Episode 31

For Han Il-gu, law school was a system of both love and hate.

During his law school days, everything was different from now.

Like all other humanities and social sciences, law was also treated as a proper academic discipline.

That was why he, as a scholar, had been appointed as a professor, and he could freely stroll through the profound fundamental concepts of law and lecture to his heart's content.

Of course, even back then, there were some who thought of law school as nothing more than a place to prepare for the bar exam.

There was an atmosphere that judged the value of law schools based on the number of bar exam passers rather than the quality of legal education, and students would openly solve exam preparation books during class or take leaves of absence to prepare for the bar exam.

But the fact that it was simply a 'minority' view was a completely different issue from it becoming the 'essence' of the system.

Since the opening of the law school system, Han Il-gu felt that he was being looked at with disapproval every moment.

The deans subtly suggested that he should try teaching a curriculum that was tailored to the bar exam, and when he firmly resisted, his lectures were suddenly at the bottom of the list in terms of enrollment among the constitutional law professors.

'This is a mockery of academic law!'

Han Il-gu felt a great sense of humiliation.

Whether that was truly a mockery of law, or a mockery of his younger self who had wiped away tears and gone abroad to study after failing the bar exam time and time again, was not a question that Han Il-gu could distinguish in his heart.

Of course, it wasn't all bad.

Ironically, the students listened to Han Il-gu's classes more attentively than ever before.

Law school grades were useless if you passed the bar exam, but law school grades had a decisive impact on your career path.

In fact, their lives were practically in the hands of the professors.

On top of that, the exams he set were notoriously impossible to prepare for.

The students desperately listened to Han Il-gu's voice, hoping for even the smallest hint.

Law school did not value his academic achievements.

But at the same time, it gave him transcendent authority as a professor.

In this contradictory situation, Han Il-gu's personality became increasingly twisted.

"Number 44, Park Han-yul. What is sovereignty?"

"Uh..."

"Can someone who is studying the Constitution not even answer what sovereignty is?"

At Han Il-gu's prodding, the student who had been called out scanned the lecture notes and recited a general definition.

"It is the supreme power that ultimately decides the will of the state, and in modern democratic countries, it originates from the people..."

"Stop, stop!"

Han Il-gu shook his head.

"That is nothing more than a tautology. Let's change the question. In Carl Schmitt's constitutional and political theory, what does 'sovereignty' mean?"

The student was speechless. He frantically flipped through the lecture notes, but there was no way he could find it.

The explanation of Schmitt was written in the principle of constitution part, not the sovereignty part.

"Haa... Next. Number 27!"

"Number 62!"

"Number 13!"

No matter how many times he called out, he didn't get a satisfactory answer.

Han Il-gu knew that the reason wasn't because they were stupid.

His students were talented individuals who could give wonderful answers if they set their minds to studying.

This was, after all, Korea University Law School.

So, the only reason they were sitting there blankly, staring at Han Il-gu like they were useless sacks of rice, was this.

They hadn't studied.

Why? Because there was no need.

Because it wouldn't appear on the bar exam.

Because they couldn't invest that much time in his subject while studying Civil Law and Criminal Law.

It was an empty authority.

What use was it if the students bowed their heads to him, meekly apologized, and repeatedly said they were sorry?

Deep down, they all defined the tower of academia that he had built throughout his life as 'useless'.

"In this place, which is supposed to be the best legal education institution in South Korea! Is there no one who can explain Schmitt's theory of sovereign dictatorship!"

It was the moment he shouted to avoid acknowledging that emptiness.

"Ugh..."

Along with a low groan, a male student sitting in the middle rubbed his eyes and raised his head.

Did he sleep? In his class? Han Il-gu's already terrible mood completely twisted.

'That guy... Number 38. Park Yoo-seung.'

Han Il-gu's extraordinary brain matched the face of the student who had been sleeping with the attendance list.

He was a student whose name had been circulating among the professors recently.

A dark horse who had achieved remarkable growth after receiving a terrible score on his first exam, or so the rumors said, and that the vice dean had suffered a blow from him, or so the rumors went.

When he heard that story, Han Il-gu had been secretly pleased.

The other professors couldn't treat him, an elder, carelessly, but the vice dean had always picked on him with talk about performance and pass rates.

But now, he could only feel anger.

To have such brilliant talent. And to have devoted himself to a bloody effort after coming here.

'Even such a guy thinks that my class is not worth studying...!'

"Number 38. Park Yoo-seung."

So, Han Il-gu called him out.

"Yes?"

Park Yoo-seung answered with a dazed expression.

