Episode 7

The law library at Korea University Law School had a fair number of study rooms.

Most law students were the type who were sensitive to the noise and movements of others, but wanted to stretch their legs out and study comfortably themselves.

Therefore, even if there were many study rooms where they could relax and study while chatting with friends, they were never enough.

Han Seol had also barely managed to succeed in the reservation application after going through fierce competition.

And in that study room that she had secured with such difficulty.

“What? Why is this wrong?”

The number one troublemaker at Korea University, Park Yoo-seung, was sitting across from her.

“…Why are you here?”

“We’re in the same group. Let’s help each other out. If the group members do well in their studies, we’ll get a good score on the presentation too, won’t we?”

He was subtly emphasizing his contributions, so it was difficult to kick him out.

“Don’t you know that you shouldn’t act like that when you’re being nice?”

“Someone who’s going to be a lawyer should get into the habit of looking for and using anything that’s advantageous. If you see restraint as a virtue, how are you going to win in court?”

“Ugh, you never give in.”

Han Seol pouted.

Well, it was true that she was grateful.

For someone who had always been first place and top of her class everywhere she went, losing the top student spot to Shin Seo-joon was a strange shock.

And she hadn’t even been able to beat him on the first test.

To overturn this, she needed a lot of group points.

Whether it was by luck or by chance, it was true that Park Yoo-seung had gotten one over on that annoying top student and brought her some points.

Therefore, she was willing to tolerate him using the study room.

“Let me see.”

“Huh?”

“You said you didn’t know why it was wrong. I’ll take a look.”

As she slyly reached out her hand, Park Yoo-seung’s eyes widened and he handed her the answer sheet he had been working on.

Han Seol took it and carefully read through it.

“Let’s see. ‘A was driving an electric scooter while drunk and injured a person….’ But then, the Road Traffic Act was amended, and electric scooters were classified not as ‘automobiles, etc.’ under the Road Traffic Act, but as ‘personal mobility devices’ or ‘bicycles, etc.’, making the penalty lighter.”

“In this case, the issue is to take the ‘motive theory’ in Article 1, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act, and the amendment of the Road Traffic Act is not a result of reflective consideration of the unfairness of the punishment, so the law before the amendment is applied and the penalty stays the same, right?”

“…What?”

“Am I wrong?”

At Park Yoo-seung’s question, Han Seol was dumbfounded.

“Park Yoo-seung, are you kidding me? The motive theory was abolished!”

“…Huh?”

The ‘motive theory’ was a theory about how to handle cases where the criminal law was amended after a crime occurred but before the final ruling was made, resulting in the crime no longer being punishable or the penalty being lighter.

Article 1, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act states that in such cases, the new law should be followed.

However, the previous Supreme Court precedents took the position that the ‘motive’ for amending the law should be examined first.

The new law should only be followed if the law was amended to reflect a change of heart that the punishment was unfair or excessive.

The problem was that there was no basis for this ‘motive theory’ in the legal provisions, even if you searched high and low.

The specific definition of what constituted ‘reflective consideration’ was also vague and ambiguous.

It was only natural that it was criticized for being a baseless theory.

And it was around last year that it was finally abolished due to a change in precedents.

If you were a student studying law right before entering law school, you would have learned that the motive theory had been abolished.

“Really?”

“Look. It’s written here.”

When Han Seol showed him the latest edition of [General Theory of Criminal Law], Park Yoo-seung stared at it blankly.

Then, he resolutely pushed his chair back and shouted.

“…I’m going.”

“Going?”

“Thank you, Supreme Court Justice Grandfather! That piece of trash theory is finally abolished!”

‘…He’s a really strange guy.’

Han Seol chuckled.

When she thought about it, it was a strange thing.

In her undergraduate days, Park Yoo-seung, whom she had watched from afar while she was the head of the Business Administration department, was a genuine troublemaker.

But somehow he entered law school, and now he was sitting at his desk for hours every day, just looking at law books.

During class time, he always came earlier than Han Seol and prepared for class by opening his textbook.

He would sometimes point out issues that even she didn’t know about, and at other times, he would react as if he was hearing about basic concepts for the first time.

This was especially true for precedents or amended legal principles that had come out relatively recently.

‘It’s like he’s possessed by the ghost of someone who studied for the bar exam and died a long time ago.’

Of course, Han Seol didn't know that it was an infinite truth.

“Alright, let’s get to it.”

Regardless, Park Yoo-seung now rolled up his sleeves and began to flip through his study books with enthusiasm.

* * *

More than half of the pre-law program had already passed.

I was slowly getting used to studying law again after a long time.

It seemed that there was something called muscle memory in the brain as well.

In the first place, studying law was like pouring water into a bottomless pit.

There was so much to memorize and it was so volatile that it was common for you not to remember what you had studied the day before when you woke up in the morning.

The only way was to keep pouring water in and fill it faster than it was leaking out. And that was my area of expertise.

