My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 560

“I think the culprit in this case is Chinese. If so, we can assume their controlling tendencies are even stronger.”

“Does that vary by ethnicity?”

“It does. For example, in Korea, we deploy troops to the border.”

“Why? Is that unusual?”

“Yes, actually, other countries only deploy troops to the border in situations akin to war.”

Deploying troops to the border is internationally understood as a sign that the opposing country is certain to invade, or that one intends to invade the other.

“The knowledge and environment one grows up in are undeniable factors.”

Someone who grows up in a country where control and surveillance are commonplace will take it for granted and implement it themselves.

“Regardless of how smart they are, they’ll think it’s normal.”

Profiling involves analyzing such factors.

“This crime is knowledge-based. There’s no reason to monitor or anything. Judging from Song An-nyeo’s behavior and psychology, she seems to be participating voluntarily.”

In fact, her physical reactions didn’t seem to indicate any restrictions preventing her from going outside. If she were being prevented from leaving, we could assume someone was forcing her, but the absence of that suggests she’s allowed a somewhat free life.

“Loyalty to the group. And that surveillance. That’s the key.”

“Chinese people, surveillance, and Chinese food delivery…”

“Considering those points, the place where they’re staying is likely in a Chinese-populated area.”

“Surprisingly, if it’s not a Chinese-populated area, there definitely aren’t any Chinese restaurants.”

The Chinese restaurants I’m talking about aren’t the ones that sell jajangmyeon [Korean-Chinese noodle dish]. I’m talking about food that’s actually eaten in mainland China.

Koreans don’t really like that unique aroma. In fact, the only mainland Chinese food that Koreans like is malatang [a spicy and numbing soup originating from Sichuan cuisine].

“Especially when I mentioned stinky tofu, her face really stiffened.”

“Ah!”

Park Do-joon had mentioned stinky tofu in the middle, and Song An-nyeo’s face had soured at that.

“Stinky tofu is a food that Koreans almost can’t eat.”

Most people haven’t even smelled it. They might know the fact that it’s one of the world’s top 5 most offensive foods, but most don’t know the real scent of stinky tofu.

“If it were just that, she wouldn’t have reacted like that.”

But the fact that she reacted that way means she’s either eaten stinky tofu directly or at least been around it.

“There are hardly any places around here that sell stinky tofu, right?”

“That’s right.”

Stinky tofu is a difficult food to sell. To sell it, you have to not only stock it in the store but also endure a lot of complaints from the neighborhood.

“You can’t do that in a predominantly Korean area.”

There’s no point in selling something that Koreans don’t eat, and customers won’t go to a place that smells like that.

“So, it must be a place where Chinese people are gathered, and very extremely so.”

“Then it’s not Anju-dong.”

Anju-dong is a wealthy neighborhood. And it’s hard for Chinese people to settle in such wealthy neighborhoods. The cost of living is high, and the building prices are expensive.

Decisively, the company in this area is Daeguk Group. Since it’s a place with national secrets, the very act of Chinese people loitering around is likely to draw suspicious gazes from the surroundings.

“Since they leave the city when they’re committing fraud anyway, it doesn’t matter if it’s another city nearby.”

And as far as Park Do-joon knew, there was only one place around here where Chinese people were concentrated.

“We’re almost there. Hehehe.”

The only place around here that met the conditions Park Do-joon had discovered to track down the criminals was one place in the next city, Ija-dong.

“Ija-dong is a special neighborhood. Most of the area is occupied by large corporate factories, including Daeguk Group, but that place is an exception.”

The police officer who was guiding them looked very expectant. The criminals might be here. And no one would dislike the opportunity to arrest them.

“Why is that?”

“Industry is ultimately about assembly and production.”

Just because you’re building a tank doesn’t mean you make everything in one place. Major parts or armor might be made by Daeguk Group, but the small and trivial items that go inside are made by subcontractors nearby.

“The closer the factory, the easier the supply and the lower the logistics costs.”

“Ija-dong isn’t a bad location, is it?”

“Ija-dong is high in altitude. It’s a so-called hillside city. A neighborhood that used to be called a shantytown in the past.”

“Ah, I see~.”

To build a factory in Ija-dong, you’d have to flatten that entire hill. And that would cost a fortune.

“Small businesses don’t have that kind of money. Even if they did, it would be much better to buy other large plots of land with that money.”

“But aren’t land prices cheap in shantytowns?”

“That’s true if it’s just a hill. But it’s a shantytown. And it’s not particularly cheap.”

For example, let’s say you bought 100 square meters in a hillside shantytown. When you buy it, it’s naturally sloped in the form of a mountain. If you flatten it, that space naturally shrinks. Depending on the angle, you can expect it to shrink by at least 50% or more.

“And that area isn’t just cheap either.”

If there are profitable factories and cities nearby, the money from those places naturally flows into such shantytowns. So, even though it’s a shantytown, it’s not just cheap.

