Episode 41

Small sighs could be heard from all around.

"Ah."

"No way."

"What is this..."

It was no wonder that they were acting as if they had been slapped in the face.

The exam questions that we were facing were a million light-years away from the current style.

[Question 1. After reading the following facts, discuss the legal relationship between Gap, Eul, Byung, Jeong, and Mu as far as you know (However, you do not have to deal with the Law of Obligations, and it is assumed that all facts claimed by each party have been legally proven in court).]

'Discuss as far as you know'? That vague order, which made it seem like we were taking the old civil service exam from the Joseon Dynasty, made me sigh.

However...

[Gap borrowed 300 million won from Eul on March 28, 2002, and in order to secure this, he registered a mortgage on Gap's X land on March 29, 2002. However, Gap had been building a Y building on the X land since March 3, 2002...(omitted)...

However, Gap sold the X land to Byung, who was unaware of these circumstances, on September 14, 2002, and Byung occupied and used the X land without registering it, and then sold the X land to Mu on March 4, 2016...(omitted)...]

'These facts are familiar.'

This problem was practically a copy-paste of Jeon Gyu-wan's judicial exam problem research materials.

Of course, the specific dates, the type of registration, and other detailed facts were slightly modified.

But even so, the only thing that changed was the conclusion, and the issues that were being asked and the logical structure that had to be extracted were almost identical.

Even if that wasn't the case, this exam method was too advantageous for me.

In a typical problem, if the question was given in a format such as, 'Is Gap's defense that this contract is an abuse of representative power valid?', there were very few people who didn't know what to write.

It was only the detailed issues, the abundance of precedents and legal principles that were the basis, and whether or not the conclusion was correct that determined the score.

On the other hand, in this kind of problem, the first hurdle was figuring out what they were asking in the first place.

Students who had studied well would be able to create a plausible framework to a certain extent, but there would inevitably be parts that were missing among the issues that they had to write about.

'That's the point where I get my score.'

Not missing any issues was my specialty.

Even if I dealt with individual issues somewhat poorly, I would find all the issues without missing a single one, and then write them down on the answer sheet.

In the end, since the score distribution was per issue, it was easier to get high scores this way.

'Let's see...'

I skimmed through the problem, underlined a few parts, and then nodded.

'The mortgage holder's acceptance of the burden of the statutory superficies, the independence and causality of real rights, the scope of restitution for a possessor in good faith when exercising the right to claim restitution of ownership, the running of the statute of limitations for the right to claim registration, the claim for transfer of registration for the restoration of true ownership... I guess that's about it.'

I wrote down the extracted issues in a row on a corner of the exam paper, and then evaluated their importance.

In this kind of problem, there was a plethora of issues to deal with, but the amount of the answer sheet and the exam time were limited, so it was also a skill to decide how much of the description to invest in each issue.

'Statutory superficies? It's a side issue in this problem. I'll omit the general theory and just write one line from the precedent. Considering the scope of this exam and Jeon Gyu-wan's usual teaching style, I need to write the part about the right to claim registration in more detail.'

The framework of the answer was roughly drawn in my head.

If that was the case, there was no time to waste.

I immediately picked up my pen and began to write down the answer, and my classmate who was sitting next to me, who had his head in his hands, looked at me as if he was dumbfounded.

"Please don't turn your head to the side. There is a possibility of cheating."

With the teaching assistant's sharp warning, the guy returned to his head-in-hands pose.

With the sound of his sighs as my background music, I continued to move my pen.

"Hey, how was the exam?"

As soon as the exam was over, Han Seol, who had turned pale, ran up to me.

"Um, so-so."

"So-so...? That was a complete judicial exam problem!"

'That's why I said so-so.'

In fact, I was at the point where I could confidently say that I had written it perfectly, but there was nothing more uncool than showing off when the results hadn't come out yet.

Rather, I had just been humble, but Han Seol shook her head as if she was dumbfounded.

