I Became a Law School Genius

Chapter 1

—Remember this.

A middle-aged man in a suit solemnly declares.

—The law itself is not a complete order. Nor is it ultimate justice. It is merely a collection of dust-covered letters. It is your duty, as legal professionals, to breathe life into those letters and transform them into a force that protects real people with flesh and blood.

A silence, seemingly overwhelmed by the weight of his words, fell over the crowd.

But it was only momentary.

Soon, someone started clapping.

Faced with the applause that poured out like a broken dam, the man responded with a slight bow.

Just as I was about to clap along, caught up in the overwhelming emotion…

[Thank you for loving the webtoon “In the Law School”.]

A single line of subtitles appears on the old office computer screen.

“Oh, are you watching this too, senior?”

At the sound of that voice, I quickly came to my senses.

“What? When did you get here?”

“Just now.”

I looked at the clock; it was already five o’clock.

Not five in the afternoon, but five in the morning.

Sunlight was stealthily creeping into the dim office.

Whether considered as an arrival or departure time, it wasn’t exactly normal.

“I didn’t know you were interested in this kind of thing, senior.”

“What kind of thing?”

“Comics, dramas, movies, novels, and other cultural activities and leisure activities.”

You always work…

The junior’s eyes, adding those words, were also dark with shadows.

I thought I was in no position to say anything, but if I had to argue, I was the bigger workaholic.

Because even if I leave work now, I plan to come back by 9 a.m. when others start their day.

“…It was a dream.”

“Yes? Law school?”

“No, being a legal professional. I used to prepare for the bar exam.”

It’s a story from my young and ambitious college days.

It was a time when rumors of the abolition of the bar exam were openly circulating, but I was confident in my studies, so I believed I could pass it before then.

Indeed, I easily passed the first exam on my first attempt.

The following year, I even passed the second exam.

It was the second stage of the bar exam, where even the most talented individuals, after years of dedicated effort, often faced failure.

All that remained was the interview, a mere formality that had no bearing on the final result.

However, I did not become a legal professional.

On the day of the interview, my younger sibling collapsed due to illness.

Having lost our parents early, it was solely my responsibility to take care of them.

After rushing them to the hospital and completing the necessary procedures, it was already too late for the interview.

It’s okay.

I can take the exam again next year, but I only have one sibling.

Anyway, there was a deferment system for those who passed the second stage, allowing them to retake only the interview the following year if they failed or missed it.

But that was only the beginning.

My sibling’s disease was a rare one I had never heard of before, and there were no hospitals or medications available for treatment in Korea.

Hospitalization in a foreign country incurred exorbitant costs.

Our already strained financial situation rapidly deteriorated.

The insufficient hospital bills turned into an astronomical amount of debt.

Inevitably, I had to resort to secondary and tertiary financial institutions, and unfortunately, the new creditors were not very patient.

With debt collectors visiting almost daily, I was eventually pushed into starting work, grinding myself day and night to earn money.

Just hold on until the interview day.

Then I will become a legal professional, and I can pay off this debt, no matter how much it is, I repeated to myself countless times.

But I couldn’t go to the interview the following year either.

This time, it was a car accident. I took a taxi early in the morning, determined not to be late, but the driver dozed off, resulting in a collision with a truck ahead.

When I woke up in the hospital, the doctor consoled me, saying it was a miracle that I survived.

I ended up losing my deferment in an instant.

Of course, I couldn’t give up there, so I continued to take the exam the following year…

However, no matter how well I had performed once, the bar exam was not an easy hurdle to overcome while working all day with a broken body.

Even other skilled individuals who were on the verge of passing were glued to their desks until their buttocks were sore.

In the end, I never passed again.

“I missed my chance.”

Years passed, and now it’s the present.

I’m still working myself to the bone.

Because the debt… it’s still overwhelmingly large.

“That’s what happened… What about your sibling?”

“They passed away. Two years ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I brought it up.”

My sibling is no longer in this world, but the debt remains.

There was no other way but to live like this until it was all paid off.

Even when I heard the news that the exam I was preparing for had been abolished and the path to becoming a legal professional had been unified into this thing called law school…

Even when I heard that despite the notoriety of being a “money school” and a “backdoor for the wealthy,” they waived tuition fees and even provided living expenses through scholarships for the poor…

It didn’t apply to me.

“They can’t pay off my debt with a scholarship.”

“So…”

“Yeah. That’s why I’m watching this kind of comic.”

“In the Law School” was quite an entertaining webtoon.

Because I could get a glimpse of law school students immersed in their legal studies, walking the path I couldn’t take.

Whenever legal principles or precedents I had learned during my long-ago exam preparation days appeared in the story, I would get excited, thinking, “Oh right, it was like that.”

Although, to attract interest, they added a lot of conflict between characters and unnecessary romantic elements.

And as if aiming for a shocking development, in the latter half, a character was even murdered, turning it into a thriller.

But even considering all that, “In the Law School” was the best webtoon of my life. Although, to be honest, it’s the only webtoon I’ve ever seen.

“Well then, I’m off work.”

As I limped out of the office, my junior’s voice flew and pierced my back.

“Senior.”

“Huh?”

“…What if, what if…”

Their tone was quite serious.

“What if all that debt of yours disappeared, and you were given the opportunity to pursue anything you wanted?”

I unconsciously looked back.

“Then, senior, would you still want to become a legal professional?”

It was a pointless question.

My debt hasn’t disappeared, and I haven’t been given the opportunity to pursue what I want.

Still, the reason I stopped and pondered over it was probably because of my junior’s eyes, which seemed somehow different from usual.

“…Well…”

However, I couldn’t answer. I ran out of the office as if escaping.

For some reason, I had the illusion that my junior’s gaze was piercing my back for a very long time.

***

“…Uh oh. What’s wrong with this?”

In the middle of the road back to my accommodation.

My eyelids felt heavy, like a thousand pounds.

Strength drained from my body.

Unable to withstand my trembling legs, I collapsed to my knees.

“Hey, are you okay!?”

A passerby’s voice sounded as if it were coming from far away.

My consciousness faded with every passing moment.

Finally, I vaguely realized that I was paying the price for abusing my body for so long.

—Senior, do you still want to become a legal professional?

In my hazy mind, for some reason, the question my junior had asked resurfaced.

…Actually, you know…

—Yes.

I wanted to become a great prosecutor.

—A prosecutor?

The world is not fair. Countless things happen that don’t make sense. Still, everyone should be equal before the law. Even if reality isn’t like that, we have to make it that way. I wanted to be the one who makes that happen with my own hands.

—……

Whenever I think like that, no. Only when I think like that…

My heart still races.

—Is that so?

Well, it seems like it’s impossible in this lifetime.

But still, I lived really hard, right? I tried my best. I dedicated my whole life to my family.

So, if there’s a next life. If I’m given a chance to live again…

Then… Yes. Like those students in the webtoon, I want to be born into a life where I can just study to my heart’s content.

I want to chase after the dream I couldn’t achieve.

It was the moment when the thought that I should have said that crossed my mind.

—That’s good. Then give it a try.

Give it a try? Try what?

Without even a moment to ponder that question, my consciousness completely blacked out.