I Became a Law School Genius

Chapter 24
『 Translator – Divinity 』

Park Geon stared intently at my transcript as if he had encountered an incomprehensible miracle.

But the practical mind of an entrepreneur wouldn’t tolerate such miracles.

Therefore, Park Geon first doubted.

“Is that truly your transcript?”

But even if he doubted it, the three letters of my name printed clearly wouldn’t disappear.

No matter how he looked at it, it was Park Yoo-seung. It was indeed my transcript.

Only after I showed him the grade page on the school website on my smartphone for cross-verification did Park Geon finally accept the authenticity of the grades.

“But, how…”

Still, it wasn’t something he could easily accept.

“How could you…”

“I have a dream now.”

Therefore, I added,

“I want to be a prosecutor. I want to contribute to setting the world right, as much as, no, even more than the wrongdoings I’ve committed.”

With that, I rummaged through the bag I had placed under the chair.

I took out two well-worn textbooks, the culmination of the blood and sweat I had shed over the past two months.

“Untying the Knots of Civil Law” and “Summary of Criminal Law.”

“So I put in some effort.”

I handed them to Park Geon.

“This is…”

Park Geon took the textbooks and flipped through them.

Every page was filled with scribbles, notes, and X marks.

The marks of graphite from frantically writing until the lead broke, and the traces of dried blood from nosebleeds captured Park Geon’s attention for a long time.

“I know I haven’t been a proper person, a proper son. I know I don’t deserve to show my face in front of you, Father, after all this time.”

I bowed my head before Park Geon.

“But this time, I’m going to do my best. Please give me one last chance.”

Park Geon looked up and met my gaze.

The deep eyes of the chairman of Yooseong Group shone with a piercing light.

I didn’t avoid it at all and met his gaze with a confident posture.

As the silence lengthened, Park Min-ha, who had become anxious, intervened.

“Wait, are you going to believe him now? That delinquent? It’s not enough to just take everything he has and kick him out…”

“…It will be a difficult and arduous path.”

Park Geon spat out.

“There’s no guarantee that your qualities are excellent enough to ensure continued success. In the first place, those were just grades from before the official semester even started. We can’t rule out the influence of luck. The evaluation method might have been slightly different, or it might have been possible because other students hadn’t started competing seriously yet.”

‘Sharp.’

I was inwardly impressed.

It was true that the changed format of the second evaluation played a major role in my achieving fifth place in the pre-law program.

Because it allowed me to overcome my lack of memorization.

It was also true that the students who weren’t interested in competing for advisors didn’t study as much.

‘More than anything, I was lucky to have a smart group member like Han Seol.’

Indeed, this was the insight of someone who built Yooseong Group single-handedly.

“Furthermore, considering your nature, accustomed to a life of indulgence, there’s no telling when you might loosen the reins again. Three years is a long time. Do you have the confidence to walk that arduous path on your own?”

But even if his points were all true,

I could confidently assert this one thing.

“I will not waver. I will not waver.”

This was the second life I had desperately wished for.

The things I had dreamed of more than anything were finally given to me.

There was no way I would falter midway.

“…Can you prove it?”

That was a very good sign.

Park Geon was no longer unilaterally ignoring my voice.

Instead, he was trying to test me, to understand my intentions.

A test was also an opportunity.

“Give me time.”

I nodded confidently.

“In a month, we’ll have our first midterm exams. I will prove my will and capabilities to you, Father, with the results.”

“Specifically?”

“First place.”

I blurted out, closing my eyes.

“If I don’t get first place in the midterm exams, I’ll do as you say, Father. You can make me drop out, or if you tell me to come back to the main house, I’ll obey. But if I succeed…”

“If you succeed?”

“Give me a proper reward.”

I paused for a moment while speaking.

‘…Was that a bit of a stretch?’

This was Hankuk University Law School, teeming with all sorts of geniuses.

The weight of declaring that I would achieve first place in that environment was by no means light.

But was law a field exclusive to geniuses?