"I'm starting to have doubts sometimes."

"What do you mean."

"I'm starting to suspect that the real Park Yoo-seung is already dead, and that what I'm seeing is a different person who has been possessed by the evil spirit of a long-term judicial exam taker."

'Ouch.'

It wasn't a serious statement, but it was a statement that made me sweat a little.

"Don't be dramatic. You probably wrote it well anyway."

"No. I missed two issues."

"Good job, then."

For first-year students who had just started to adapt to law, it was too harsh of a request to find all of the issues in this kind of problem.

Realistically, it was best to write down as much as they could with certainty, even if they missed some issues.

If it was that level of certainty, no one could keep up with Han Seol.

She probably submitted an answer that was at the level of copying the entire textbook for the parts that she had written.

That was more than enough to get a passing score.

Most of the students had probably missed more issues than Han Seol, and the content was probably also poor.

"It's okay to feel anxious because it's the first time you've failed to write something on an exam. But that's how law exams are. Usually, the top score on a case-based exam out of 100 is around 60 or 70."

"Is that so...?"

"Well, I wrote it without missing any issues, though."

"Hey!"

I left Han Seol, who had become sulky, and went to take a break for a while.

In a few hours, I would have to take the Civil Law I exam again, and tomorrow was the Criminal Law I exam.

The day after that was Constitutional Law, and the day after that was the elective course, International Business Law.

Since I had a schedule that was packed for a total of four days, I had to rest when I could.

'Yeah. The exam has only just started.'

I had been lucky that Civil Law III had been set in a way that was advantageous for me.

But there was no guarantee that the other subjects would be the same.

There was no way that someone had decided that all of the midterm exams would be in the style of the judicial exam, unless someone had lost their mind.

That was why I didn't let my guard down even a little bit until the last subject was over.

But...

[Question 1. Review the criminal liability of Gap, Eul, and Byung, respectively (However, you do not have to consider special criminal laws, but they may be the subject of additional points as part of a richer review).]

"Huh?"

Criminal Law I.

[Question 1. Review all of the defenses that Gap can raise.]

"Huh huh?"

Civil Law I.

[Critique the following Constitutional Court precedent.]

Constitutional Law I.

"Huh huh huh huh?"

Why were all of the subjects only giving me problems that I knew?

* * *

The four-day exam period passed by in the blink of an eye.

Of course, the hardships of that process were something that couldn't be expressed in such a short sentence.

Every day, I only closed my eyes for an hour or two, struggling to see even one more letter before entering the exam, and my hand muscles were on the verge of spasming from having to write so many answer sheets.

'I heard that in the real law school, they take the exam on a computer now...'

But the setting of the story was a little before that time.

I had no choice but to write all of the answers by hand.

In the end, when the exam was over, my body and mind were both tattered.

But what was over was over.

I had run with a dense concentration while it was difficult, so it even felt as if it had passed by faster.

"Everyone, you all worked hard."

After finishing the elective course exam, I said goodbye to the study group members who had gathered at the student cafeteria.

"Well, I guess we don't need to have a get-together or anything... right?"

When I asked to confirm, Lee Ha-roo answered with a voice that sounded like she was on her deathbed.

"I can't. I'm going to collapse and sleep."

"I'm going home to rest too."

"I don't even have the strength to move a finger..."

"Even when I was writing articles all night, I wasn't this tired, haha."

A get-together to celebrate the end of the exam was a luxury. Everyone was in a state that was no different than a rag doll after the forced march, and above all, they were desperate to recharge.

Thanks to that, I also returned home alone after parting ways with them, and enjoyed a long-awaited rest.

I slept in as much as I wanted, and lazed around on the bed all day.

If I didn't rest properly at a time like this, my mind and body would break down at a really important moment.

'That's what they call burnout.'

I was someone who had decorated the end of my previous life with overwork.

I knew the importance of proper rest better than anyone else.

