My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 590

## The Stress Induces Mistakes

Less than a day after Park Do-joon gave his advice and joined the investigation, the National Intelligence Service provided videos of the suspected individuals.

“These are the people. Just like you said, there are four teams. How did you know?”

“It’s the perfect time to monitor wildlife.”

“Wildlife?”

“Yes.”

Wildlife is easier to observe at night. And there are people who venture out at night for that very purpose.

“Hmm, so four teams.”

Park Do-joon reviewed the videos and quickly eliminated two teams.

“These people aren’t involved.”

“Why not?”

“See their shoulders?”

“Yes, I see them. Isn’t that a tent?”

“It is a tent.”

“Then isn’t that even more suspicious?”

“Not at all. Anyone who monitors wildlife would recognize it.”

“Huh?”

“That’s a camouflage tent [a tent designed to blend into the environment].”

A tent that functions as a camouflage device, allowing the occupants to see out but preventing others from seeing in.

“And look at their attire. They’re fully prepared to stay up all night, right?”

They were wearing typical hiking clothes, and garments that seemed too thick even for autumn.

“It gets cold at night.”

“I see.”

“And look at what they’re holding.”

“What about what they’re holding?”

“They have walking sticks, don’t they?”

Holding hiking poles reveals a lot.

“It means the path is rough, but in the worst case, those sticks are their means of self-defense.”

It’s widely known that there are no significant predators in Korea. The only potential threats to people are wild boars or perhaps wildcats. However, neither of them typically attacks humans unprovoked.

So, simply carrying those kinds of sticks is usually enough for protection.

“But…”

Park Do-joon said, pointing to another team.

“Typical autumn attire.”

They were wearing typical autumn clothing, without a tent or walking sticks.

“They’re not people who know the mountains well.”

The mountains in autumn can be more dangerous than one might think. If you’re truly unlucky, you could even freeze to death.

“This tells us two things.”

“What are they?”

“First, they’re in a location safe enough that they can quickly descend in an emergency.”

“What about the others?”

“That’s not the case for them.”

Animals tend to avoid hiking trails frequented by people because they can smell humans. They have an unconscious awareness that it’s a path used by humans, so wild animals don’t approach it easily.

That’s the primary reason why people rarely encounter animals while hiking in the mountains.

“Hmm.”

“Isn’t it possible they just don’t know?”

“That’s what’s important: the fact that they don’t know. Night hiking is dangerous.”

Even experienced mountaineers strongly advise against night hiking. It’s better to get some sleep and wake up early to climb, at least the sun will rise along the way, otherwise, all sorts of dangers lurk.

You might encounter nocturnal animals, lose your way and fall off a cliff, or simply fall and break a leg.

Even encountering a single wild boar can be very dangerous. Many people underestimate wild boars, but if one charges at full speed, serious injuries are likely.

“Humans try to avoid dangers they don’t know. But going up with those clothes, predicting that it’s dangerous, means they must have another purpose. Going up at night with these clothes suggests they have a purpose other than hiking or animal observation.”

“I see. But that’s not enough evidence.”

“Search the surrounding marts or convenience stores.”

“Huh?”

“If you spend just one day in those clothes, you’ll be chilled to the bone. So, they’ll need to find a way to warm up, like buying additional clothes or hot packs [small, portable pouches that generate heat].”

“Aha!”

And that would be enough to use as evidence.

“Even if they paid with cash, it should be traceable enough.”

“Thank you. But how did you get information about the culprit here?”

It’s not easy to track down a culprit without evidence. The best way is to catch the real culprit and get a confession.

“Not yet. But I have a rough idea. So now I need to shake them up.”

“Shake them up?”

“Isolation drives people crazy. And by now, that culprit must be quite exhausted.”

Everyone is extremely sensitive; the test questions were leaked, and now they have to create new questions. Naturally, everyone is going crazy.

“You know from your experience in the military.”

Because there’s no healthy way to relieve stress, hazing and crime increase dramatically in the military. Some misguided individuals mistakenly believe that such toxic military culture is the lubricant that makes the military run well, but from an expert’s point of view, if the future of military life wasn’t guaranteed, there would probably be dozens or hundreds of shooting incidents every year.

