I Became a Law School Genius

Chapter 36

『 Translator – Divinity 』

It was to the point where I would have believed they were twins, not just siblings. Still, just in case, I approached the female student and spoke to her.

“Hello. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. I happen to have found a book without an owner, and I was wondering, what’s your name?”

The female student looked a bit wary at first, then glanced at her classmates and nodded as if making up her mind.

“I’m Seo Hui-jin.”

“Hmm, that’s not the name on the book I found. I apologize for bothering you.”

The Property Law Society president’s name was Seo Su-jin.

It was similar to Seo Su-jin, and since the name of the younger sibling she mentioned was also ‘Hui-jin’, this was enough confirmation.

‘This changes things.’

The younger sister, whom the Property Law Society president cherished, was involved in the serial theft case.

Then, perhaps I could use this to resolve the case, put Seo Hui-jin in my debt, and open up negotiations with the Property Law Society president.

‘Actually, it’s not that much work either.’

I weighed the remaining time until the midterms and the tasks I had to do, and assessed the resources I could invest.

Although I was a bit concerned about deviating from the original story, I calculated that it was doable.

Since I, as a new existence, had appeared, it was impossible for everything to be the same as the original anyway.

Although I had to avoid affecting the main story as much as possible, I couldn’t be too passive and miss out on opportunities.

Alright. Let’s do this.

I’ll solve this case.

In a cleaner way than in the original story.

***

The last Constitutional Law class before the midterms arrived. The lecture was as boring as ever, but for some reason, ConLaw seemed less venomous than before.

He didn’t even call on students and torment them with questions.

It was after the class ended that it happened.

“Now, now, everyone. Please pay attention for a moment.”

After ConLaw left, I jumped onto the podium, clapped my hands, and drew the students’ attention.

Everyone was looking at me with an expression of “What’s that guy up to now?”

It was a relief that their gazes no longer held the disdain they used to, but… it wasn’t exactly a positive atmosphere either.

It was more apprehension than respect, a feeling of “He’s something, but I don’t want to get involved with him.”

Whatever.

This might actually be better for this situation.

“Actually, I had a deep conversation with Professor Han Il-gu after the last class. It seems like he’s been very interested in the ‘principle of legality’ lately.”

I deliberately emphasized the “principle of legality” part. A few quick-witted students reacted to that with widened eyes.

“He happened to give me a thesis he hasn’t published yet and suggested that I study it with my classmates as ‘supplementary material’.”

With that, I picked up the thesis that was on the podium and waved it.

Whispers spread through the classroom.

Those who grasped the situation first were relaying their realization to those around them.

“Isn’t the principle of legality within the midterm exam scope?”

“Is he saying that’s going to be on the exam?”

“We definitely have to look at it.”

But there were also those who raised reasonable questions.

“But how can we read all of that? It looks like it’s at least 70 or 80 pages long.”

“It’s a pie in the sky. We can’t invest that much time in something like Constitutional Law.”

Naturally, as someone who had the same concerns, I had a suitable answer prepared.

“That’s a valid point.”

I put down the thesis and this time took out a thin stack of five pages from my back pocket.

“We can’t read dozens of pages of a thesis in their entirety when we’re all busy studying for other things. So… I personally put in some effort and summarized it.”

It was the summary created with Lee Ha-ru’s great creation, ‘Effortless’.

“Crazy. When did he have time to do that?”

“Doesn’t he study other subjects? How did he have time to work on such a long thesis?”

“…But this is a jackpot. Just by looking at this, we can definitely get at least one question right.”

‘Yeah. It just takes one click of a button in the program.’

But the other students didn’t know that.

Therefore, they just stared at me with even more bewildered expressions.

‘Yes, be more amazed. Be more impressed.’

Because that would strengthen the credibility of the words I was about to say.

“For now, I’ve uploaded this summary to the Constitutional Law I online classroom bulletin board. Those who are interested can freely access and read it.”

After generously bestowing this favor, I continued,

“I imagine you have many questions.”

I made eye contact with each person in the audience.

“How did I manage to summarize such a long thesis during exam period? And why am I distributing it for free? In the first place… how did Park Yoo-seung suddenly become good at studying?”

I smiled slyly. At a time like this, my sly and cunning delinquent-like impression was helpful.

Everyone’s attention was focused on me, as if I was subtly hinting at some great secret.

“Don’t you want to know? If you could just know that secret, you could also drastically improve your grades. Haven’t you thought about that?”

It was a statement that directly addressed all the rumors surrounding me.

A delinquent who turned over a new leaf overnight. Skills that, for some reason, far surpassed most of the students sitting here.

Some said that maybe I had been hit in the head during a fight and turned 180 degrees.

Others pointed fingers, saying that I must have used money, connections, or luck to easily obtain high-quality materials and study comfortably.

Whether in a good or bad way, I had already become a hot topic within Hankuk University Law School.

It was only natural that I would draw attention by directly addressing it myself.

Moreover, I had already given the audience a nice gift, hadn’t I?

I could feel the strange expectations pouring in.

“Well, of course,”

I first dashed those expectations.

“It’s because I studied hard. There are no shortcuts or detours in law. Those who diligently walk the right path will come out ahead.”

