At age 9, he appeared on a TV program as a child prodigy in law.
– What? A nine-year-old memorized the entire Civil Code? And his dream is to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?
At age 11, he passed the high school equivalency exam.
– Legal genius Kang Do-yeol makes headlines after passing the equivalency exam at age eleven. He says his dream remains unchanged….
At age 12, he entered the Department of Economics at Hanguk University.
At age 15, he graduated early as the top student in his class.
…And at the same age, he entered Hanguk University Law School as the top-ranked admittee.
From the moment he enrolled, the star of the legendary “young success” story Do-yeol became the center of attention.
A promising genius was valuable, so law firms lined up to recruit him, but…
For some reason, he turned them all down.
“Mr. Do-yeol, would you be interested in becoming a scholarship student at our firm on the condition that you join us after graduation? We can start you at several hundred million won a year!”
“I’m sorry.”
Naturally, his classmates could not contain their curiosity.
“Do-yeol, why did you turn down Kim & Partners?”
“Yeah. It’s rare to get an offer like that the moment you enroll!”
Do-yeol’s expression remained calm.
“Because I’m planning to go into public service.”
“You’re a prosecution fanatic… I mean, a future prosecutor?”
“No. That’s not the path I’m aiming for.”
“Then what is?”
“I’m going to become a Supreme Court Judicial Research Officer.”
“…A Supreme Court Judicial Research Officer?”
A Supreme Court Judicial Research Officer was a fixed-term public servant position for which only five people nationwide were selected. They assisted Supreme Court justices by reviewing case records.
Because they were considered the highest-priority candidates for judicial appointment, they were also nicknamed “judges-in-waiting”.
“Yeah.”
So when he said he was preparing to become a Supreme Court Judicial Research Officer…
…it meant that the words spoken by the nine-year-old boy who dreamed of becoming Chief Justice were still as firm as ever.
Do-yeol did not pursue personal happiness and devoted himself entirely to studying.
His classmates sometimes tried to encourage him to take up hobbies, but his answer was always the same.
“I’m studying on financial support. Hobbies are a luxury.”
The only thing he ever did was study.
He had never even gone on a typical trip to Japan, let alone traveled within Korea. Most of his meals came from the university cafeteria.
People praised Do-yeol for his frugality.
They said he never wasted the money he received and spent it only where necessary. They believed he was an upright young man by nature and would surely become an excellent legal professional who fought for the weak.
But…
His classmates, who saw him up close every day, couldn’t help but think differently.
“Guys, should we really leave Do-yeol like this?”
“Of course not.”
Because Do-yeol wasn’t being frugal.
He was simply abusing himself.
“He needs to learn how to have fun.”
His classmates decided to introduce Do-yeol to ordinary happiness.
“Do-yeol! Want to go get tteokbokki?”
“Let’s go!”
“Come on! I’ll buy you some fried snacks too!”
“Hmm, tteokbokki…”
Do-yeol spoke hesitantly.
“…Can we get the mild version?”
“…Huh?”
“Not that I can’t handle spicy food, of course. I can definitely eat spicy food. However, excessively spicy food can be detrimental to exam candidates, so…”
His classmates cut him off with delighted smiles.
“Of course that’s fine!”
“Let’s go already!”
“I’m starving!”
They dragged Do-yeol to a nearby snack shop. After taking a bite of the tteokbokki, he looked around uncertainly.
“…Are you sure this is the mild version?”
“Huh?”
“If it’s the mild version, why is it spicy? Doesn’t that violate the principle of good faith?”
His classmates were speechless. Sure, food being spicy was one thing, but…
Why was the principle of good faith coming up here?
“What do we do with him?”
“We’ve got a long way to go.”
“No kidding.”
“Should we talk to the owner? This could also be considered a broad form of defective performance.”
“Do-yeol. Just eat.”
“Huh? How am I supposed to eat if my mouth is closed?”
“While I’m still asking nicely, just eat.”
Nod, nod.
“…Okay.”
…Even the legal genius Do-yeol had weaknesses.
One was that he lacked social skills.
The other was that he had an extremely low tolerance for spicy food.
***
Three years later, three more achievements had been added to Do-yeol’s résumé.
Age 18: Graduated first in his class from Hanguk University Law School.
Age 18: Appointed as a Supreme Court Judicial Research Officer.
