My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 146

“He’s probably quite intelligent. Fluent in English, and in his 20s or 30s. Even if they’re in a group, it’s unlikely to be a very large one.”

“What’s your reasoning?”

Profilers always need a reason. If you just say it’s a hunch, that’s not profiling, it’s just guessing.

Of course, I’m not dismissing hunches, but profiling is a science, and we need to establish that firmly so we can teach it to future generations.

“As I mentioned before, there are no Satanic cults in Korea. All websites related to that are in English.”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

“Furthermore, various materials related to Satanic worship are likely to use uncommon words. The more closed off an organization is, and the more it tries to strengthen internal bonds, the more likely it is to use words that outsiders don’t use or that the general public doesn’t know.”

For example, the Korean Marines use many terms that outsiders wouldn’t understand.

They consider things like rigorous training and even hazing to be a point of pride and express it in their own unique jargon.

Like ‘Soon-geom’ [a term referring to quick decision-making] or ‘Ak-gi-ba-ri’ [a term for enduring hardship with tenacity].

“It’s hard enough to understand Korean, let alone specific English words.”

Of course, you need to have the knowledge to investigate and understand such things, and to do that, you need to be able to search through various English sites.

“In Korea, English proficiency is one of the main indicators of academic aptitude.”

Even if you ace Korean or math, if your English score is low, you’re not considered truly intelligent.

“Then why so young?”

“That’s what the person said earlier is correct. The culture of Satanic worship is too foreign for older people to accept.”

Someone who has lived a normal life suddenly worships the devil and sacrifices people? That’s pretty absurd.

“You can see it just by looking at PTSD from the war.”

Even people who voluntarily participate in war suffer from the fact that they killed people. But would they easily accept the fact that they killed and dismembered people, no matter how religious the reason?

The older a person is, the more reluctant they are to deviate from the existing order. And if that action is extreme, they feel even more repulsion.

“So, if this is Satanic worship, the perpetrator is probably a young person. And at the same time, it is very likely to be a group.”

“A group?”

“Yes, there’s strength in numbers, and people often become bolder when they’re part of a group.”

You can commit murder alone, but it’s hard to dismember a body. But if you’re in a group and get encouragement from those around you, it becomes possible.

“Complicated.”

Other profilers who were listening to Park Do-joon’s words frowned.

Clap!

As everyone seemed to be only worrying, the team leader clapped his hands and changed the atmosphere.

“We have a rough analysis, right? Let’s divide into teams and start the investigation. One team for the Satanic worshiper angle, and one team for the general murder case angle.”

“Yes.”

The team leader skillfully divided the people and immediately started working.

“Which side are you going to?”

“I’ll go to the general side.”

“Okay.”

Since Park Do-joon doesn’t have any teammates, it’s too dangerous for him to go after a Satanic worshiper case where there’s a possibility of group activity, so Park Do-joon turned his direction to that side.

“Okay, start.”

As soon as the team leader’s words fell, everyone got up and started doing their work, and Park Do-joon, who came outside, checked his phone and sighed deeply.

Then he quietly came outside. When Park Do-joon came outside, Jung Yi-yeon was waiting at the coffee shop where they always met.

“What are you going to do if I’m not here? What are you going to do if you just come and wait?”

“What can I do? The company is in chaos.”

“Isn’t it already over for you guys?”

“Maybe. But you can’t ignore the possibility of one in a million.”

Park Do-joon shook his head at those words.

“It’s probably not the company. There’s no reason for a large company to do that. There are so many ways to let people go without resorting to such extreme measures.”

“Still. Maybe the victim’s information was leaked from our side.”

“That’s true.”

The victim had no particular marks at the time of death. Then it is likely that he was ambushed.

And to do that, you need to know the victim’s movements well.

“What do you think, *sunbae* [senior colleague]? There are rumors that Satanic worshipers committed it.”

“The rumors are really fast, really. But probably not.”

“Yes? Everyone is so sure about that?”

“I thought so at first too. But after seeing the body, I judged that it was unlikely.”

“Why?”

“According to the autopsy record, there are no marks.”

“Marks?”

“Yes. Traces of torture or assault.”

“Is it important that it’s not there?”

“It’s important. Because it doesn’t just mean that they didn’t resist.”

Religious acts often go through a set process. The unidentified paintings abandoned at the scene and the images created while looking at those paintings are not drawn in an hour or two.

Of course, the target to be sacrificed must be confined or caught during that time.

“But they didn’t resist? And no drug ingredients came out of the body. That means they were already dead at that point.”

In other words, they killed the other person without even having a chance to resist, and that doesn’t generally look like a religious act.

