My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 255

“And as I mentioned last time, you’re now able to attend the briefing. We’ve registered you as one of our staff members.”

“That’s a relief. When is the briefing?”

“In two days.”

“Two days from now. Is there anything special I should know?”

“Nothing in particular. You might get questions, but we’ll handle the answers.”

Park Do-joon nodded. *If that’s the case, I can leisurely observe the people on their side.*

“Can I get a sense of the situation by observing their behavior that day?”

“Well, we’ll have to see.”

Park Do-joon shrugged.

The two days passed quickly. Park Do-joon, who hadn’t packed a suit, urgently bought one, had it tailored, and barely made it to the venue on time.

*The atmosphere is definitely intense.*

It was a different kind of intensity than a murder scene. The people who would be giving the briefing were gathered in two groups. Naturally, the other side consisted of employees from Fengjin Construction in China.

*Hmm.*

They wore subtle smiles and seemed to be chattering while looking this way, but their voices were too quiet to be heard.

In contrast, the people on this side were very tense, especially the person giving the presentation, who looked pale.

“We estimated that 1 billion dollars would be invested in this project, correct?”

“Yes, that is the current estimate.”

Of course, it would likely cost more. Most construction projects incur additional costs due to various unforeseen issues. In other words, they also knew that the 1 billion dollars was the *minimum* cost.

“Why do you ask?”

“Hmm, it’s nothing. I’ll tell you later.”

Park Do-joon didn’t elaborate, simply observing. Shortly after, the briefing began. However, the briefing itself was largely incomprehensible to Park Do-joon. All the conversations were in Arabic, the language of Saudi Arabia, not English. There was no way for Park Do-joon, who didn’t know Arabic, to understand it. But despite that, it wasn’t as if Park Do-joon learned nothing.

*Hmm.*

The targets Park Do-joon focused on were three groups: First, Fengjin Construction from China. Second, the frontline employees who seemed to be in charge of this project on a day-to-day basis. Third, the high-ranking officials ultimately responsible for the project. As he stared intently at them, the briefing ended and the meeting for the day concluded.

“Hoo!”

The employees wiped away their sweat, drenched in nervous tension. No matter how powerfully the air conditioning was running, the stress-induced perspiration was unavoidable.

“What did you think?”

Go Gwang-soo approached Park Do-joon and subtly asked. He had been carefully watching Park Do-joon’s actions, wondering if any insights had emerged.

“Of course, I don’t have any specific information from the briefing itself, but if we translate what was discussed today and give it to you…”

“We don’t need that.”

“Pardon?”

Go Gwang-soo tilted his head, surprised that Park Do-joon unexpectedly declined the translated information. But Park Do-joon had considered his response.

“That’s primarily about corporate procedures or industry matters. Since it’s officially documented, there wouldn’t be any emotional indicators. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Well, yes, but…?”

“It’s common to minimize displays of human psychology in such documents. Moreover, it’s a work created by many people.”

*So, analyzing it wouldn’t help in understanding the other party’s mindset.*

“But it must have been difficult to understand anything?”

“I couldn’t understand the words, but I could understand the actions.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“There were three strange things I noticed while watching today’s meeting.”

First, Fengjin Construction from China was too relaxed. Of course, if they believed they were at an advantage, they could afford to be more relaxed. But right now, it’s a situation where no one knows who has the upper hand. Rather, from an outside perspective, it looks like Fengjin Construction and Hyunsung Group are maintaining a tense, confrontational relationship.

“Usually, what you see in such situations is worry, fear, and hostility. But there was none of that.”

Worry about the consequences of losing. And the fear of personnel-related repercussions that they would face in such a case is something that no office worker can avoid.

Naturally, it’s common for people to feel hostility, glare, or distance themselves from the opposing side.

“But rather than that, they seemed confident of victory.”

“Confident of victory?”

“Yes, as if it had already been decided.”

Go Gwang-soo frowned. He didn’t like the sound of that.

“Well, China has been claiming superiority for a long time.”

They claim to be the most superior in the world. They even insist that anything good in other countries originated with them. They are so shameless that they claim not only hanbok [Korean traditional dress] and kimchi [Korean fermented cabbage] but even General Yi Sun-sin [Korean naval commander] as their own.

“Well, I know that. I expect that kind of behavior from Chinese people. But the rest is the problem.”

“The rest?”

“Didn’t you notice anything strange during the briefing?”

“Hmm, they seemed a bit aggressive towards us.”

