I Became a Law School Genius

Chapter 6

Episode 6

Before I could even respond, Shin Seo-joon placed his tray on the table with a thud.

The menu was the same as mine, oven-baked chicken gratin.

It was only natural since it was his favorite food in the original story.

“...I’m almost done eating.”

“It won’t take long. I also tend to eat pretty quickly.”

Despite my indirect refusal, Shin Seo-joon sat down without a second thought and shoveled a spoonful of gratin into his mouth.

For a guy who looked as refined as a medieval aristocrat, his behavior was quite down-to-earth.

“You’re Park Yoo-seung, right? I’m Shin Seo-joon, who presented on the same problem in the criminal law class in Class A earlier. I was really... impressed by your presentation.”

“I just got lucky.”

“I thought it was just a question to check our pre-existing knowledge by asking if we knew about defamation, but I never imagined that there were two other hidden issues. I only realized it after hearing your explanation. I thought, ‘Is this how a ‘genius’ solves problems?’ Haha.”

Shin Seo-joon was being friendly and laid-back.

This was also a tactic he often used.

He knew how much people admired and longed to be like him, so he would, in turn, lower himself without hesitation and flatter the other person.

He made the other person feel excited, thinking, ‘This amazing guy is acknowledging me!’ and easily gain their favor.

Honestly, I felt good too.

It was quite a thrilling experience to have the protagonist of the original story, whom I had only watched and envied from the other side of the screen, praise my solution.

But, I shouldn't fall for it.

“I’m busy, so let’s get to the point.”

“Oops, my apologies.”

Even though I was deliberately acting more rude, Shin Seo-joon didn’t change his expression and continued to smile.

If someone who didn’t know him saw him, they would think he was a really good person, but that was far from the truth.

Shin Seo-joon was not that angelic, straight-laced, model protagonist.

If anything, it was the opposite.

“Park Yoo-seung.”

Shin Seo-joon narrowed his eyes.

“What kind of person do you think makes a good lawyer?”

His testing gaze flew at me sharply.

‘...This is.’

I knew this question.

‘It’s the question he asked Han Seol in the original story.’

In fact, Shin Seo-joon was not a case of someone who had entered law school to purely study law.

It was revealed as the original story progressed, but he had a special ‘purpose’ that required him to enter Korea University Law School.

For him, the relationship with the other students was just a search for pawns to achieve his goal.

With that smiling face, Shin Seo-joon hid his intentions and sought out people he could use.

If you got caught by his radar, you would inevitably get involved in the main story.

In that tense suspense where people died and faculty members were caught as suspects.

I couldn't let that happen.

I had a dream I wanted to achieve, didn't I?

It was a distant goal that I might not even be able to achieve even if I focused solely on studying.

There was no room to get involved in a scenario that Shin Seo-joon would solve on his own anyway.

So, I retorted bluntly.

“Someone who’s good at law.”

“...What if he uses his power and knowledge for unjust things?”

“Being good at law is justice.”

Shin Seo-joon’s eyebrows twitched.

For a very brief moment, a look of disappointment flashed across his face.

“...I see.”

That was enough.

Han Seol in the original story had answered, ‘Someone who applies principles fairly to everyone,’ and ended up getting caught in Shin Seo-joon’s web.

The sense of justice of prospective law students was a bait that he liked very much, and that he often used.

Shin Seo-joon, whose words had decreased drastically, devoured the gratin at a speed where I couldn't tell if he was eating or drinking it, and then left, saying, "Well, thanks for the meal."

I had managed to survive for now.

“Hmm...”

It was to avoid the situation, but it still felt bad to say something unjust.

No matter what anyone said, I had dreamt of becoming a prosecutor because I wanted the world to be fair.

That was why I said that.

‘Being good at law is justice.’

That was the right thing to say.

If someone was unjust, then they weren’t truly good at law.

* * *

The results of the first test were announced.

It had been just a few days, but they had already graded all the multiple-choice questions and the essay-type questions where each person submitted tens of thousands of characters worth of answers.

Were the professors at Korea University Law School all monsters?

In the meantime, several civil law, criminal law, and constitutional law classes had passed.

Whenever the professor asked a question, Han Seol would raise her hand and shout out the correct answer, and thanks to that, our group was steadily accumulating points.

A mocking voice flew from behind me.

