My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 586

“My brother wouldn’t have asked people to present here without a reason, right?”

“That’s true.”

“Then tell me. There must be someone suspicious, right?”

“For now, about four people are suspicious.”

“Four people?”

“Yeah.”

First, there was one person who remained quiet. In this situation, most people were either extremely angry or extremely agitated. Some sighed and despaired.

“But that person didn’t react at all.”

“Ah.”

That’s a common reaction from people who know in advance how things will turn out.

“Another person seemed extremely flustered.”

“Extremely?”

“Yeah, of course, the work is tough. But it’s not something to be *that* flustered about.”

“I don’t get it? Isn’t it natural since it was leaked?”

Park Do-joon shook his head at Jung Yi-yeon’s words.

“Absolutely not. From the start, this incident wasn’t a leak; it was a murder.”

“Huh? Is that different?”

“It’s different.”

From the person involved’s perspective, it’s completely different. Murder is already shocking, but if the exam questions are leaked on top of that, it’s even more disconcerting.

“So it’s natural to be flustered. Especially if it was leaked using a camera, as I expected.”

“Ah.”

It would be disconcerting for the culprit.

“In that sense, I guess so.”

“The remaining two are people who are extremely angry.”

“Huh? Why those people? I mean, anyone would be angry in this situation, right?”

“Anger is the easiest mask to wear.”

There are many emotions, but anger is the easiest to fake. Sadness requires tears and the right circumstances.

Joy is easy to fake, but it doesn’t make sense to express joy in a difficult situation.

Sorrow is the most difficult emotion. Subtle sympathy or self-pity doesn’t make sense either.

But anger is convenient. Raising your voice and glaring are surprisingly easy emotional expressions, and when you point fingers, most people think you’re angry and don’t suspect you’re hiding something else.

“If the situation fits, of course, it’s natural. The current situation fits too. But that anger is relative.”

Someone who wants to hide something will be more extreme and protest more strongly than others.

“Is it the person who was ranting about overturning the board earlier?”

“It could be. But what’s certain is that people who want to hide something tend to stand out.”

They try to act along with others, but psychological pressure often leads them to overexpress their emotions and stand out.

“So, four people are suspicious.”

“That’s right.”

“Are you going to investigate those people first?”

“Not yet.”

If we investigate them first, they’ll definitely try to create excuses and set traps.

“Then what are you going to do?”

“For now…”

Park Do-joon shrugged and said.

“I need to wake up the sleeping people.”

“……?”

Jung Yi-yeon couldn’t help but tilt her head at Park Do-joon’s words.

# Experiment on Psychology

Lee Joong-won, the exam committee chairman managing the place, asked as if he didn’t understand Park Do-joon’s words.

“Wake up the sleeping people?”

“Ah, I’m not waking everyone up. Well, eventually I will wake everyone up, but I won’t wake them all at once because no one saw the culprit.”

“That’s because of the time……”

“Yes, it’s because of the time. But some people have sensitive ears at night. And frankly, most people must have been quite sensitive. Don’t you think?”

“That’s right.”

It’s not like the exam committee members have a 5-day work week. They have to stay in a closed space and only submit questions. Leisure is limited to sleeping, watching TV, or reading books, so their stress levels are bound to be extremely high.

“Think of the military. This place is similar to the old military.”

“I see.”

In that situation, most people can’t help but be sensitive.

“But the culprit quietly went out and even committed murder in the early morning. So what should the person sleeping with them do?”

“They have to sneak out.”

“That’s right. They have to sneak out. But wouldn’t a sensitive person wake up?”

“Ah!”

But no one said anything was strange. That means no one knew someone had left.

“This place is all two people per room, right?”

The people using this place aren’t just the exam committee members. There are also managers and doctors for emergencies. Generally, the number of people isolated for the College Scholastic Ability Test [a standardized test similar to the SAT] is around 300. So, realistically, it’s hard to have a room to yourself.

“So, the person in the room with a sensitive person who wakes up at the slightest sound is off the suspect list.”

“Yes, unless they’re an accomplice.”

But it’s unlikely that an accomplice would be sleeping in the same room. Almost all of the people here have never met each other before, so it’s nearly impossible for them to work together as accomplices.

“But if you turn on the broadcast loudly from the beginning, everyone will wake up at once.”

So, if you slowly and gradually increase the volume, someone will start to wake up feeling uncomfortable while sleeping.

“I’ll prepare it right away.”

Fortunately, doing that experiment isn’t difficult. There are speakers in every hallway for emergency evacuation.

“Let’s classify them first and then watch.”

Park Do-joon nodded and said.

***

That evening, when people were asleep.

A static noise slowly flowed from the speakers. People started to wake up, annoyed by the sound.