—Law is a study for ordinary people. Perhaps it’s even a study for the slow-witted.

Dean Kang Chang-soo had said that.

He said that in law, those who study more and harder always come out ahead.

Then, there was no reason I couldn’t do it.

I had read the textbooks until they were worn out more than anyone else here, and honed my senses by solving countless problems.

At least, no one could surpass me in the depth of the nights spent at my desk and the weight of the blood and sweat I shed.

‘Yes, I can do it.’

Then, to persuade Park Geon, I had to make such a bold claim.

Demanding a reward might seem presumptuous at first glance.

A troublemaker who had only caused problems for the family, begging to be allowed to continue doing what he wanted to do would be more fitting, let alone asking for a reward.

But with Park Geon, this was the right approach.

A crack had already opened in the heart of this rock-like man.

It was the result of Driver Choi’s knock and the traces of my efforts combined.

Therefore, rather than continuing to grovel, it was a better choice to show the courage to challenge and demand what I wanted.

Park Geon was a man who had spent his life challenging and confronting things.

Courage and ambition were values he highly valued.

Finally, Park Geon opened his mouth.

“Alright.”

It was a clear declaration of permission.

“Do as you please.”

“Dad!”

“Are you saying my decision is wrong?”

“…Ugh!”

Park Min-ha shrieked, but immediately shut her mouth when Park Geon glared at her.

Having built everything within the comfortable fence of Yooseong Group, she couldn’t dare openly defy her father’s words.

“That’s the difference between you and that boy.”

“What…”

“Having nothing of your own, you can’t even show any guts.”

“…!”

“That’s all for dinner today.”

Park Geon rose from his seat.

“Originally, I called you here today to decide on a much more important matter. But… it seems I judged too hastily.”

“F-father?”

Park Tae-yang, who had been silent until then, let out a flustered voice for the first time.

“I’ll call for you again next time. Go back and do your respective work.”

Leaving those words behind, Park Geon completely left the dining table.

“…”

Only the three siblings remained. Park Tae-yang with a dumbfounded expression, and Park Min-ha trembling with anger.

“Uh, well.”

Finally, I awkwardly scratched the back of my neck.

“Then I’ll be going.”

Since the atmosphere was quite chilling, I quickly left as if escaping.

“…Ugh!”

I thought I heard a cry of frustration from behind me.

***

“…That’s what happened.”

I said as I manipulated the joystick of the fighting game machine.

On the screen, my character was mercilessly beating up the opponent.

A critical hit flew in, but I easily blocked it as expected and counterattacked.

The opponent’s character fell.

“Your skills have improved. If you just fix that habit of hesitating before using grabs, you’ll go up two ranks.”

As I made that comment, Lee Ha-ru’s sullen face popped up from the other side of the game machine.

“If I’ve improved, why do I keep losing?”

“Haha, can a tree reach the sky no matter how tall it grows?”

It meant that the skill gap between us was that wide.

“You’re so good. Ptooey.”

Lee Ha-ru pouted and then said,

“Master, were you a chaebol heir?”

“You didn’t know?”

“Of course not. I knew you were rich, but…”

“Lucky you. If it were me, I would have dropped out of school right away and played games at home for the rest of my life,” Lee Ha-ru muttered.

‘I guess that’s one way to think about it.’

Indeed, if ordinary people had that much money, they might not bother studying so hard.

But for me, money was just a secondary thing.

It was a kind of protective shield, a safety net that prevented me from giving up on my dreams for financial reasons like in my past life.

“Will you be alright?”

Han Seol, who was watching, asked with concern.

Since it was lunchtime and Han Seol had come to the arcade with me, she could also join us.

Surprisingly, she was quite talented at shooting games.

It was a bit scary seeing her smile while massacring zombies with a submachine gun.

It was at that moment that I decided not to let her play games too often.

‘Well, she’s not the type to play a lot anyway.’

“What do you mean, ‘will you be alright’?”

“From what I heard, it seems like you’ve completely gotten on the bad side of your hyung and noona…”

“It can’t be helped. No matter how scary they are, can they be scarier than Father?”