“It’s Park Yoo-seung, the shame of the Business Administration Department, the worst troublemaker born from Gwanak Mountain.”

When I turned around, I saw a face that seemed familiar from the original story.

“Who, might you be?”

“It’s Bae Hyun-joong! You’re not going to pretend you don’t know me, are you?!”

Ah, I remembered after hearing his name.

Like Park Yoo-seung, Bae Hyun-joong was a character who was used as a disposable villain.

The difference was that Bae Hyun-joong was relatively good at studying, and he had more episodes where he appeared than Park Yoo-seung.

But in the end, they were both taken care of by Shin Seo-joon and removed from the story.

But that was my memory as a reader, and I didn’t know if Park Yoo-seung had any contact with him.

If I had to guess, Bae Hyun-joong seemed to be from the Business Administration department like Park Yoo-seung and Han Seol...

When I shrugged, Bae Hyun-joong shouted, flustered.

“You bastard! It doesn’t make any sense that trash like you is at Korea University Law School!”

“Well, I’m here.”

“Ha. You must have committed some kind of admission fraud.”

‘Is that true?’

I briefly thought that it was a plausible theory for a moment.

Only those who had the highest scores in their grades and the LEET, the entrance exam, could enter Korea University Law School.

That was the same for the law schools that were the real-world models for Korea University Law School.

It was a bit of an unreasonable setting that a real troublemaker like Park Yoo-seung had entered.

But what could I do? The author put him in, not me.

When I didn’t respond, Bae Hyun-joong, who was even more agitated, continued his attack.

“139th place? Puh-ha, I’d rather drop out than get a rank like that.”

“And what rank are you?”

“37th place!”

“...You’re actually pretty good.”

It might seem like an awkward rank, but I mustn’t forget that this was Korea University Law School, where all the monsters of the country gathered.

With that rank here, you could aim for the top 3 law firms or a clerkship.

Of course, that was assuming that your current grades would last until the end.

“Of course. I’m different from inferior trash like you.”

Bae Hyun-joong sneered.

Yeah, Bae Hyun-joong was that kind of character.

He would always bow down to people who were better than him, but he would treat people who he thought were ‘lower’ than him however he wanted.

I found that pathetic, so I said something.

“If you’re so superior, then why didn’t you answer earlier? Instead of letting a 139th-place person steal your points right in front of your eyes.”

“T-that’s...!”

Bae Hyun-joong’s face turned red.

It was something that would hurt his pride.

None of the people who were there could answer Jang Yong-hwan’s question.

Except for Shin Seo-joon and me.

He could accept being inferior to Shin Seo-joon.

But the fact that I had solved a problem that he couldn't was probably a huge shock to him.

So much that he wanted to deny reality.

“Ha, Han Seol! Yeah. Seol, who is in the same group as you, must have told you! You didn’t answer it yourself!”

Bae Hyun-joong was yelling, as if that was his last resort.

“Hey, he calls you ‘Seol’? Do you know him?”

“Don’t you know? He hit on me in undergrad and got rejected. He’s still acting like that.”

When I whispered to Han Seol, who was next to me, I got a similar whisper back.

Ah, so that’s their relationship.

Bae Hyun-joong, who had seen that, had an expression as if his insides were burning black.

“...Seol must be suffering a lot. She’s forced to take care of such a useless person because you’re in the same group. Why don’t you stop that and I’ll start a study group...”

“Hey.”

Han Seol cut off Bae Hyun-joong’s words.

“I think you’re misunderstanding something, but I’m not forced to be with him? Of course, it would have been much better to be in the same group as someone else, but at least Park Yoo-seung has proven his usefulness.”

“You were thinking of me that way? I’m touched.”

I didn’t expect Han Seol to defend me on her own.

It seemed like she had inserted a sentence that would have been better if she hadn't, but anyway.

“And you don’t count as that ‘someone else’.”

A sharp refusal.

It was the moment where she clearly declared that Park Yoo-seung > Bae Hyun-joong.

“...You trash. You must have charmed kind Seol in the meantime.”

Unfortunately, Bae Hyun-joong didn’t listen.

“Just you wait. You relying on Seol and comfortably earning points behind her back will soon be over.”

After saying that, Bae Hyun-joong left while grinding his teeth.

“...That’s so annoying, seriously.”

Han Seol grumbled as she looked at his retreating back.