Age 18: Ranked first nationwide on the bar exam.
And besides those accomplishments, one other thing had changed significantly: his relationships with people.
Do-yeol had dreamed of a quiet, peaceful life, but his classmates had thoroughly shattered that dream.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Kim Na-yoon: Guys, you remember we’re meeting at the amusement park at 1 today, right?]
[Kim Min-jae: Yep! On my way!]
[Lee Chang-woo: Same here. Do-yeol, how much historical drama have you watched?]
…
While waiting for the bus, Do-yeol ignored the messages.
[Kim Na-yoon: Oh, so now you’re not even going to reply?]
[Kim Na-yoon: Reply right now. Want a forehead flick?]
[Kim Min-jae: This won’t do. We should just forcibly occupy Do-yeol’s house. Let’s all go to his place after this.]
[Lee Chang-woo: lol, you two are being a bit much.]
[Kang Do-yeol: Please remember that you’re all lawyers. Once a threat serious enough to cause fear and compel someone’s conduct is communicated, the commencement of the offense of coercion may be recognized….]
[Kim Na-yoon: Quiet. The law is far away, but fists are close. At least watch episode one on your way here.]
Do-yeol frowned and let out a sigh.
“…Why do I have to watch a drama?”
[I hereby render judgment! The criminal’s offense of deceiving innocent citizens is most grave! Guards, apply the leg torture!]
[Aaaaargh! M-My lord magistrate! I beg your forgiveness!]
“And why this one of all things?”
[Now airing: the alternate-history drama, New Tale of the Magistrate!]
Do-yeol had no interest in watching historical dramas, but his classmates stubbornly insisted, and there was a reason for that.
– Do-yeol, let’s say there’s someone you want to get to know. How would you start a conversation?
– Hmm… When calculating the ratio for subrogation by payment, if a person is both a guarantor and a real-property guarantor, do you support the guarantor theory or the real-property guarantor theory?
– You’re screwed.
– Why? Because it doesn’t follow the precedent? Blindly accepting precedent isn’t exactly a sound approach—
– Argh! You idiot! If you say things like that, everyone will run away!
New Tale of the Magistrate was a fusion historical drama set in Joseon, centered around a magistrate conducting trials.
His classmates had recommended it in the hope that it would give Do-yeol a conversation topic he could actually use when talking to people.
“Hmph. What conversation topic could possibly be more interesting than a sharply divided academic debate?”
Though Do-yeol acted prickly on the surface, he understood what his classmates were trying to do and was always grateful to them.
“…Hmph.”
Sometimes he even wondered whether someone like him, who had started with nothing, really deserved to be treated this well.
***
Do-yeol’s life as an orphan had changed completely because of a single turning point.
It began with a special measure taken by the orphanage director, who couldn’t bear to see his talent go to waste.
– What if we put Do-yeol on television? Maybe someone will offer to sponsor him….or even adopt him!
When the station was contacted, a producer instantly saw the potential in the sensational premise and rushed over to meet with the director.
– Hmm, it’d be even better with just a little extra seasoning.
– Huh? What do you think we should do?
– Well… you said Do-yeol has an exceptional memory, right?
A flash of inspiration struck the producer.
– A genius boy who memorizes the entire body of law! That’s good. That’s got some real headline potential!
And so, through a television producer’s carefully crafted plan, one boy’s dream began.
The show’s ratings exploded, and people became fascinated with the underprivileged genius boy.
Support poured in. Not only for the orphanage, but for Do-yeol as well.
There was also a constant stream of adoption inquiries, but none of them ever led to an actual adoption.
Too many unscrupulous people wanted to adopt Do-yeol to profit from him, and as a result, every adoption process fell through.
Through all of this, the intelligent young Do-yeol came to understand what he needed to do to survive.
– So I have to study if I want to survive.
Because his value, as someone living on the kindness of others, seemed to rest on nothing but his academic achievements.
It was only natural that he eventually set his sights on becoming the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
People wanted him to become a guiding light for society.
As a result, Do-yeol had carried a sense of indebtedness from a very young age…
But thanks to the persistent efforts of his classmates, he had gradually begun to change.
“Hmph. They really do give me a hard time. Still…”
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
“…They told me to watch it, so I guess I should.”
And so, as Do-yeol sat at the bus stop and started the historical drama—
“…Huh?”
