Episode 13

“Who am I?”

Lee Ha-roo proudly puffed out her chest.

“The ‘number one’ in the Korea University Law School civil law pop quiz.”

“Well done, then.”

“I’ve roughly figured it out. The level of Korea University… It’s so boring that I want to die.”

“Don’t be cocky. Have you already forgotten that we almost didn’t get first place because of you?”

I chided her, but Lee Ha-roo just stuck her tongue out and buried her head in the gratin bowl she was eating.

The gratin at this cafeteria was indeed heavenly.

I also took a spoonful of the gratin, which was cooled to just the right temperature to eat.

Delicious. Is this the taste of first place?

Han Seol, who was sitting next to me, tapped my arm.

“Hey, what’s wrong with being a bit proud. It’s amazing that she got that score even though she didn’t do any pre-studying.”

Han Seol was looking at Lee Ha-roo with eyes that were as proud as if she were looking at her own daughter.

Well, she wasn’t completely wrong.

The scores of the three of us that I had checked on the website were 88 points for Han Seol, 86 points for me, and 75 points for Lee Ha-roo.

The group average was 83 points, so we were naturally first place.

Since the essay-type questions were designed to give low scores even if you wrote well, that meant that we had all received top scores.

For reference, Shin Seo-joon’s group, who came in second place, had scores of 95, 72, and 70, for an average of 79 points.

Looking at it like this, it felt like Shin Seo-joon had fallen down while running with sandbags, but the truth was that even scores in the 70s were within the ranking range.

“That’s because I’m your opponent.”

Lee Ha-roo, whose nose had been lifted high, boasted.

Of course, it wasn’t like Lee Ha-roo had already gained the skills or depth of understanding that matched her score.

It was only possible because she had repeatedly gone over a limited scope using the jokbo that I had made, and because there was the assumption that all of the problems would come from within that.

Rather, if you considered Lee Ha-roo’s brain cell performance, she could have gotten a better score if she had just memorized the answers.

That probably meant that she still wasn’t serious about studying.

“Still, you couldn’t surpass us in the individual scores.”

Han Seol added regretfully.

Shin Seo-joon was definitely a monster.

To not be able to surpass him even when I had a cheat code called a handmade jokbo.

Well, I hadn’t gotten model answers for the essay-type questions either.

There might have been precedents that I had missed in the process of making my own answers.

But, so what?

“But we won, right?”

I also added a word with a big smile.

This test was a system that reflected the group average in the grades, not the individual scores.

It was clear that Group 10 was in first place.

In fact, the group evaluation score had jumped up sharply after reflecting the pop quiz scores.

[Park Yoo-seung (Group 10) / Group Evaluation (37/40)]

The group score, which was out of 40 points, had already risen to 37 points.

There were only a few days left until the end of the pre-law program, but if we got just 3 more points, we would get the perfect score.

At this point, we had more than made up for the damage we had suffered during the first evaluation.

‘It all depends on the second evaluation.’

The second evaluation that had been announced to be changing.

I didn’t know what form it would take, but I would definitely do well.

It was the moment that I made that resolution.

“Are you Park Yoo-seung?”

A female student appeared at our table and spoke to me.

“Who are you…”

“I’m Yoo Ye-seul. From Group 9, which is in the same class.”

“She’s in the same group as Bae Hyun-joong.”

Han Seol whispered.

‘Yoo Ye-seul, you say. That Yoo Ye-seul?’

I immediately took a defensive stance.

“…What brings you here?”

Yoo Ye-seul was, so to speak, the main villain of the first part of the original story.

She was the precious only daughter of the representative of ‘Taejong,’ a famous law firm.

As if she was practicing for her future position, Yoo Ye-seul was always building her own kingdom around her.

What she hated the most were people who didn’t do what she wanted and situations that didn’t go as she predicted.

In the original story, she had seen Shin Seo-joon as a thorn in her side and had often clashed with him, using her wealth and connections to pressure him.

“I heard that Group 10 got first place on the pop quiz this time? Congratulations.”

“We just got lucky.”

“Luck? You raised your score so much… Don’t you have some kind of ‘secret’?”

There was a strange emphasis on the word ‘secret.’