Park Geon currently held my lifeline.

If I could sway him, it didn’t matter if I antagonized Park Tae-yang or Park Min-ha.

I had also thought of ways to deal with them.

“Well, in the end, what matters is whether I can get first place in this midterm exam.”

“…Just so you know, I’m not planning on going easy on you.”

“Of course. You would have been angry if I had suggested that.”

Just as I had my goals and circumstances, Han Seol had hers.

Although Han Seol was quite affectionate, that was completely separate from her being serious about competition.

Doing things half-heartedly didn’t suit her, for whatever reason.

‘Even if I win like that, it wouldn’t be meaningful.’

If it wasn’t a trophy won solely through my own skills and preparation, I couldn’t proudly show it off.

Besides, Han Seol wasn’t the only opponent I had to surpass.

‘Right. To take first place, I have to surpass him.’

Our perfect protagonist from the original story, in every aspect.

I had to beat Shin Seo-joon.

“Let’s play one more round.”

“It’s almost time for the afternoon lecture.”

“Just one more, really, the last one, please. If we hurry after, we can definitely make it in time.”

“Wouldn’t it be alright? The afternoon class is Constitutional Law, and that professor is always 5 minutes late.”

“You’re really soft on Lee Ha-ru…”

With Han Seol’s support, I ended up sitting in front of the game machine once again.

Of course, that didn’t mean the goddess of victory smiled upon Lee Ha-ru.

Taking my advice, Lee Ha-ru immediately attempted the technique, but my character was already prepared, lowering its stance and aiming for the opening in her move.

“…That’s cowardly. Using your own advice against me.”

“Ahem, I taught you not to get fixated on one thing.”

In the end, Lee Ha-ru grumbled as she left, having been completely defeated. Of course, her words fell on deaf ears.

“Let’s hurry up and go. We’ll be late.”

“The afternoon class is ‘ConLaw’, right?”

“It’ll be a close call even considering that.”

As Han Seol said, the afternoon lecture was Constitutional Law, and the Constitutional Law professor was notorious for being 5 minutes late to every class.

Why was being late notorious?

Because he always ended class 10 or 15 minutes late, saying that he had to make up for the lost time.

The students called him “ConLaw.”

It wasn’t out of respect, meaning he was well-versed in constitutional law and wise like a constitutional judge, of course. It was a derogatory term, short for “Constitutional Law Disaster.”

His lectures were notoriously boring and full of content irrelevant to the bar exam.

“Why is there such a professor at Hankuk University Law School?”

“It’s the opposite. He’s there because it’s Hankuk University Law School.”

I replied to Han Seol’s complaint.

“Where do you think the law school professors come from? They’re the ones who were already there during the law department days. A place like Hankuk University Law School would have had many renowned researchers as professors, those who made a name for themselves in academic law.”

Professors from research backgrounds have tremendous pride because they have achieved a certain level of expertise as scholars.

They would rather give lectures on their research fields, as they do in general graduate schools, than spend their precious time catering to the law school curriculum or the “trivial” bar exam.

“And there’s no way to touch them in the professor society because they’re the elders.”

“Is ConLaw one of those cases?”

“Probably.”

Unfortunately or fortunately, such professors are usually assigned to the first-year curriculum.

The idea is to let students experience academic lectures in their relatively less stressful first year, while those facing the bar exam prepare with professors who teach in a more exam-oriented way.

Perhaps that’s why not only ConLaw but also the professor who teaches Civil Law III, Property Law, was a similar type.

‘Right now… it’s unfortunate.’

Because the midterm exams would be focused on those ‘academic lectures’.

Since my study method was meticulously honed around exam preparation books, it wouldn’t work for exams that were filled with unexpected topics and theories.

In other words,

It meant that I needed another way to prepare for those classes.

‘Well, it’s not like I haven’t thought about it.’

“Lee Ha-ru.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s do something together.”

“…?”

Lee Ha-ru looked back with a blank expression.

‘You’re the key card for this exam.’