My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 1

My Calling Is Profiler

# Gazing into the Abyss

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”

Park Do-joon muttered Nietzsche’s words from *Beyond Good and Evil* like a mantra.

“Even in this situation, you’re quoting that?”

The men looked at him, their eyes narrowed. But they hesitated to approach Park Do-joon.

“Is there any saying in the world that applies to us more perfectly than this?”

The face of the man at the forefront hardened at Park Do-joon’s words.

“Isn’t that right, Detective Han Sung-ki?”

“Did you just call your senior ‘Detective’?”

“It feels wrong to call someone ‘senior’ when they’ve been devoured by the abyss and turned into a monster.”

Han Sung-ki could only curse at Park Do-joon’s indifferent words.

“You son of a bitch, I’ve never liked you.”

“So, what does that have to do with you becoming a monster? You became a monster by your own choice, not mine.”

Han Sung-ki. A detective in the Korean National Police Agency and a profiler. And formerly Park Do-joon’s senior.

He was someone who once dreamed of a bright future as a police officer. But as he delved into the minds of criminals, he gradually became contaminated.

And, just as Nietzsche predicted, he himself became a monster.

“I did it for justice!”

“I don’t think ‘justice’ is a word you should be uttering.”

“When he becomes president, he can purify all evil! You’re saying that because you don’t know his righteousness!”

Despite Han Sung-ki’s passionate outburst, Park Do-joon spoke with a calm expression.

“I doubt someone who’s supposed to be a profiler actually believes that. You just *want* to believe it, it seems.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

“It’s not nonsense. Hong Woo-jong, the politician, exhibits sociopathic tendencies according to his profiler analysis. There have been eight unexplained disappearances around him, and separately, three deaths have occurred. All were treated as accidental deaths. Two of them were police officers investigating Hong Woo-jong. Isn’t that right?”

Park Do-joon spoke calmly, as if discussing someone else’s affairs. As he listened to those words, Han Sung-ki’s face grew redder. How hard had he worked to cover up those incidents? He had put in an enormous amount of effort to conceal them. But Park Do-joon knew everything.

“And you, Han Sung-ki, were the one who concealed it from the sidelines.”

Park Do-joon became interested in this case because the incidents were resolved too cleanly.

Too textbook-like, you could say. It was as if someone knew exactly what kind of situation wouldn’t raise suspicion and had tailored it accordingly.

“And Hong Woo-jong’s sexual preferences are also a problem. Judging from his behavior, he seems like an extreme sadist.”

Park Do-joon looked at Han Sung-ki with a very calm face.

“But there were no victims around him. His wife’s face is clean, and they seem to have normal sexual relations. So, where does he satisfy that sadism?”

As those unexpected words came out, Han Sung-ki swallowed hard.

“Those who know, know how many women are reported missing each year, Detective Han Sung-ki.”

“You know too much, you son of a bitch.”

“Doing this, I end up knowing things I don’t *want* to know.”

Park Do-joon took out a cigarette from his pocket. Then, he took one out and was about to light it when he suddenly seemed to have a thought and just crumpled it and threw it on the floor.

“Come to think of it, I’ve decided to quit this hundreds of times for my health, but I couldn’t quit after all.”

“So you just throw it away?”

“I don’t think you’re going to grant a death row inmate’s last wish.”

Park Do-joon said, looking at the men with gleaming eyes behind Han Sung-ki. They already had long sashimi knives [Japanese-style knives, often used for slicing raw fish] and wooden clubs in their hands. From the start, they had no intention of letting Park Do-joon live.

It was none other than a leading presidential candidate whose interests they were protecting. Considering the numerous benefits he could give them, there was no chance he would be allowed to return alive.

“I hated your pretentious act.”
Han Sung-ki sneered. They were both profilers, but Park Do-joon always surpassed him. Even though he was his junior, he always identified criminals much faster and more accurately than him.

“I know.”

Park Do-joon didn’t even resist and just stood there, speaking indifferently. There was no fear or terror in his eyes.

Just indifference.

“Because I’m better than you.”

Han Sung-ki frowned at those words.

“Your actions are what made me turn!”

“That’s not true. That’s just an excuse.”

“Ha. Really? Are you that great? So great that you didn’t know you were going to die?”

Han Sung-ki said, taking out a long knife from his pocket. He was once a police officer and a profiler.

But now, his eyes were full of madness. But then, that madness wavered.

“I said I knew.”

Knowing. That’s a more serious problem than you think. Because Park Do-joon isn’t the type to be caught off guard when he knows something.

“Stop for a second. That bastard has set up some kind of trap…….”

At that moment, the sound of sirens was heard in the distance. And as they heard that sound, Han Sung-ki and the criminals’ faces turned pale.

Han Sung-ki, in particular, couldn’t help but be even more surprised. Because that siren sound was familiar to him—it was the sound of a police siren.

“H, how?”

“Didn’t you say you blocked the base station here?”