‘…Look at this.’

“Or, is it perhaps a family trait? Park Yoo-seung. Since you’re the nephew of Dean Kang Chang-soo, who was a former Supreme Court Justice.”

The way she was smiling while testing me was quite sinister.

At this point, anyone who took her words at face value was a fool.

Yoo Ye-seul was now openly probing, ‘You’re a relative of the dean, right? Aren’t you doing something underhanded?’

It seemed that Yoo Ye-seul had marked me as her next target.

“If you call it a ‘secret’…”

This was very displeasing.

“Are you talking about ‘that secret’ that Yoo Ye-seul used when you won the grand prize at the Ministry of Justice’s Legal Essay Competition when you were in high school?”

“Wh, what are you talking about?”

For a moment, it seemed like the composed expression on Yoo Ye-seul’s face had cracked.

“H, how did you know that…!”

“I read your winning work. Your deep understanding of joint principals in negligent crimes was outstanding.”

I added as if I was driving a nail into a coffin.

“Just like your father, Yoo Ye-seul, who is a famous scholar in criminal law.”

“…!”

Yoo Ye-seul clenched her fist tightly.

It was a topic that she had no comeback for.

At that time, the work that Yoo Ye-seul had submitted was basically a translation of a paper that her father had submitted to a small overseas journal a long time ago.

Since it was such an old journal, the data wasn’t on the internet.

Since the number of copies printed was very small, and Yoo Ye-seul had collected all of them, there was no evidence.

But those who had something to hide would always hesitate, thinking, ‘What if?’

‘I also know about you. Let’s not make this a problem that will be a pain in our necks. Let’s just try to get along.’

That was the message that I had sent her.

“Oh dear, while we were having a pleasant conversation, the food has gotten a bit cold. The gratin here tastes best when it’s warm… May I continue eating?”

“I’ll remember this.”

“Please do.”

As I gestured towards the exit, Yoo Ye-seul, who had glared at me, fled from her seat as if she was running away.

“What, what was that about…?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s just finish our meal.”

If Han Seol had found out about Yoo Ye-seul’s dishonesty, she wouldn’t have just let it slide.

If she had made a formal objection and things had gotten out of hand, I didn’t know what they would do to cover it up.

I glossed over it to protect her, and I focused on silently taking out the chicken from the gratin.

Even though it was a bit cold, the gratin here was still the best.

* * *

After lunch, it was time for criminal law class.

“As you all probably already know, we have decided to change the format of the second evaluation.”

Professor Jang Yong-hwan tapped the microphone and drew attention.

“You have already taken quite a few tests since coming to law school. How was it?”

“It was difficult.”

When a reply that was full of sincerity came back, the students laughed in agreement.

“You. What’s your name?”

That laughter soon disappeared.

“Yoo Tae-woon, professor.”

“What part was difficult?”

“Th, that…”

Yoo Tae-woon was sweating.

“There were so many things to memorize. Before you could even develop a logical argument, if you didn’t have what you had memorized, you couldn’t even grasp the issues…”

“You were having a hard time because you were forced to memorize too much?”

“Ah, no! That’s not what I was trying to say, what I was trying to say was…”

“Why do you think that is?”

“…Pardon?”

“Why do you think we force you to memorize so much? Try to answer.”

Yoo Tae-woon’s face turned pale.

“It’s like you’re being interrogated, right?”

Han Seol whispered, as if she was disgusted.

“He’s a former chief prosecutor, after all.”

While I was giving a casual reply, Yoo Tae-woon, who had been rolling his eyes for a while, barely managed to open his mouth.

“I, I think it’s because all of the tests that we’ll be taking in the future require that. The bar exam is like that, and so are the prosecutor’s main exam and the law clerk selection exam.”

“That’s it.”

Jang Yong-hwan nodded his head.

“All the law exams that you’ll be taking in the future will be done like that. Logic, brilliant ideas, the ability to capture and summarize the facts are all secondary issues. To show those abilities, you first have to cram a lot of knowledge into your head.”

It was a regrettable thing.

As he added that, Jang Yong-hwan sighed.