“From what I saw, they prepared all the religious ritual altars and then killed the victim in a surprise attack.”

And realistically, it would be impossible for them to kill the victim in a designated place.

“No one would enter there with dignity while looking at magic circles or whatever. The specificity of a place is very important in religious behavior. The sanctity of a place is absolute in any religion.”

For example, in Christianity, the church is considered a sacred place, and in Islam, Mecca is considered a holy land.

Buddhism is a religion that is a bit weak in symbolizing a specific object, but the meaning of a space such as a temple is quite large.

“Especially in insular or secretive religions, that tendency becomes stronger and stronger.”

This is because closed religions have many socially taboo parts, so they often need a secret space.

“But suddenly attacking and killing them and then offering them as a sacrifice? Well? That’s a bit awkward.”

Killing religious sacrifices anywhere is a very heterogeneous act.

“Looking at that situation, I think the perpetrator is trying to hide himself by giving this murder a religious meaning.”

“Then what do we do?”

“Well. First, we need to find out about that magic circle. There’s a Satanic worshiper site, so I think we can search there.”

“If that’s the case, I can help you.”

“Well, it’s better than doing it alone.”

Of course, there are people assigned to track the general case with Park Do-joon. But Park Do-joon clearly saw dissatisfaction in their eyes.

‘I guess so.’

They are aware of the possibility, but they are unknowingly thinking that this is a religious murder case.

Because that’s how it looks to anyone.

It would be difficult to conduct a proper investigation if the investigator questioned the direction of the investigation.

“However……”

“However?”

“I hope the police don’t do stupid things… That’s probably impossible.”

Park Do-joon said with a bitter smile.

# Money Rather Than Justice

-This case is seen as a murder by a group of Satanic worshipers…….

-The bereaved family is criticizing the police’s incompetence…….

“Yeah, it never deviates from expectations.”

“Isn’t it a problem if it deviates from expectations? Aren’t we profilers?”

“That’s true.”

The team leader licked his lips. The reason was that information was leaked despite the fact that he had clearly told the media to keep it strictly confidential.

The media was excitedly attacking the police’s incompetence while calling them Satanic worshipers.

“Who could it be?”

“I don’t know. There are more than one or two people involved.”

It’s not a one- or two-day thing for someone in the police to receive money from reporters and pass on things that could become articles. Of course, it doesn’t happen often. Most cases are not unusual from the police’s point of view.

However, in special cases, such as this case, it’s easy to predict that someone would secretly sell information because it’s really worth money.

“So what do you think?”

Because it was expected, neither the team leader nor Park Do-joon were greatly shocked. They were just focusing on the next case.

“It will probably depend on whether a similar case occurs next time.”

“A similar case next time?”

“Yes, if this is a real case by Satanic worshipers, they will lie low and cover their tracks.”

It is extremely dangerous to kill someone and offer them as a sacrifice when the media is attacking them so heavily and they know that the police are chasing them.

“But if they’re not real Satanic worshipers, they’re likely to commit another crime.”

“That’s right.”

Because they would have realized that the target chasing them is chasing a completely different place. So they will try to remove themselves from the suspects by firmly fixing the direction of the investigation.

“You’re so mean. You knew that and didn’t say it last time, right?”

“It’s not like it wouldn’t leak out if I said it there, and there are too many loopholes to leak out even if the profilers didn’t say it in the first place.”

“That’s true.”

So Park Do-joon didn’t tell the other profilers at the last meeting to keep the case absolutely confidential.

“So, is there anything out?”

“Not yet……”

At that moment, Park Do-joon’s phone rang. Park Do-joon checked the caller and immediately answered the phone.

“Did you find anything out?”

-About that magic circle. They say they can’t recognize it, just like you predicted.

“Is that so?”

-Yes, but how did you know?

“I’ll tell you later.”

Park Do-joon hung up Jung Yi-yeon’s phone and immediately told the team leader about that fact.

“Really? You can’t decipher it?”

“Yes.”

“But isn’t it normal that you can’t decipher the magic circle in the first place?”

“That’s not true. Magic circles must have their own meaning. You can’t use symbols you can’t interpret. Although, there are cases where you can recite it without knowing the meaning.”

“Um? What do you mean you can recite it but you don’t know the meaning?”

“For example, in Buddhism, most people can recite the words *Om Mani Padme Hum*, but they don’t know the meaning, right?”

*Om Mani Padme Hum* is a mantra used in Buddhism, it is in Sanskrit; in Korean Buddhism, it is called *Yukjidae Myeongwang Jin-eon*. [It is believed that reciting this mantra can extinguish afflictions and sins through the compassion of Avalokitesvara, a Bodhisattva embodying compassion.]