’s because you believe such bullshit that your grades are crawling at the bottom.”

“What…!”

The male student who was protesting was speechless with embarrassment.

If I remember correctly, that guy was also ranked around 40th or 50th…

At Hankuk University Law School, that wasn’t a bad enough grade to be insulted to your face.

That’s why he was reacting in such disbelief, but for Jeong Min-sik, everything below him was the bottom, so it couldn’t be helped.

“There’s nothing more ridiculous than you guys, who can’t even get the answers right when the professor explicitly tells you what’s going to be on the exam, talking about the accuracy and efficiency of materials. Does the top spot at Hankuk University Law School seem that easy to you?”

“No, but that’s not…”

“Or are you saying that my efforts, and yours, were so insignificant that they could be trampled by a few pieces of information? Do you have no pride in the studying you’ve done?”

“Th-that’s not what I meant.”

“It is. Belittling his achievements is insulting everyone else who’s beneath him.”

“…”

They were speechless.

“I hate Park Yoo-seung too. I hate him enough to want to kill him. But the more I hate him, the more I have to acknowledge his achievements. If I don’t acknowledge them… I’ll never be able to catch up.”

‘Oh, he’s fully recovered.’

It seemed like he had regained his spirit.

The guys who were badmouthing me backed off at Jeong Min-sik’s outburst, and Jeong Min-sik, who finally noticed me after turning his head, clicked his tongue and hurriedly left.

Seeing that made me laugh.

After the commotion subsided, I sat on the bench in front of the Lady Justice statue.

I was planning to meet the Mock Trial Competition team members here and go prepare for the next matches.

“Whew…”

A week had passed since the first match.

The preliminary rounds continued during that time.

I didn’t even bother watching the civil division matches because I already knew how they would unfold.

It was more important to focus on our own matches.

—Defendant Kim Gab-dong, guilty. The winners are the team of Park Yoo-seung, Han Seol, and Lee Ha-ru.

—No way, they lost to first-years!

—Defendant Kim Gab-dong and Lee Eul-nam, not guilty. The winners are the team of Park Yoo-seung, Han Seol, and Lee Ha-ru.

—…Who are these guys?

Thanks to our diligent preparation, we had swept all the matches so far.

Even though all the teams after the first match were composed of second-year students, we didn’t falter.

Even the second-year students weren’t that different from us.

They had simply studied the specific part of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure during the regular semester, so the only differences were the amount of knowledge and familiarity with criminal law.

I was confident that I could overcome that much.

As we went through each round, time flew by, and now we were here.

It wasn’t like we had solely focused on the Mock Trial Competition; we had also kept up with the regular classes and studied Constitutional Law and Civil Law, so every day had been incredibly busy.

Now, we only had the final match of the preliminaries left.

Our opponent was, naturally, the team led by Gu Min-hwan from the second year.

“Gu Min-hwan…”

What happened after the first preliminary match naturally replayed in my mind.

—Alright. I’ll listen.

In the end, I received information about Gu Min-hwan from Shin Seo-joon.

It was only natural.

Whether Shin Seo-joon wanted it or not, I had to defeat Gu Min-hwan for my own goals.

Refusing the information wouldn’t make the situation any better.

Shin Seo-joon was already very aware of my existence.

There was no way he would just back off quietly if I took a step back.

‘Then… I have no choice but to use him as well.’

The reason I was reluctant to get involved with Shin Seo-joon wasn’t because I was afraid of him.

I was simply wary of getting entangled in the main story and causing unpredictable changes.

I knew Shin Seo-joon’s true goal and the groundwork he was laying for it.

If I wanted to, I could create plenty of ways to control him.

It was also an option to take advantage of him while keeping an eye on his movements.

‘Yes, let’s think of it as a good thing.’

I clenched my fists and made up my mind.

“What are you thinking about so seriously?”

“Did you break your brain from studying too much?”

When I looked up, my teammates were already there. I took their hands and stood up.

Let’s not overthink it.

First, let’s win the remaining match.

***

It was a rule to lock up classrooms after all the classes were over.

However, among the second and third-year students who were accustomed to law school life, there were those who would secretly occupy empty classrooms and use them as huge study rooms.

Especially among the second-year students preparing for the Mock Trial Competition, it was a long-standing practice.

“It’s the finals already.”

Lee Yoon-ah was also one of those students.

Having messed up her grades in her first year, making it difficult to prepare for public office, she had desperately contacted every classmate participating in the Mock Trial Competition, thinking of it as her last chance.

Fortunately, there was a team that accepted her, and fortunately, they had advanced to the finals with an unstoppable force.

At this rate, not only participating as a representative but even winning a prize in the finals wasn’t just a dream.

“How is it, oppa? We’ll definitely win the finals too, right?”

Lee Yoon-ah asked, looking back at the man who made all this possible.

“…I don’t know.”

Gu Min-hwan replied in a heavy voice.

‘Seriously, he has no warmth at all.’

Gu Min-hwan, her classmate who was a graduate of the Police University and had worked as a lieutenant in the field.

With his short, sporty haircut and gorilla-like physique, he was a man of few words.

His expression rarely changed, and it was impossible to know what he was thinking.

In the first place, Lee Yoon-ah was even puzzled as to why Gu Min-hwan had accepted someone like her on his team.

All the matches so far had been Gu Min-hwan’s one-man show.

From analyzing the materials and writing the brief to presenting arguments and opinions,

He handled everything alone.

Essentially, Lee Yoon-ah and the other team member were just decorations to fill the headcount.

‘I thought he might be interested in me, but it doesn’t seem like that either.’

Since she was confident in her appearance, she wondered if that was the reason, but this stone-like man didn’t show any particular reaction no matter how friendly she acted.

At this point, she wondered if he had simply accepted anyone because he was going to do everything himself anyway.

‘Well, it’s good for me if I can just ride his coattails.’

As she was half-resigned to that, Gu Min-hwan, unusually, spoke again.

“I didn’t expect it.”

“…Huh?”

“Because that guy avoided me and escaped to the civil division. I thought I would win no matter who I faced.”

‘That guy? Who is he talking about?’

As Lee Yoon-ah stared blankly, Gu Min-hwan continued,

“But… this is…”

Then, Gu Min-hwan suddenly lifted the laptop he was looking at.

“What? What are you watching?”

Playing on the laptop screen was a video of a Mock Trial Competition preliminary match.

In principle, all matches of the Mock Trial Competition were open to the public, and there were no restrictions on recording them for personal use.

Thanks to that, it wasn’t uncommon for people to record the preliminary rounds and use them as teaching materials or to analyze the videos of opposing teams.

But Lee Yoon-ah couldn’t imagine Gu Min-hwan doing that.

This man had a tendency to act like a silent ascetic, rarely showing interest in anything.

Gu Min-hwan analyzing the opposing team’s video? It didn’t suit him at all.

But regardless of what Lee Yoon-ah thought, Gu Min-hwan was staring at the video on the screen with intense concentration.

Curious about who it could be, Lee Yoon-ah leaned closer.

— I pronounce judgment.

Standing at the prosecutor’s podium in the mock courtroom was a man. A somewhat decent-looking face with a slightly sly, gangster-like impression.

— The defendant, Kim Gab-dong, is guilty. The winners are the team of Han Seol, Park Yoo-seung, and Lee Ha-ru.

“…This might be a little interesting.”

Gu Min-hwan muttered beside her.