“You are planning to enter Korea University Law School. You are expected to be more outstanding than anyone else. We have to be the best in the bar exam pass rates, we have to produce the most prosecutors, and our law clerk records also have to be at the top.”

Because we had to be the best in all of those tests, we had to desperately struggle to memorize one more thing than others.

If we couldn’t do that, then we wouldn’t even be given the qualification to carry the name of Korea University.

A sense of tension flowed among the students.

They had suddenly realized what kind of foundation they were standing on.

“But, but, you know.”

At that moment, Jang Yong-hwan’s eyes suddenly gleamed.

“Is that enough?”

It was like throwing cold water on everyone.

He had just told us to be the best, but now he was asking if that would be enough.

I had no idea what he wanted to say.

“If you memorize well. If you neatly receive the problems that have been carved out in a determined scope. If you properly carry out the things that the polished educational track requires, can you become a good legal professional?”

“Professor, are you denying the meaning of those things?”

Someone dared to ask.

“No, that’s not it. I also passed the worn-out test that was just a mass of memorization decades ago to be standing in this position, and I have also sent countless students into those test rooms. That is a necessary process in itself.”

But.

“It’s not enough.”

“…I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

“That kind of studying is, so to speak, the basics of a good legal professional. If you do well in that, you will be able to proudly say that you graduated from Korea University Law School. But… someone among you has to look above that.”

Jang Yong-hwan declared.

“Not to make Korea University Law School a point of pride, but to make Korea University Law School take pride in you.”

“…!”

That was a phrase that was too big for us to accept right now.

Along with the silence, the sound of swallowing could be heard in the lecture hall.

“Unfortunately, with just the current educational program and tests, we cannot know if you possess those qualities… We can’t even foster them. So, something like this insignificant test that you’re taking before even entering school.”

Jang Yong-hwan clapped his hands.

“Wouldn’t it be okay if it was a bit out of the ordinary?”

Clack. Whirr.

A screen came down behind Jang Yong-hwan, and a beam projector projected an image on it.

The homepage of a precedent search engine, which any law school student would know, was displayed there.

“…Professor, what is this?”

“The second evaluation will be an open book test.”

“Y, yes?!”

Confused voices burst out from here and there.

An open book test in law school, where memorization and performance were seen as the greatest virtues.

Even I was shocked and stared at Jang Yong-hwan with my mouth open.

“Of course, you can’t bring in books, but you will be provided with this precedent search engine in the test room. If there’s something you don’t know, you can search for it as much as you want, and you can also include references. But instead.”

Jang Yong-hwan clapped his hands again.

“The problems you will have to solve… are these.”

With a whirring sound, the beam projector started to spew out countless videos in a chaotic manner.

A woman who had fallen while bleeding.

A bloody knife with fingerprints in an evidence storage box.

A real estate registry with a lot of cancellation lines, where the owner had changed many times.

An old man explaining something while looking at a screen.

A desolate plot of land with only a flag that showed the owner’s name.

And, thick bundles of documents that contained dozens of pages of records about all of this.

“In this test, you will become a practitioner. You can be a lawyer, or you can be a prosecutor. And… instead of the neatly organized facts that fit perfectly into exam law, you will have to dig through countless pieces of evidence and records to find the issues directly and establish your own arguments.”

It was a test with a completely new format.

“Don’t worry about the difficulty. As I said before, this is a relative evaluation, and if you can’t do it, the person sitting next to you won’t be able to do it either.”

The students just blankly. Stared at the screen with blank expressions.

“Each person will have to take one subject. Those who find civil law more comfortable can choose civil law, and those who are more confident in criminal law can choose criminal law. Please submit your chosen subject to my email by tonight.”

“Pr, professor, I…”

“The test date is the last day of the pre-law program. I will not accept any questions regarding the test… That is all.”

After saying that, Jang Yong-hwan turned around and left the lecture hall.

As if to coincide with that, a teaching assistant from the administrative office came in and, while looking at the students, hesitantly conveyed the message.

“Uh, um… today’s class is a time for you to think about the subject you’ll be taking for the second evaluation and also for self-study, he said…”

“Wha,”

As soon as the teaching assistant finished speaking.

“Waaaaaaaaah! Wh, what is this?!”

The lecture hall had turned into complete chaos.