"You answer. You must be very confident, so you were sleeping during class because you had nothing else to learn."

Snickering laughter broke out here and there.

Even if he didn't know, it seemed that that guy, Park Yoo-seung, wasn't very popular.

Well, it was only natural for the protruding stone to get hit.

It was only natural to be jealous when someone unexpected achieved remarkable growth.

'...I've lost my temper too much.'

Only then did Han Il-gu realize that he was acting out of excessive spite.

What fault did the students have?

The problem was in the flawed system that forced them to conquer exam-focused law within the short period of three years.

An environment where you couldn't study deeply, even if you wanted to.

'Since he probably can't answer anyway, I should just smooth over the atmosphere and move on.'

Just as Han Il-gu was thinking that and clearing his throat, it happened.

"You're talking about the concept of sovereignty in Schmitt's constitutional theory, right?"

Park Yoo-seung opened his mouth.

"It is the personal power capable of executing political decisions in a state of emergency, and its basis lies in the constituent power itself, which cannot be excluded by any constitutional norm."

"Yes, yes. You might not know... What?"

The answer was completely identical to the expression that Han Il-gu himself had used in a paper he published last year.

Han Il-gu's blurry eyes immediately widened.

* * *

'...Did I say too much?'

Seeing the dramatic reaction of the Constitutional Court professor, I regretted it a little.

I had only answered with an appropriate expression because I had been caught sleeping, and I didn't want to get on his bad side and get into trouble.

But then, the Constitutional Court professor, with a face as if his dead son had come back to life, began asking me all sorts of questions.

Thanks to that, I ended up sweating and waging a battle of questions and answers.

'I'm not an expert like you!'

My understanding was only at the level of having skimmed through the documents that 'Easy-Peasy' had summarized a few times.

It was only enough to produce a decent answer for the exam, but I had never actually opened a book like Schmitt's writings.

If a slightly more in-depth question came flying, I would quickly be exposed.

Fortunately, just when I was running out of things to say, the Constitutional Court professor nodded as if he was satisfied.

"Excellent!"

The Constitutional Court professor shouted with emotion.

"In this era where even the best educational institutions in the country have turned into wastelands of theoretical law, I have seen a ray of hope in this student."

'No, it's not that much.'

"Everyone, please applaud Park Yoo-seung. He is cultivating true learning in this barren environment...!"

'That's not it...'

The Constitutional Court professor was not originally someone who praised students.

It was a blessing if he didn't sneer at them or criticize them for being below standards.

For such a person to change his attitude like flipping his palm and lavish praise on me, everyone could only be dumbfounded.

Especially me, the person involved, couldn't stand the burning feeling on my face.

What was this talk of true learning?

I didn't know that I would be praised like this for the knowledge that I had hastily crammed in for exam preparation.

Only the study group members who knew the truth were secretly bowing their heads and chuckling.

'I'd rather be criticized...'

But that was my situation.

It seemed that it was being perceived differently by those who were watching.

"What was so special about that decision?"

"How the heck did he study all that...?"

"I'm a philosophy major, and I briefly covered Schmitt in a 4th year major class. It was so difficult that I gave up without understanding it."

"But Park Yoo-seung is a business major."

"What is he, really...?"

Mixed with the applause, murmurs were heard here and there.

This was a real overestimation. Before the fire spread further, I tried to extinguish it.

"No, Professor. It's just that I happened to come across a few theses, and I just repeated the expressions as I remembered them. I cannot say that I truly understand the meaning of the concepts..."

"That humility is the ideal quality that a researcher should have."

'I'm going crazy, really.'

"Do not hastily conclude that you understand. Constantly doubt your own knowledge and delve deeper beyond the text. I can say with certainty."

The Constitutional Court professor's eyes were shining.

"Park Yoo-seung has the talent to be a legal scholar."

And so, the class went by in a blur.

The Constitutional Court professor was in a good mood, and for once, he didn't get angry and lectured diligently, and he finished class on time.

I mixed in with the other students and quietly left the lecture hall.

Or so, I had intended.

"Park Yoo-seung, please see me for a moment."

Unfortunately, I was caught by the Constitutional Court professor at the very moment I was putting my hand on the door handle.

'Oh, no. I have to go study for the exam.'

There wasn't even a full week left until the midterm exam.

I didn't want to waste time on things like this.

Just for today, I had a mountain of things that I had planned to study.

Therefore, I turned my head, intending to politely refuse the Constitutional Court professor's invitation.

But.

"It will only take a moment. I want to show something to someone with the talent like Park Yoo-seung..."

As soon as I heard those words, I was seized by a strange hunch.

'This, this is something.'