I Became a Law School Genius

Chapter 26

『 Translator – Divinity 』

I was an avid reader of “In the Law School,” practically memorizing it scene by scene.

This meant I remembered almost all the characters who appeared in any way.

Therefore, among the flood of applications Han Seol received, I could clearly filter out the ‘ones we shouldn’t pick’.

‘Let’s see. First, this guy is a no-go.’

Among them was a womanizer who had been rejected by countless female classmates.

In the second semester, he even went as far as stalking a senior, which led to a huge incident.

Objectively speaking, Han Seol and Lee Ha-ru were quite attractive.

There was no guarantee that this guy wouldn’t cause trouble if we brought him in.

‘Perhaps that’s his whole reason for applying in the first place.’

This person, cut. Next.

‘Hwang Gyu-ho? He’s okay.’

He was a guy obsessed with grades, and I remember him even passing the law clerk exam later on.

He was the type who would jump into a frozen lake in the middle of winter without a shirt if it meant getting good grades.

There was no reason to reject him.

Scrolling down, I saw the name of Yoo Ye-seul, who had picked a fight with me and then ran away with her tail between her legs.

How dare she apply, knowing full well that I would be with Han Seol?

Honestly, I wasn’t too keen on her, but she wasn’t a threatening enemy to me.

‘Because I have her weakness in my hands.’

Her award from the law essay contest, which she used as a credential for her law school application.

If it was revealed that she had cheated, it was a serious matter that could lead to her admission being revoked.

Although all the magazines published at that time had been retrieved… it wasn’t impossible to find proof.

Then there was no reason to avoid her.

Rather than letting her cause trouble elsewhere, it might be better to lure her into confronting me directly and then control her firmly.

Alright. Let’s keep her for now.

As I was sorting through the names, I suddenly stopped.

“What?”

My gaze was fixed on one name.

“Why is this person here?”

[Hello! My name is Kim Seung-pil, student ID 202×0011! I’m contacting you to ask if I can still join the Constitutional Law study group haha]

No matter how many times I reread it, it was the same message.

“…That Kim Seung-pil? That can’t be right.”

Kim Seung-pil.

He was a person with a rather unique background.

Kim Seung-pil was originally a reporter for a famous media company.

He was a nobody, a low-ranking rookie, but he managed to single-handedly report on drug use and sexual entertainment allegations at a club run by a certain celebrity, instantly rising to stardom.

Just when everyone was convinced that Kim Seung-pil would have a successful career as a reporter, he suddenly announced his resignation and entered Hankuk University Law School.

After that, he didn’t show much activity, but he got involved with Shin Seo-joon in ‘a certain incident’ and provided him with great support.

‘He’s not the type to focus on grades and participate in study groups.’

Even in the original story, he was a character who wasn’t interested in grade competition.

Kim Seung-pil always seemed to be pursuing something else, remaining indifferent to the issues within the law school, and his only appearance was when he briefly lent his support after being persuaded by Shin Seo-joon.

But he was moving now.

…It bothered me. A lot.

‘Rejecting him would be a bad move.’

Although his appearance was brief, Kim Seung-pil was an important key in the latter half of the original story.

If there was a change in his heart, it could greatly affect the story’s development.

I had to keep him close and observe his intentions.

It couldn’t be helped. You’re specially appointed.

It wasn’t like he wouldn’t be helpful.

Whatever Kim Seung-pil’s intentions were, he would definitely fulfill his role.

Considering the way I planned to conduct this study group, Kim Seung-pil was actually the perfect candidate.

After organizing my thoughts, I returned the smartphone to Han Seol.

“Contact the people I’ve marked here and tell them to gather in the study room after the afternoon class tomorrow. If they can’t come due to personal reasons, well, it can’t be helped.”

“What about the rest?”

“Rejected. Based on my judgment.”

“Hmm, alright. I’m sure you have your reasons.”

Considering our first encounter, this level of trust was a complete turnaround.

***

After the afternoon class, six or seven students gathered in the study room.

They weren’t a group that usually hung out together.

The one thing that united these people, who seemed to have nothing in common, was, of course,

“Wait, are we having interviews to choose study group members? This is too much.”

A short male student grumbled.

“Hey, don’t be ridiculous.”

“Huh?”

“Whose study group is this? It’s Han Seol’s!”

A lanky, tall guy retorted.

“I acknowledge that she’s good at studying. That’s why I applied. But do we really need to go this far? It’s not like we’re creating some authoritative organization.”

“Oh, you’re so dense.”

The tall one clicked his tongue.

“She’s not just someone who’s good at studying alone. First place in the pre-law quiz group average, perfect score in the group evaluation! Even that delinquent in her group had his grades skyrocket as if his soul had been swapped. That means…”

The tall guy paused, and the short one, as if impatient, asked,

“That means?”

“They have it. An incredible secret that can make anyone get good grades in law…!”

“Oh…!?”

“Think about it. Honestly, what are you and I worse at than that idiot Park Yoo-seung? Even he got to fifth place by hanging out with Han Seol, so what would happen if we were taught that secret?”

“Ohhh…!?”

The tall guy exclaimed excitedly.

“The rumor is spreading like wildfire among the students. They say if you can just get into Han Seol’s study group, jumping to the top ranks is a piece of cake. It’s more important than getting into any club or internship interview.”

“Now that I hear it, that’s true. If even that idiot could do it, then I…”

Just as the short one was chiming in, the study room door creaked open.

Immediately after, Han Seol and I entered.

“Ah, ahaha.”

Perhaps because they were caught badmouthing me, the tall guy covered the short one’s mouth and subtly glanced at us.

I pretended not to notice and pulled up a chair, sitting across from them.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s start right away.”

“Y-yes, let’s. Haha.”

The tall one tried to gloss over it with a nervous laugh, but the short one was the problem.