The plan was to set a trap, call Park Do-joon, and kill him here. Of course, to prevent escape or reporting, they had sent people to secretly destroy the base station [cell tower] here a few days ago.

Fixing a base station in the mountains wouldn’t be quick, so they thought they could sufficiently prevent reporting. In fact, cell phones don’t work in this area right now. But how did the police know and come here?

“I told you I knew.”

Park Do-joon said, taking something out from inside his jacket. And seeing that, Han Sung-ki’s hands and feet trembled.

“A satellite phone?”

A satellite phone can make calls regardless of the base station.

“You crazy bastard.”
Han Sung-ki was looking at it when he suddenly started chuckling.

“Hehehe.”

“Why, regretting it now?”

“Regret? Hahahaha. Regret? I finally beat you. I beat you!”

“What?”

“You stupid bastard. Did you think I wouldn’t know you bought a satellite phone? Your every move was already under surveillance by the National Intelligence Service [South Korea’s primary intelligence agency]! They knew you bought a satellite phone online!”

At those words, Park Do-joon frowned slightly.

“Yeah. You always stayed ahead of the criminals and me. That’s why I hated you. And I finally beat you.”

Han Sung-ki grinned. And as the door opened, the police came in. But the police didn’t try to stop Han Sung-ki’s gang. Instead, they just stood behind them.

“The story has already been told. They knew you were talking on a satellite phone and that you would call the police.”

“I see.”

“Yeah. And you got caught. I finally defeated you.”

“It wouldn’t be bad to think that way for a moment.”

“What?”

Han Sung-ki frowned as he listened to Park Do-joon’s words. Because Park Do-joon’s reaction was different from what he had expected. He thought he would despair at his futile death.

From the start, he wasn’t the type to beg for his life. But he was too relaxed.

“I know that the police, the prosecution, the courts, and the media are all doing their best to make Hong Woo-jong president.”

Park Do-joon rummaged through his pockets as he said that, as if it were a habit. Then he chuckled.

“I shouldn’t have thrown away the cigarette.”

“You bastard. Are you doing this knowing all this?”

“And I know the people who want to stop it.”

Park Do-joon said, taking something out from his pocket. And seeing that, Han Sung-ki’s face hardened. It was a turned-on cell phone.

“The cell phone is already out of service…….”

“Yeah. The one I used from the company is.”

But there are three cell phone companies in Korea.

“It’s not hard to get a burner phone [prepaid, untraceable phone] if you pay for it in Korea.”

At those words, everyone’s faces hardened. The only base station they destroyed was the one used by the company Park Do-joon used. The reason was that one base station could break down, but if three base stations broke down at the same time, it would be suspected as terrorism.

And they already knew that he had reported to 112 [South Korean emergency services number, similar to 911] through the satellite phone. So they were completely off guard. But a burner phone?

Park Do-joon, who was so strict, had a burner phone?

“This is connected to a place you can’t stop.”

“N, no way…….”

All the powerful institutions in this country are united to make Hong Woo-jong president. If there’s a place that wants to stop it, it’s one place: the presidential campaign of another party.

“They’re probably recording it diligently, cheering.”

“You son of a bitch…….”

Han Sung-ki burst into anger at Park Do-joon’s words. It was a gamble he had bet his entire future on. He thought it didn’t matter if he became a monster as long as his future was bright.

But all of that collapsed.

“You goddamn bastard!”

Han Sung-ki gripped the knife tightly without realizing it. He could never let Park Do-joon live.

“Ugh!”

He ran with all his might and plunged the knife into Park Do-joon’s body. Anyway, his future was gone now. Already, people were defecting from behind him because of Park Do-joon’s words.

He couldn’t even run away. His voice, his name, everything was transmitted over that phone.

“Keuh.”
A brief death rattle escaped.

“Because of you, because of you, you…… I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”

“Hehehe.”

But even with the knife in his body, Park Do-joon was laughing.

“It’s impossible for you to kill me.”

“What?”

“I’m already a dead man. I have terminal lung cancer.”

The cigarettes he smoked—three packs a day—had turned him into a monster and were eating away at Park Do-joon. Even the hospital had declared him terminally ill. The only reason he could hold on until now was because of the narcotic painkillers.

It’s not that he didn’t resist. He *couldn’t* resist. His body was in a state where he couldn’t even walk, let alone run.

“Ugh!”
Han Sung-ki screamed, swinging his knife repeatedly, at the fact that even his death wasn’t going the way he wanted.

Whether it was because of the narcotic painkillers or the adrenaline that came out at the last moment, it didn’t hurt.

“I’ll kill you!”

Han Sung-ki was about to deliver the final blow. At that moment, gunshots rang out around him.

“Don’t move! I’ll shoot if you move!”

The police who had arrived late were trembling as they held their guns. They had a record of responding to the report. Like Han Sung-ki, there was no way out.

Then there was only one way: to sacrifice the guys here.

My Calling Is Profiler