My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 338

“But when I tried to dig into it, the higher-ups, how should I put it? You know? They didn’t like it. Anyone could see he was wronged.”

“Finally! Come on in, come on in.”

Overjoyed that someone understood him, Na Man-seong ushered Park Do-joon inside. Park Do-joon looked around.

‘Doesn’t seem like a murder happened here.’

There was nothing around.

No greenhouse, no fireplace.

‘The fence is newly installed.’

The house was old, but the fence was clearly new. Moreover, sharp pieces of broken glass bottles were placed on top of the fence.

Unlike the fence, the cement work was sloppy, indicating that Na Man-seong, not a professional, had installed it.

‘Well, this is what happens when you suffer from paranoia.’

Hiding his true feelings, Park Do-joon went inside. The house was not normal. Security cameras were installed everywhere, and there were many potential weapons. Of course, most farming tools could be used as weapons, but a baseball bat wrapped with nails and barbed wire was definitely not a farming tool.

“Did you hear anything? Do you know anything?”

“Ah, well, when I tried to look into it, the editor told me not to pursue it.”

“The editor told you not to, the editor?”

“Yes, Kwak Woo-jae.”

“Kwak Woo-jae became the editor?”

Kwak Woo-jae was the reporter Na Man-seong got along with the least when he was at the company. To be exact, he was the one who openly told Na Man-seong he was crazy.

He was actually crazy, but everyone else tried to avoid getting involved; only Kwak Woo-jae said it openly.

It wasn’t easy to say such things while working at the company.

Of course, Kwak Woo-jae wasn’t the editor now. But the name Kwak Woo-jae alone was enough to fuel Na Man-seong’s suspicion even more.

“It’s that bastard. That bastard definitely teamed up with the company to set me up. Otherwise, that position….”

If Na Man-seong had stayed with the company, he would have been old enough to compete for the editor position, and Kwak Woo-jae was a colleague who had competed with Na Man-seong for the same position.

“That’s what it was. That’s what it was!”

Na Man-seong’s eyes rolled back as he ranted. Park Do-joon watched him and subtly asked.

“Didn’t you suspect anything about the police’s actions back then?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Those bastards were targeting me from the start!”

Na Man-seong raised his voice in extreme anger. He was becoming more certain of his suspicions.

“And there’s been something strange lately.”

“Strange?”

“Weren’t there strange women hanging around you, *sunbae* [senior colleague]?”

“What?”

Na Man-seong flinched at those words.

“How did you know that?”

“Well, they even formed a team to monitor you, *sunbae*.”

“Formed a team?”

“Yes, there were records of them sending a surveillance team to watch you constantly.”

“How did you find out about that?”

“A friend of mine is high up in the prosecution. They even sent female officers because they suspected male officers would be noticed. Didn’t you know?”

Na Man-seong nodded. It was true that having power in the prosecution or court made it easier to access information.

“I did suspect some suspicious women were hanging around.”

“I knew it.”

Of course, Park Do-joon didn’t ask, ‘So what did you do to those people?’ That question would inevitably raise suspicion. Instead, he changed the subject.

“But how have you been making a living here? The police must be harassing you relentlessly.”

“How did you know that?”

“They’re completely insane. They even called companies you applied to and pressured them to fire you.”

“Crazy… so that’s why?”

In fact, he didn’t come down here immediately after being fired from Changgeon Ilbo. Even though he was fired, the title of former Changgeon Ilbo reporter was somewhat helpful, so he initially found it easy to get a job. But someone with paranoia couldn’t possibly lead a normal social life.

He didn’t take medication, didn’t admit his mistakes, and had a high sense of pride as a former reporter, so he constantly caused trouble.

Moreover, he was hired to use his connections as a reporter to gain some advantage, but it turned out he had been fired for sexual assault and was even blocked by his colleagues as a crazy person?

Who would try to protect Na Man-seong, who was constantly causing problems?

‘But Na Man-seong wouldn’t think that way.’

Already suffering from extreme paranoia, Na Man-seong could only think that he was being constantly fired due to someone’s conspiracy.

“Keuh, you… you really investigated thoroughly.”

“I had to be careful because I couldn’t figure out what big secret you knew that made you end up like this, *sunbae*.”

“The secret I know?”

“Yes, otherwise, there’s no way the police would be putting this much pressure, right?”

“That’s….”

Of course, there was no such thing. But Na Man-seong suspected it.

‘I must have learned something I shouldn’t have without realizing it!’

There were many people who had died for that reason. But he didn’t know what it was, so he didn’t say anything rashly. Park Do-joon seemed to misunderstand and nodded.

“Well, I understand. It’s not an incident you can easily talk about. You’re worried about me, *sunbae*, so I can’t pry.”