“Wait.”

He interjected with a stubborn pout.

“Why are you the one leading this? As if you’re something special.”

“This body. Fifth place in the final pre-law ranking. What about you?”

“…Ugh.”

The guy’s face crumpled for a moment. I asked again,

“What about you?”

“6-64th… but.”

“Which one of us is nothing special?”

The short guy shut his mouth.

“I don’t care what you say about me. You can badmouth me all you want. You can think I’m just a guy who got lucky with good group members and got good grades for a while, or you can underestimate me and say I’m all talk. ”

But, I added,

“If you think that way, shouldn’t you value this study group even more? If even a guy like me, as you said, got these grades just by being ‘lucky’ enough to be included here.”

I smirked.

“Then you should be more desperate. You should watch your words and actions, even here.”

“Wait a minute. Don’t tell me…”

“Those two are rejected. You can leave.”

“What…!?”

The short guy’s eyes widened.

“Do you know this? It’s something you’ll learn next semester, but in our country’s procedural law, there’s a distinction between the requirements for a lawsuit and the subject matter of the main case.”

The requirements for a lawsuit refer to the conditions that must be met for the court to make a substantive judgment on a lawsuit filed by someone.

These conditions include that the party has the right to file and pursue the lawsuit, and that the lawsuit has been filed in accordance with proper procedures.

On the other hand, whether the content of the claim in the lawsuit is valid and whether it has sufficient grounds to win is a matter of the main case judgment.

If there is a flaw in the requirements for a lawsuit, the lawsuit is dismissed without even going into the main case judgment.

It’s the same principle as a racehorse that can’t run in the final race if it doesn’t pass the preliminaries.

“Academic ability, diligence, talent, those are matters of the main case judgment, and a person’s character and behavior are like the requirements for a lawsuit.”

As I said, I don’t really care what you think of me or what’s being said behind my back.

But at least you should have the decency not to get caught saying it to my face, shouldn’t you?

If I accepted those who couldn’t even watch their mouths right in front of me, who knows what kind of trouble they might cause.

“There’s no need to interview people who don’t even have the basics.”

The short guy’s face turned red.

He seemed speechless, trembling, and barely managed to squeeze out the words,

“Wait, can you just decide like that?”

“I’m choosing the people I want to study with, is there a problem with that?”

“It was Han Seol who gathered us! Stop just watching and say something!”

He lashed out at Han Seol.

“Well? I’m in charge of recruitment, I don’t have any other authority.”

But Han Seol just shrugged.

“In the first place, he’s the one with the secret you’re looking for. I don’t know much about it.”

“W-what…”

They had the wrong target.

“Well, well. Since we need to proceed with the interviews, outsiders should leave.”

I kindly pushed the two of them out the door.

“Wait, please give me a chance! I was just playing along with him to persuade him, I didn’t mean to insult you. Really!”

“You bastard, trying to escape on your own!”

“Shut up. I can’t miss this opportunity because of you!”

The two continued to bicker even as they were being kicked out, but I ignored them and closed the door, locking it.

“Now then,”

I grinned.

“Shall we continue now that the troublemakers have been dealt with?”

Only four people remained in the room.

Kim Seung-pil, Yoo Ye-seul, Hwang Gyu-ho, and one student I didn’t know.

‘The first two are people to watch, so I’ll check them myself… and I can ask Han Seol to take care of the other two.’

Fortunately, we had also reserved the study room next door.

It seemed like we could divide and proceed in both rooms.

I stayed in this room, and Han Seol moved to the next room.

The interviews would be one person at a time. Since we didn’t know what these people might say.

Who should I talk to first? To be honest, Yoo Ye-seul wasn’t that important, the truly important one was Kim Seung-pil.

‘I want to talk to Kim Seung-pil after organizing my thoughts a bit.’

Then, it would be reasonable to meet with Yoo Ye-seul first.

“Mr. Kim Seung-pil, would you mind waiting outside for a moment?”

“Not at all.”

Kim Seung-pil readily opened the door and stepped out of the study room.

Left alone with Yoo Ye-seul, I waited for the right moment and then said,

“It’s been a while since that time, hasn’t it?”

“Y-yes…”

Yoo Ye-seul’s voice trailed off as she answered.

‘Huh?’

Something felt off.

‘She feels different from last time?’

When we met before, she had an attitude of wanting to crush those she disliked, but now, for some reason, Yoo Ye-seul was nervous and fidgeting, seemingly wary of me.

‘Did she not come here to fight?’

Maybe it was just my imagination. For now, I decided to observe Yoo Ye-seul’s intentions.

I asked in a cold voice,

“Why did you apply?”

“Y-yes?”

“That Ms. Yoo Ye-seul isn’t the type to apply for our study group with pure intentions. That’s something I know, and Ms. Yoo Ye-seul herself knows very well, don’t you?”

“Th-that’s true…”

Yoo Ye-seul meekly agreed.

‘Wait, what’s wrong with her?’

This wasn’t the Yoo Ye-seul from the original story.

She was more the type to try to control and manipulate others, rarely lowering herself like this.

Her current attitude was like… a debtor groveling before a creditor who came to collect a debt.

Just like I often did in my past life.

I stared at Yoo Ye-seul without saying a word.

As if pressured by my gaze, Yoo Ye-seul nervously avoided my eyes, sweating.

“…Th-”

After a long pause, Yoo Ye-seul finally seemed to make up her mind and spoke.

“Th-?”

“I’m truly sorry for what happened last time! Please allow me to contribute to the grand plan you’re drawing, Mr. Park Yoo-seung!”

“…?”

What was she talking about?

While I was dumbfounded, Yoo Ye-seul even got off her chair, knelt down, and bowed her head.

“Please!”

Wait, what’s going on?