A child, fooling around nearby, stumbled into the road just as a truck came barreling toward them.
Hooooooonk—!
Without a moment’s hesitation, Do-yeol ran into the street, shoved the child out of the way, and looked up at the truck racing toward him.
The child was safe.
But it was too late for him to escape.
Screeeeeeeeeech—!
Maybe… that’s for the best.
In that fleeting instant, Do-yeol thought:
Of course he had to save them.
People would have wanted him to.
…He may not have become Chief Justice.
But if he sacrificed himself in place of a child, then people would forgive his failure.
Do-yeol felt relieved.
And yet, he couldn’t stop the strange feeling that slowly crept into his chest.
At first, dry and lifeless faces came to mind.
The producer who had made him perform for ratings.
The greedy faces of people who had wanted to become his parents for the sake of sponsorship money.
The faces filled with envy and jealousy directed at him.
“…Ah.”
But those colorless memories quickly passed by.
“Oh no!”
“Someone fell into the road!”
And then warm, familiar faces began to bloom in their place.
– How was your day?
– …It was actually pretty fun.
– Do-yeol! Let’s all go out together again next time, okay?
As small but colorful memories burst into bloom, the world regained its color once more.
Hooooooonk—!
– ..We promised we’d watch that historical drama.
And just before Do-yeol was struck by the truck.
…Snap!
A man flicked his fingers, and time stopped.
***
“Hmmmmmm….”
A man dressed in a black durumagi muttered as he looked at a tablet.
“Kim Ji-woo, age six! Died after being hit by a truck!”
The man glanced toward the sidewalk.
The child who was supposed to die was perfectly alive.
“…Or rather, Kang Do-yeol, eighteen years old. Died before his talent could fully bloom.”
There was no such thing as a death that didn’t feel unfair…
But even so, the grim reaper found this one particularly bitter.
“What a pity. If it were up to me, I’d save you, but that lies beyond my authority. It would violate causality. Besides…”
The grim reaper looked into Do-yeol’s eyes.
Hmmmmmm.
“You carry sunlight within you, yet hold no moisture. A flower dried out, devoid of life.”
Having silently endured the insults of a man he had never met before, Do-yeol finally reached his limit.
“By the way, who are you?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking?”
“…….”
Do-yeol thought to himself:
Judging by the outfit, is he mentally unstable?
The timid grim reaper was slightly hurt.
“Th-This may not look like much, but it’s a trendsetting item leading the Underworld’s spring/summer fashion season!”
“…How did you know what I was thinking?”
“Hmph. It’s only natural. I’m a grim reaper.”
Do-yeol didn’t believe in supernatural phenomena, but he couldn’t deny what was happening now.
The entire world had frozen in place, except for him and the grim reaper.
The grim reaper spoke bluntly.
“You died in someone else’s place. Why did you do it?”
Do-yeol couldn’t answer.
He didn’t regret throwing himself into danger, but even he was struggling to untangle his own feelings.
And the grim reaper was no less troubled.
Haah… Of all people, why did it have to be this child…?
Then, as the grim reaper pondered the matter, Do-yeol’s phone caught his eye.
“H-How did you get this?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Ooh!
The grim reaper quickly composed himself and put on a casual smile.
“Ahem, ahem! So you watch this too? You’ve got good taste!”
“…What?”
“Th-That show! I enjoyed it tremendously!”
…What kind of grim reaper watches historical dramas?
Watching the drama gave the grim reaper an idea.
Hoho, is this causality at work? Perhaps everything was causality from the very beginning. Yes… In that case, perhaps it’s worth reaching out and touching fate itself.
“I have a proposal for you. I’ll give you two choices. Care to pick one?”
The man raised a finger.
“One. I’ll turn back time by five minutes. Do nothing, and you’ll survive.”
“Then what happens to that child?”
“They die.”
Do-yeol frowned at the answer.
“And the second option?”
Of course, the grim reaper had never expected him to accept the first.
Smiling faintly, he placed the phone into Do-yeol’s hand.
“…A historical drama?”
“That’s right.”
“What exactly am I supposed to do with this? Memorize the lines?”
“You really have no imagination. Go into the drama and save the world. Change the ending.”
“…What?”