Go Gwang-soo said anxiously. Certainly, the questions from the people in charge were more frequently directed at the Korean side. Moreover, he felt that the questions were more aggressive.

Park Do-joon didn’t know Arabic, but it wasn’t difficult to discern the tone of the questions by observing the actions, expressions, and the overall atmosphere.

“That’s probably the case, but it was subtle.”

“Subtle?”

“I analyzed the people asking questions by dividing them into two groups: the top-level superiors and the working-level employees below them. The working-level employees were asking quite aggressive questions to both China and Korea.”

That was only natural, as they had to handle the work thoroughly.

“But when the higher-ups, the people in charge, asked questions, the atmosphere was a bit different.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“When they asked questions to China, they were much softer, and the Chinese side also answered much more softly.”

“That’s true, but…”

“And overall, the Chinese side answered the questions well.”

“Keueung…!”

The working-level team was already in despair. They thought that this briefing was almost the only opportunity to change the atmosphere, but if even a third party who didn’t know Arabic said that the Chinese answered well, then this briefing was practically a failure.

“After organizing and analyzing all those situations, I think the higher-ups have practically decided on China.”

“……Damn it!”

Go Gwang-soo cursed involuntarily. That meant that their years of effort to win this project had been wasted.

“So that’s how it is?”

“……The problem is that it’s only the higher-ups who think that way.”

“What do you mean?”

Go Gwang-soo looked puzzled.

“As you know, if the higher-ups had already made a firm decision, this wouldn’t take this long.”

*A final briefing or whatever, they could just push forward with China. Realistically, there’s no reason for Hyunsung to even be involved as a mere participant. It’s taking quite a long time compared to similar projects in other regions.*

“I felt like the decision made by the higher-ups was being desperately blocked by the lower levels.”

“Desperately blocked?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because the working-level employees don’t have the power to protect themselves.”

Go Gwang-soo stared blankly, not understanding. Park Do-joon clicked his tongue and asked.

“If a building collapses in Saudi Arabia and people die, what happens to the people in charge?”

“They would be executed.”

Saudi Arabia is still a country where the death penalty is enforced. Public executions by civilians or individual executions occur openly.

“Then let me ask you just one thing. Can the person in charge of this project be punished?”

“It’s difficult. That person is not a simple public official. In fact, you can think of most of the top executives in these matters as royalty.”

“Then he won’t be punished?”

“Yes, it’s realistically difficult to receive punishment…”

Go Gwang-soo trailed off, realizing something. After hesitating, he asked, “So, the lower levels are desperately opposing it, but the higher-ups are trying to push the project to China? And China knows that now?”

“That’s right. Since the decision-maker is ultimately the upper management, there’s nothing the lower levels can do but stall for time. And looking at that situation, my judgment is that China is giving huge bribes to the people in charge to get the project going.”

Go Gwang-soo felt goosebumps.

*That’s definitely possible.*

It’s not a new problem for China to try to dominate projects with bribes.

If that’s the case, then the Chinese people’s attitude of being confident of victory and the working-level employees’ attitude of fearing future punishment are understandable.

The working-level employees would know what would happen if China did the construction. If the buildings they built collapsed and people died, considering the current characteristics of Saudi Arabia, they would be beheaded, but the person in charge would not receive any punishment at all.

“You said that things have been strangely delayed?”

“The working-level employees keep delaying it because they know how this will end.”

No matter what Korea does, there’s no responsibility to take later. Even if a building collapses right away, the only loss the working-level employees will suffer is dismissal.

It’s only the supervisors who monitor the poor construction on-site who will realistically face criminal charges. But Saudi Arabia is a monarchy ruled by a king.

However, even the Saudi royal family cannot completely ignore public opinion. If an incident occurs, dissatisfaction will accumulate unless they retaliate in some way.

“Hmm, now that I think about it, I should take a look at the questions first.”

“Pardon?”

“If I look at how the questions were asked, I can get more accurate information.”

Park Do-joon said confidently.

At Park Do-joon’s words, Go Gwang-soo urged the team all night to translate everything and bring it to him. Park Do-joon, looking through it, nodded as if he had expected it.

“The questions from the two groups are definitely different.”

“Different?”

“Yes, in fact, the level of questions from the working-level employees is similar.”

From their perspective, they would have to do their best to be fair. But the questions from the other people, the decision-makers, had a very different tone. The Korean side asked very sharp and difficult-to-answer questions, while the Chinese side asked easy and predictable questions.