“I didn’t know that there were so many precedents and legal principles that had changed in the meantime…”

It wasn't like I had been reincarnated in real life, and I had transmigrated into a webtoon world, but how did they manage to reflect reality so well in this part?

There were more than a few precedents that had been added since I had stopped studying.

Honestly speaking, just in terms of volume, it felt like there was much more to study now than when I was studying for the bar exam ten years ago.

That was why it was also more fun.

“You’re here early today too?”

“I’m a 139th-place person. I have to work hard to catch up.”

Before class started, Han Seol arrived as I was always preparing for the day's lecture by opening my textbook to the scope we would be covering.

“…You’re not worried about what he said back then, are you?”

“He? Oh, that Bae what’s-his-name?”

“Studying is a mental battle. There’s no need to pay attention to words that are just trying to find flaws and shake you. Don’t overdo it, just go at your own pace.”

What was this? Was she worried about me?

I didn’t know because she always acted so stiff in the original story, but Han Seol was a type who was surprisingly affectionate.

I, on the other hand, was already forgetting that Bae what’s-his-name’s name, so it was a pointless worry.

If I had to choose, I was a bit concerned about what he had said at the end, about ‘the end of earning points.’ What was he trying to do?

“Today’s the vicarious liability of corporations, huh. So the requirements are, ‘rep’, ‘duties’, ‘illegal’, ‘rep’, ‘duties’, ‘illegal’…”

Han Seol, who had sat down next to me, soon opened her textbook to the same page as me and began to memorize the mnemonic devices for memorization.

It was similar to chanting ‘H He Li Be B C N O…’ when memorizing the periodic table.

About ten minutes later, as class time was approaching, the other students came in droves.

At this time, the classroom became as noisy as a university lecture hall, reminding me of my undergraduate days.

‘No, actually, is there really that much of a difference?’

I had graduated from university, and if I said that I was attending a professional educational institution called law school, it would feel like I was a much bigger adult.

But the reality was not like that.

Most of the people sitting here were so-called ‘straight grads’ who had gone straight to law school after graduating without having any social experience.

Their mental age was no different from their undergraduate days.

They had only studied with gritted teeth when they were in university, so in fact, there wasn’t much of a difference compared to when they were high school students.

When I was reading ‘In the Law School’, I thought that the characters had a really childish side to them, but after actually meeting them, including Bae what’s-his-name, I could clearly understand.

They were just kids.

They would be perfect if you called them high schoolers who were past high school 3, high school 8, or high school 9.

I was curious if the law students in real life were like this too.

“Alright, let’s take attendance.”

Professor Park Soo-geun, who was in charge of the civil law lectures, began to call the students’ names.

“Group 1. Kang Doo-sung.”

“Yes.”

“Yoo Tae-woon.”

“Yep.”

And then it flowed to our group’s turn.

“Group 10. Han Seol.”

“Yes.”

“Park Yoo-seung.”

“Yes.”

“Lee Ha-roo.”

“……”

As always, there was no response. Han Seol sighed softly as she looked at the seat next to me.

“Is he never coming?”

“Maybe.”

“Sigh.”

“It’s okay. You’re always doing more than two people’s worth.”

“That’s! The! Problem!”

Actually, it wasn't ‘maybe.’ That Lee Ha-roo person really didn't show up during the entire pre-season.

Even when the regular semester started, he almost never showed his face in the story, and he only makes a flashy debut around the mid-term exam of the first semester, dropping a huge bomb on the scenario.

‘Well, that’s a story for later.’

In the first place, Shin Seo-joon would take care of that bomb on his own, so it wasn't an issue for me to worry about.

We (mostly Han Seol) were doing our best in the group presentations and Q&A, so there was no problem.

It was just something that we could do by treating him as if he didn't exist and continuing to work hard as we had been doing.

“Alright. So, today… it’s our turn to cover the vicarious liability of corporations, right?”

Professor Park Soo-geun began.

“First of all, what is a corporation? Anyone want to answer?”

Han Seol raised her hand immediately.

“It’s a being that is not a person, but is recognized as having the qualification to become a ‘subject of rights and obligations’ under the law.”

“Good answer. In civil law, we see that people have legal personality from the moment they are born and become the subjects of rights and obligations. In other words, we call them natural persons.”

Professor Park Soo-geun looked around the room and continued.

“On the other hand, there are beings that are not originally people, but that we have decided to treat like people for various practical reasons. Those are corporations.”

Since it was a basic question, there were no bonus points.

Han Seol smacked her lips as if she was disappointed.

“For example, let’s think about a company. It costs a lot of money to run a company, right? You would receive investments and in some cases, you would borrow money. Then, who should the creditor, who lent money to the company, receive the money from?”

Professor Park Soo-geun continued his explanation.

“The CEO? Then the creditor would become too anxious. If it’s the kind of funds that move on a company level, it’s a lot of money, but what if they lent it based on just the face of a person and that person ran away?”