“The ending was terrible. No, really! I thought it was going to be a masterpiece for the ages, and then the ending was a complete disaster! The thing is, it’s based on an original novel, you see, and the novel’s literary quality is far supe—”
“What kind of grim reaper makes an offer like this just because he didn’t like the ending of a historical drama?”
The grim reaper looked at the truck frozen inches from Do-yeol’s face.
“Because I can. Isn’t it better than dying like this? Besides, forcing someone back to life is difficult, but sending them to another world connected by causality is much easier.”
Absurd.
“Watching a historical drama counts as being connected by causality?”
“You know, those stories where someone gets hit by a truck and reincarnates into a work they were reading? It’s more or less the same—”
Having grasped the general idea, Do-yeol half-tuned out the grim reaper and fell into thought.
After all, the first lesson life had taught him was that every act of kindness came with obligations attached.
Yet at the same time, a counterexample surfaced in his mind.
– Hey, Kang Do-yeol! You ate at the cafeteria again, didn’t you? I packed some side dishes, so take these home and eat them later!
The names of those who had shown him kindness for no reason at all shone vividly in his memory.
“Hey! When a person…or rather, when a grim reaper is talking, you should listen!”
The grim reaper (an aspiring literary boy with a rich sensitivity) was offended.
“Ah, sorry.”
“Ahem! So, what will it be?”
Do-yeol answered immediately.
“I’ll take the second option.”
“…I see.”
Grin.
“Excellent. The contract is sealed!”
“But I don’t even know the plot of this historical drama.”
“There is an old saying: virtue comes before all else. Act with virtue, and the path ahead will naturally reveal itself.”
“Could you be a little more specific?”
…The grim reaper stared at Do-yeol for a moment before sharing a small concern instead of an explanation.
“You were born with remarkable talent, but you have many shortcomings. Think carefully about what those shortcomings are.”
Do-yeol mentally reviewed his bar exam answers.
Was it because I focused too much on applying the facts and didn’t spend enough time discussing the competing theories? That has to be it.
“No, not that! The genre is different! A completely different genre!”
“Then what is it?”
“Haah… I’d like to help you more, but…”
Snap!
The grim reaper flicked his fingers once again.
Time resumed, and Do-yeol vanished to parts unknown.
“…I’ve already bent the rules enough as it is. Tch, there isn’t a single lovable thing about that boy. I’m going to end up writing one hell of an incident report. What a troublesome brat. Still, if possible…”
The grumbling grim reaper returned to the darkness, a faint smile on his lips.
“Go and enjoy yourself to your heart’s content.”
***
Someone grabbed Do-yeol in a panic.
“Young Master!”
“…Huh?”
The person then poked him repeatedly.
“What do you think, Young Master?”
…I’m the Young Master?
When Do-yeol looked at the man with a bewildered expression, the man in hemp clothing chuckled and said,
“We came to the magistrate’s office because you said you wanted to watch a court case. Why are you acting like this now?”
…This is the beginning? I don’t know anything about this world. What exactly am I supposed to do?
Flustered, Do-yeol glanced around, trying to make sense of the situation, when voices rang out from the front.
“Your Honor! I lent that man rice, but now he claims he’s already repaid the debt however he sees fit!”
“And what’s wrong with that? I lent him eggs! Since the debts are worth about the same, I’m saying we should cancel them out against each other!”
The first farmer struck his chest in frustration.
“I don’t have any rice to eat right now! If I’d known this would happen, I never would have lent it to him!”
“That’s your problem, not mine!”
“Enough, enough! How dare you cause such a disturbance in this court!”
“Ugh….”
“My apologies….”
As Do-yeol watched, the words slipped out before he could stop them.
“The issue is whether setoff applies.”
…Huh?
“Y-Young Master?”
“What?”
“What’s that fellow talking about?”
He hadn’t meant anything by it.
The problem sounded familiar, and the answer had simply escaped his lips.
But the consequences were immediate and far-reaching.
Not only the gathered townspeople, but even the magistrate presiding over the dispute turned to look at Do-yeol.
“You there. What was it you just said?”
“…Huh?”
Do-yeol looked at the magistrate and froze.
– Noona, are you sure watching this is actually going to help me?
– The protagonist is a magistrate! That’s basically a judge in modern terms. A judge!
– That’s a ridiculous stretch.
The magistrate standing before him was unmistakably…
– Anyway! You have to watch it, Do-yeol. Got it?
…the protagonist of this historical drama.
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