That was the truth, without a single exaggeration.

Until I passed the second round of the bar exam, I had dedicated myself to studying every day while the sun was up, and even after losing my deferment, I sat at my desk with the moon as my companion, studying with a body exhausted from working all day.

That time hadn’t disappeared; it was all accumulated within me.

After picking up the textbooks again, I truly felt this fact.

I could easily absorb anything I saw, and when I closed my eyes, the logical framework of law would unfold like a picture.

But the audience didn’t know about my past life. And they shouldn’t.

Therefore, they were looking at ‘Park Yoo-seung’, whose time spent studying law was no different from theirs, with dumbfounded expressions.

“However… there are ways to walk the right path a little faster and easier.”

I brought up the main topic as if responding to their dissatisfaction.

“For example, a collection of materials that’s easy to read and neatly organized with only the issues that will appear on the exam. Or model answers for past exam questions created by many people putting their heads together.”

It was a well-known fact that you could study efficiently with good materials.

Even if you reviewed the same content and scope, the time it took to read a professor’s in-depth writing and a concisely summarized cheat sheet for the exam day could differ by more than tenfold.

Since time was fair to everyone, law school students were always hungry for more efficient materials.

They would attend alumni gatherings or maintain relationships with seniors for a single piece of information, and sometimes power struggles would arise among students because of materials circulating only within certain study groups.

That’s why there were rumors that the secret to my skills was also such materials.

In a way, it was unfair, but instead of denying those assumptions, I was riding on them.

— You’re right. I have a lot of awesome materials in my hands.

That’s the message I was sending.

“Somehow…”

“He might have been treated like an outcast, but he’s still the young master of Yooseong Group. He would have plenty of ways to get his hands on materials.”

Murmurs and whispers filled the air.

The atmosphere was flowing as intended.

Before standing here today, I had Yoo Ye-seul spread similar rumors.

The rumors that were already circulating were solidified as if they were official facts after passing through her hands, a master of political maneuvering and public opinion formation.

And now, the person in question had declared it himself.

Since I had also revealed a well-made summary, everyone couldn’t help but look at me as if I was carrying a treasure chest.

“But…”

At that moment, someone asked me with perfect timing,

“Why are you telling us this now?”

— You’ve been doing well on your own until now. As if you didn’t care about being ostracized by everyone. But why are you suddenly stepping forward like this?

That was roughly the meaning behind the question.

“Well?”

But instead of answering, I just shrugged.

“Think carefully about what it means.”

***

Without any further explanation, I left the classroom.

Apparently, chaos ensued among the students.

They argued amongst themselves, saying, “Why is he acting like that all of a sudden? Is he going crazy from wanting attention?”

“Well, in my opinion,”

Yoo Ye-seul interjected.

“Isn’t he telling us to join him?”

Come to think of it, I had already shared one of the valuable materials for free.

It was a message that I had a lot of good stuff and was willing to share it.

So, wasn’t I telling those with a good sense to stop being hostile and join my side?

That was roughly the gist of it.

“For the record, I’ve already joined.”

It was a very reasonable explanation.

Only then did the students start frantically searching for me, who had disappeared, and many even sent me personal messages after finding my contact information in the student directory.
It was certainly humiliating to bow down to Park Yoo-seung, who was known as the worst delinquent, but practicality was more important than pride, especially with the exams approaching.

However, I ignored all those attempts at contact.

I blocked personal messages and avoided those who approached me directly, not even responding to them.

Then, the collective intelligence of the students reached a new conclusion.

— This guy, it seems like he’s only accepting those who are useful.

Indeed, the people gathered around me were quite impressive.

Han Seol, who had been known for her academic excellence since her undergraduate days, Yoo Ye-seul, whose influence was second to none, and Kim Seung-pil, a nationally known figure.

Unless you were at their level, it meant you wouldn’t be accepted.

Since this was also a reasonable deduction, my popularity boom came to an end in just one day.

“…That’s the current situation,”

Yoo Ye-seul reported to me on our way back to the reading room.

“Of course, I’m sure you have your reasons, Park Yoo-seung-ssi, but if you weren’t going to accept anyone anyway, was there a need to draw attention like this? In the end, it seems like you just used up the thesis summary without any gains…”

“No, it was necessary.”

In the first place, this wasn’t some kind of friend-making project.

There was no way those who clung to me for benefits were truly competent individuals.

The important thing was to make people believe that I had valuable materials.

I had the materials, and I wasn’t sharing them with just anyone.

Naturally, those who wanted them couldn’t help but be anxious.

And I knew one person who would be particularly anxious.

Creak.

I opened the door to the reading room and headed to my seat.

The items on the desk were the same as usual.

A few textbooks that could be seen anywhere. Professors’ lecture materials. Answer sheets filled with practice markings.

I didn’t keep “Untying the Knots of Civil Law” or “Summary of Criminal Law” on the desk because I always carried them in my bag.

Therefore, the things that were always there remained the same.

The problem was that only the things that were ‘always there’ remained.

‘…Gotcha.’

Before leaving the reading room today, I had created a notebook summarizing the core legal principles and precedents for each subject, made a copy of it, and placed it on my desk.

But that copy was completely gone.

‘You took the bait.’