That was why I was planning to literally do nothing and just laze around for at least the weekend of the week that the exam had ended.

'......But, my body is starting to itch.'

But after resting for all of Friday and Saturday came, my soul, which wasn't used to doing nothing, began to complain about being bored.

I was truly a terrible workaholic, or rather, a studyaholic.

I had decided to rest, but before I knew it, I was sitting at my desk.

"Ah, I want to study."

It was a monologue that would make anyone point their finger at me and call me crazy if they heard it.

But what could I do, since I was born like this?

As a warm-up, I thought I would look at some multiple-choice questions and opened up a thin problem book.

"Huh."

But the letters weren't coming into my eyes.

"I can't read it...?"

It seemed that the consumption of my mental strength had been greater than I had thought.

The long and complex legal texts weren't being digested and were bouncing off my head.

It seemed that I had to rest a little more to recover my condition.

But I couldn't stand doing nothing.

Whether it was during my exam preparation days, the days when I was working to pay off debt, or the days after I had possessed this body.

The diligence that had been ingrained as a habit was rejecting laziness.

"Should I go to the library or something."

I was thinking of going to the central library of the university, instead of the law school library, and kill time while reading a light novel.

I had a hobby of reading detective novels since my past life.

The books that I had borrowed from the public library were one of the few leisure activities that I could enjoy without spending any money.

The central library that I headed towards was quite crowded.

Since the law school's exam period was about one or two weeks faster than the undergraduate departments, the undergraduates were probably just starting to prepare for their exams now.

I borrowed a suitable book, but the reading room was already full.

I had no choice but to go to the book cafe that was attached to the library and get a seat.

Most of the tables here were also occupied by students who were either studying or doing group assignments.

But, reading while drinking coffee with the murmur of people talking was a unique experience.

"Ah, what should I do. I really don't know..."

"There's a limit to searching. I can't even understand the lecture notes themselves."

"Who told us to take that property transaction law class? Is this even going to help with going to law school?"

"Where is there someone who can teach us? The senior who got an A+ last year cut off contact while they were retaking the law school entrance exam..."

A group of undergraduate students, two girls and two boys, were gathered around a table, agonizing.

If it was property transaction law, it was a lecture that taught some of the Civil Code and the Law of Obligations at the undergraduate level.

Ever since law schools had been established, all of the undergraduate law departments at universities that had received law school authorization had been abolished.

However, it wasn't like the undergraduate law classes, as a liberal arts course, had completely disappeared.

I had heard that recently, with the intensification of the entrance exam competition, there were often students who would take those undergraduate law classes and submit their grades as part of their application.

'When I was a student, even the law students didn't even listen to the classes properly.'

Most of those who dreamed of passing the judicial exam would openly open the exam books that they had bought from the cram school district during class and memorize them.

If you thought about the fact that one of the goals of the introduction of law school was the 'normalization of university education', it might be a positive change.

Anyway, these students were struggling because of the assignments of a difficult law class.

Especially with the Law of Obligations, it was inevitable that it would be difficult to grasp the concepts without someone who could properly explain them.

I was cheering on those unknown juniors in my heart as I picked up my coffee cup, when suddenly.

"Wait a minute."

A female student with short hair in the group suddenly looked at me.

"Isn't that the law school hoodie from our school?"

'Oh dear.'

"Y, you're right."

"HNU with the scale logo, there's no mistake."

"Wow, that's crazy. I'm jealous... If I could go to our school's law school, I wouldn't have any more wishes."

When a well-built male student mumbled, the short-haired girl, who had made the first comment, scolded him.

"Ugh, you idiot. Is this the time to be drooling over it?"

Then, she jumped up from her seat and approached me.

"Hello, senior!"

Her voice was completely different from when she had scolded her friend just now. It was a very bright and cheerful voice.

"We're having a bit of a hard time studying, so would it be okay if you could help us for a moment?"