“That’s why shantytowns in the area often remain until the very end. That’s how the shantytowns in Seoul were formed in the past.”

“Ah, I understand.”

There was a time when Seoul was full of houses on mountains called shantytowns. Some might ask why there would be shantytowns in expensive Seoul, but shantytowns are formed through the same social processes as now.

“Of course, even that succumbed to capital.”

A neighborhood that was once a shantytown has now become a luxury residential area. With the development of cars, there’s no reason to struggle to climb up the mountain, and if the value of development increases even further, there’s no reason not to develop even on the mountain.

Of course, not all of Ija-dong is a shantytown. In fact, even if it’s called a shantytown, it can’t really be called a shabby, old-fashioned shantytown. It’s more accurate to say that it’s a dilapidated residential complex where houses are clustered on a mountain.

“The security wouldn’t be good, would it?”

“How did you know?”

The police officer who was guiding them nodded at Park Do-joon’s words.

“There aren’t any major incidents, but there are quite a few petty crimes.”

“That’s probably the case. There are many escape routes, but it’s very difficult for the police to access them.”

When an incident occurs, the police have to drive up in a police car. But because it’s an old downtown area with many alleys, if they hide there, it’s impossible for the police to track them.

“It’s not like we can install CCTV [closed-circuit television] in all these alleys.”

Moreover, the police don’t patrol these areas very often. At best, they just take a quick look around the alleys they can drive into.

As such, there are bound to be many petty crimes.

“Ugh, what’s that smell?”

At that moment, Lee Ji-soo covered her nose without realizing it.

“It’s the smell of stinky tofu.”

“Is the smell this strong?”

Park Do-joon had been coming in the car, but he told them to open the windows. In this kind of terrain with narrow alleys, it’s much faster to track by smell than by sight.

“There’s a reason why it’s called one of the world’s top 5 most offensive foods. Why else would Korean fermented skate [hongeo] give it a run for its money?”

At least with fermented skate, you don’t smell it this much until you get close. But this stinky tofu has a surprisingly strong smell.

“Pull over for a second.”

Park Do-joon stopped the car and looked around.

“There should be a motel around here.”

“Don’t we need to go further up?”

“If we go further up, then it’s a completely residential area. Of course, there might be a place that sells stinky tofu there too, but there’s no reason for there to be a motel.”

“Ah, I see~!”

A motel is a space used by travelers or passersby as a short-term accommodation. No one would build a motel in a location that cars can’t access.

“So, it’s likely to be around here.”

Almost the last peak that can be reached by car. In reality, this is the last area where a motel could be located.

“And if those guys are using a motel, they’d want to avoid the eyes of others.”

“Then?”

“They probably won’t use a tourist motel.”

They’re all called motels, but there are actually several types of motels. There are tourist motels, lodging motels, and long-term stay motels.

They’re not clearly legally distinguished, but the facilities are somewhat different depending on the purpose of the target. The best is for tourists. Those places cater to people who can’t afford hotels. But there are no tourist facilities in this area, so of course, there won’t be any here.

“What’s left is lodging or long-term stay.”

“Are the two different?”

“Well, they’re subtly different. Places called lodging are a kind of rendezvous spot.”

“Ah, I see~.”

Korea doesn’t have many places for men and women to have secret meetings. If you’re married, you live together at home, so there’s no problem, but if not, most people have to find a rendezvous spot outside.

Especially for those who haven’t become independent from their parents, there’s really no space to have a secret meeting.

It’s not like they can go to a water mill like in the Joseon Dynasty [historical Korean kingdom].

“We call it lodging, but we can’t call it a rendezvous, can we?”

“I understand.”

Such places are spacious and comfortable, and the facilities are quite diverse. There are rooms with console game consoles, rooms with computers, water beds, and so on, to suit various tastes.

“It’s not just about sleeping, it’s about having fun there.”

“But long-term stay is not like that.”

“That’s right.”

Long-term stays are used by people who have come for construction work or business trips, but it’s ambiguous to rent a room. You can’t sign a two-year contract for a studio apartment when you’re here for three months of construction. Living in a goshiwon [small, cheap room] isn’t a great living environment, and there are often no spaces to park a car.

“Especially people who travel around the country for construction sites want a place where they can leave and enter at any time.”

Of course, it’s not that there are no short-term rental officetels [multi-purpose buildings], but short-term rental officetels cost 1 million won per month, which is too expensive for those people.

“So, they end up renting a long-term stay motel.”

“Then those guys will rent a long-term stay, right?”

“That’s right.”

Tourist motels are expensive, and there are too many people coming and going. Lodging motels are a bit cheaper, but there are still many people coming and going. And in the case of lodging, they tend to be reluctant to have customers who don’t look good staying for a long time.

In case something goes wrong.

Profiler by trade