“Ah, damn it. What is it? I’m tired.”

People woke up one by one. Some woke up from the commotion.

“What’s going on?”

“I think the speaker is broken? I keep hearing static from here.”

“Ugh…… I’m tired.”

They woke up one by one, annoyed, and when about half of them were awake, the static from the speaker stopped. And the staff went around to each room to apologize.

“The speaker broke down…… I’m sorry.”

“No, what are you doing when I’m so tired?”

“I’m already going crazy having to create new questions……!”

The exam committee members went back to bed, annoyed, and for them, this was just a simple incident.

“Hmm…….”

But for Park Do-joon, this wasn’t just a simple incident.

“There are definitely quite a few sensitive people.”

It wasn’t even that loud. But they woke up from that static.

“Well, it’s because of the situation.”

It’s natural to become sensitive in this situation.

“Brother, then isn’t that the problem?”

“What is?”

“I mean, it’s natural for everyone to become sensitive in this situation. So what are you going to do by filtering out the people who woke up early?”

“I didn’t filter out the people who woke up early, but the people who *weren’t* sensitive.”

If you sleep deeply at night, it’s normal not to know if someone went out and came back in.

“Ah! If that’s the case, it’s definitely cautious, right?”

“That’s right.”

If someone woke up in the middle of the night and remembered it, would the culprit have committed the crime? The chances are not high. They probably would have just let it go, just in case.

“Of course, this might not be 100% accurate.”

The depth of sleep varies greatly depending on the condition or situation of the day. Someone might have slept deeply because they weren’t feeling well that day, or someone might not have been able to sleep because they were thinking about various things.

But if we can at least confirm the number of people who are deep sleepers, the number of suspicious people will be greatly reduced.

Immediately, one of the original four suspects was eliminated.

“So, is this person off the suspect list?”

“It’s more accurate to say they’ve been pushed to the back burner rather than off the list.”

The person who was quiet and couldn’t say anything in the middle. Park Do-joon included them as a suspicious person because he thought they might be staying still because they knew, but the person sleeping with them was extremely sensitive.

They woke up almost immediately as soon as the noise from the speaker started.

“But why were they pretending not to know?”

“There are people who don’t actively express their dissatisfaction.”

“Huh?”

“I told you, the person in the same room woke up immediately to the speaker noise. How sensitive would that person be?”

Among sensitive people, there are many who clash with others even over trivial things. Moreover, they are not doing general work now, but a big job of creating College Scholastic Ability Test questions. In such a situation, who wouldn’t be sensitive?

“Is there some conflict between people?”

“Yes? Ah, yes.”

The exam committee chairman nodded at Park Do-joon’s question.

“There isn’t a day without a fight.”

“Did you hear that? If you’re sensitive, it’s natural to clash.”

“Then what about this person?”

“Has this person ever fought, asked to change seats, or caused problems?”

“Let me see…….”

The exam committee chairman shook his head after rummaging through his memories for a while.

“No, not at all.”

“Then this person is the so-called easygoing type.”

A person who endures dissatisfaction internally and doesn’t show it externally.

“They’d be annoyed if they were asked to create additional questions. But they’re an exam committee member, so they know. They can’t avoid it since the questions were leaked. Maybe they were prepared from the moment the murder happened.”

It’s still just a suspicion, but even if it’s just a suspicion, you can never ignore the College Scholastic Ability Test.

“It’s rare, but there are people who easily give up and accept it right away.”

In such cases, they naturally don’t express much dissatisfaction.

“So, you think that person is that type.”

“Yeah.”

“Just because of that, removing that person from the investigation…….”

“No, you *can’t* remove them. Those people are usually timid.”

“Timid?”

“Yes.”

Talking about dissatisfaction is an action that causes discomfort. Naturally, the relationship with the other person will be slightly strained the moment you talk about it.

“The common point of these people is that they’d rather endure some discomfort themselves than make others uncomfortable.”

“There’s definitely that type.”

Rather than causing a commotion, they’d rather endure and persevere. Those types of people don’t talk about their dissatisfaction.

Instead, there is no second time for these people. This person will probably refuse to come back as an exam committee member even if they are asked to do so in the future.

“Would someone who has a hard time even fighting with others and causing trouble, commit murder and be at peace?”

“Aha!”

Naturally, they would show an extreme stress response.

“So, you’re saying that person is unlikely to be the culprit.”

“That’s right. That person is probably not the culprit.”

“Then the other people…….”

“Three people left.”

The two people who were extremely angry and the one person who was severely flustered.

“Now I need to stimulate them.”

Park Do-joon’s eyes sparkled.

천직이 프로파일러 [A natural-born profiler]