A safety mechanism of some kind was needed to prevent this. The problem was how to prepare it.

“Then, what about making it so that they can receive it from all of the members of the company? The creditor would feel secure because they’d have insurance, but this would be too harsh for the employees, wouldn’t it? It’s not like they borrowed the money, but it would become their debt…”

After much deliberation, Professor Park Soo-geun added that the compromise was the ‘corporation.’

“Then, what if the company itself had legal personality, and it could own assets and assume debt in its own name? How about a student over there answers?”

“Hmm… Wouldn’t it make the debtor a bit more reliable? Since it’s the company that’s taking on the debt.”

“That’s correct! The creditor would just have to receive the money from the assets that are in the company’s name later, so it’s simple, and they could also reduce the anxiety of non-performance of debt as long as the company doesn’t go bankrupt.”

It was basic, but it was an easy explanation to understand.

Actually, if you were just focusing on studying for tests, you wouldn’t have a chance to pay attention to basic concepts and their purposes.

That was because they didn’t directly appear on tests.

That’s why many study books skipped over them, and they were often not covered in commercial lectures either.

‘But it’s a necessary process.’

If you know the purpose and intent of the legislation, you can often see the conclusion without having to memorize the precedents.

For example, among the legal articles related to corporations, there are many cases where precedents are interpreted to be particularly advantageous to the other party.

Such as the registration of limitations on the representative’s authority, or the job-relatedness of vicarious liability.

If you don’t know the reason, you have to memorize what you have to interpret to be advantageous for whom. Naturally, the burden of memorization would increase explosively.

But if you know that the purpose behind the system of corporations is the safety and convenience of transactions, then everything will be neatly organized like putting together a puzzle.

Therefore, it was a very desirable way of education to go over these basic purposes once, even if it was in a first year lecture, or even the pre-law program before that.

In my humble opinion.

“…So, that’s all for today. Anyone have any questions?”

Professor Park Soo-geun, who had explained various concepts in an easy to understand manner and had gone through all of the material for the day, asked at the end of class.

Because it had been a clear lecture, there was no one who had any questions.

“Okay then. I’ll assume that you all understood everything. Shall we have our group problem-solving time?”

The moment had come.

Next to me, Han Seol stretched. It was highly likely that Han Seol would go up for our group.

I was still filling in the holes in my knowledge, and Han Seol knew almost everything in the scope that would be covered in pre-law.

Sometimes, when I felt like she was always going up and it was getting awkward, I would go up instead.

Han Seol would get the points. I would cheer her on and sometimes be the substitute.

It was the perfect division of labor.

“Division of labor, my ass…”

It was the moment that Han Seol was grumbling.

“Ah, I have an announcement to make.”

Professor Park Soo-geun scratched his head.

“Um… since the current group evaluation system only requires one person in the group to do well, there were claims that there were people who were unfairly receiving points just because they were in a good group.”

Oh?

“So, I’m thinking of changing the system a bit.”

The new system that Professor Park Soo-geun was talking about was like this.

The professor would randomly choose one person from each group to come forward.

Then, the problem that they would solve would be revealed.

Each person would solve the problem that was assigned to them and receive criticism and feedback from the other students.

If you got the correct answer or defended yourself well, you would get bonus points, and if there were parts that were lacking, you would get penalty points.

All of the bonus and penalty points that each group member received would be immediately added to the group’s score.

In theory, no matter how well a good group member did, if a bad member came back after being beaten up, it would be all for nothing.

“Ah, and. We’ll also be reflecting individual attendance scores in these bonus and penalty points. There were strong complaints that attending class was basic, so we have to do it.”

Of course, because there is also the principle of non-retroactivity of laws, it won't be reflected until tomorrow.

Professor Park Soo-geun added that.

My gaze and Han Seol’s gaze automatically turned to the side.

The seat that was assigned to the ghost member of Group 10, which had been empty every day since the first day of the pre-law program.

And then, in the air, my gaze crossed paths with someone who was looking at the exact same spot.

“Puh-hah.”

Bae Hyun-joong was looking at us and bursting out laughing.

…Ho ho, look at this guy.

Actually, I had a relatively generous heart towards the characters of this world.

As I had said before, they were just ‘kids’ who had studied for a few more years.

It was meaningless to seriously get angry and have emotional disputes.

That was why I had just given Bae Hyun-joong a scolding when he had openly picked a fight with me.

No, I felt sorry for him.

He was just hitting on a woman who had rejected him and was unable to forget her.

But if it was like this, then the story would be different.

He didn’t just get sulky and complain, he had directly schemed to cause me harm.

I was especially displeased that he had specifically pointed out the attendance points, knowing that our group had a ghost member.

Fortunately, the professor had given us a grace period, so we hadn’t actually been harmed yet.

But even just the attempt had crossed the line.

…It seemed that I needed to give him a proper warning at least once.