“Right?”

‘Right my ass.’

Na Man-seong didn’t know any secrets. Na Man-seong was just a typical corrupt reporter. He extorted money through threats and spread nonsense under the guise of freedom of the press when he didn’t like something.

He wasn’t even a social affairs reporter; he was an entertainment reporter. Why would he get involved in a social affairs case and commit rape?

From the beginning, his goal wasn’t to investigate, but to rape. When he approached victims, he usually said, ‘I’m a reporter,’ and most people would act favorably to appeal their grievances.

“But we still have to report it. I want to cover how much you’ve suffered, *sunbae*. How have you been living?”

“I had to eke out a living here by farming.”

He really wasn’t suited for farming. But no one would hire him, so he had no choice. Even then, he couldn’t farm properly at first. Fortunately, he had money left over from the settlement, so he was able to hold out, but as time passed and he used it up, he became desperate and had to survive by farming somehow.

‘And he’ll blame it on external forces.’

And naturally, his paranoia and delusions would worsen.

‘He seems completely deranged.’

Watching Na Man-seong become rapidly agitated, Park Do-joon smiled.

“Can I take some pictures?”

“Pictures?”

“Yes, I have to. We can’t just stand by and watch the police bury a journalist like this.”

“Of course. Go ahead, take them.”

Park Do-joon took pictures with the camera he had prepared, while looking around.

“Do you have other fields or anything like that? It would be good to take pictures of you working.”

“Ah, I do have another place. It’s outside….”

“Let’s go take pictures together.”

“Okay.”

At Park Do-joon’s words, Na Man-seong nodded without much suspicion. No one would dislike having their grievances resolved.

‘Come to think of it, it’s kind of funny.’

Na Man-seong used the psychology of people asking for help to trap and rape them for his own greed. Now, Na Man-seong was being treated similarly.

‘Of course, he won’t confess to murder himself.’

The important thing was where he committed the murder and whether he could secure the evidence.

“This is the field I manage.”

After walking a bit from the house and looking around, they saw a field that was being managed reasonably well. Various crops such as peppers and sesame seeds were visible.

‘It can’t be easy to grow these alone.’

Did he feel sorry for him? Not at all. However, it didn’t seem like a murder would happen in a place like this.

‘No, a murder could happen.’

But the gruesome acts that followed wouldn’t happen in such a public place.

‘It couldn’t.’

Even if he lived alone in this neighborhood, the whole neighborhood wasn’t Na Man-seong’s private property. In other words, someone could come. Paranoia was about suspecting that other people were trying to kill or harass you and expressing it externally, not about becoming an idiot.

Rather, smart people became even more dangerous when they became paranoid.

‘He’ll definitely hide somewhere and take care of things.’

It wasn’t a regular house. The neighborhood itself was old, so there weren’t many decent houses, and all the decent houses were locked.

‘What’s left?’

Park Do-joon’s gaze turned to a greenhouse a little further away. Not just a greenhouse, but a greenhouse with a screen on top.

‘A space for some purpose….’

Greenhouses were originally created to grow crops and maintain warmth. Why would you put a sunshade on such a space? Simple. It’s not for growing crops, but for people to use.

Greenhouses get incredibly hot inside when exposed to sunlight. The screen was there to prevent that phenomenon as much as possible.

‘At the same time, the screen also has the effect of preventing people from seeing inside from the outside.’

Moreover, the other greenhouses were almost unmanaged, torn and tattered here and there. Because there was no one to manage them.

But that greenhouse was not like that. It was being managed properly. That meant someone was managing it, and there was only one person who could manage it here.

“*Sunbae*, is that your greenhouse over there too?”

“Huh? Uh….”

“Then can I take pictures of you working inside?”

“That’s… okay.”

As Park Do-joon expected, he was slightly reluctant about showing it, but he didn’t stop him. Since there wasn’t a lock on the greenhouse, Park Do-joon opened it and went inside.

Hot air poured out from inside.

“This is just a place to store junk.”

“A storage.”

“Yeah.”

Park Do-joon looked around and his eyes sparkled.

‘A commercial burner….’

A commercial burner on the floor and a large LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] tank connected to it.

‘There’s usually no need for a burner of that size.’

Unless you’re boiling water or cooking in large quantities, such a burner is useless. It’s too big for regular pots to fit on, and the heat is so strong that aluminum pots would burn instantly.

‘And I didn’t see any crops here that would require something like that.’

Thinking that, Park Do-joon started taking pictures of the surroundings.

“Do you have to take pictures here too?”

“If we’re going to blow this up properly, we have to show how hard you’re living. It’s not just anyone we’re fighting; it’s the police.”