In fact, in numerous war histories, it was no secret that officers were sometimes secretly killed when war broke out.

If a bullet is lodged in the back of your head during a charge, you can’t know why you died, it’s difficult to recover the body, and even if you do, you can’t know who shot it, so you can only suspect friendly fire.

“In that situation, adding just a little more stress usually leads to some kind of mistake.”

“Changed by a mistake?”

“A mistake is when the result is different from the intended purpose. And by examining that, you can discern the purpose.”

Park Do-joon said confidently.

“We’re almost there, almost there.”

A scene filled with extreme stress. Causing problems there is simple.

“Sad news.”

The head of the question-setting committee said with a gloomy face.

“The leaker was arrested last night.”

“What? Really?”

“Yes.”

“What about the questions? The questions!”

People were hoping that if the questions hadn’t been widely disseminated, they might still be able to use them. But unfortunately, that’s not possible according to the regulations. Once there’s a leak, whether someone used it externally or not, you have to submit a new set.

“It’s leaked. There’s already a trace of it being sent.”

“Agh!”

“Damn it! I’m going to kill them!”

People were jumping up and down in anger.

In that tense situation, the head of the question-setting committee said with regret.

“Since that’s the situation, you all have to submit new questions.”

“We’re already submitting them!”

They were doing their best to submit them, but just reviewing and uploading the candidate questions was taking up an insane amount of time.

“Please do your best for now.”

“Hoo~!”

“Ah, and regarding this incident, we sought advice from Attorney Jung Yi-yeon.”

“Advice as in?”

“Civil lawsuits are also possible against the perpetrators. We plan to proceed with civil lawsuits, so applicants should apply whenever they have time.”

“Of course, we should!”

“I’m going to screw those bastards over!”

As everyone went back gnashing their teeth in anger at the words of the head of the question-setting committee, Park Do-joon calmly observed each person one by one. And when they had all left, the head of the question-setting committee approached Park Do-joon and Jung Yi-yeon, who were standing behind.

“Will we be able to find them by doing this?”

“We will. The greatest stress for the perpetrators is the fear that they might be arrested.”

Moreover, this incident was not just about being arrested, but a situation that would turn South Korea upside down.

If they get arrested, their lives will be ruined.

“And right now, people are under extreme stress. Hazing in the military happens because there’s no one to relieve that stress.”

You can’t lash out at your superiors, you can’t play games, you can’t listen to music as you please, and you can’t even rest properly. The only form of entertainment, TV, had to be watched by dozens of people in the past.

The only target to relieve stress at that time was none other than your junior [a lower-ranking soldier]. A weak person who can’t resist.

“This time is the same. It’s called a civil lawsuit, but it’s essentially identifying an enemy.”

You can’t find a target to relieve stress internally. Everyone is a colleague and an adult. TV? There’s not much time left, so will they really have time to watch it leisurely? In a situation where they’re under extreme stress from morning until the moment they sleep, if you specify a target to vent that stress, they’ll try to sue them no matter what happens later.

“Because you have to catch a target to vent your anger?”

“That’s right. But it’s different from the perspective of the person involved.”

“Well, it’s hard to sue because they’re in the same group, right?”

“That’s right.”

Even the perpetrator will be angry and dumbfounded. Suing them, who is also an accomplice? Anyone would think they’re trying to pin it on them, and from the perpetrator’s point of view, they’ll take it as betrayal. Then they’ll spill the beans.

“Because they’re afraid of that, they can’t report it themselves.”

“Aha!”

If everyone is reporting, and only one person isn’t, that person must be the culprit.

“But other people might not report it, right? To be honest, even if you claim damages, there’s nothing you can get.”

Legally, the authority to claim damages and receive compensation belongs to the organization that manages the SAT question setters, not the question setters themselves. It’s hard to argue that the question setters have the right to claim compensation.

Because once they’re selected as question setters, they receive a fixed amount of money whether they work every day or not. Even if they create questions for two months and rest for one month, it’s just a problem with the system, not paid leave, so it’s hard to see that there are any damages.

“I know. Someone will realize that. But does that matter?”

What really matters is that they were angry and there’s a target to release that anger.

“Ah, so the person who’s dragging their feet is the culprit.”

“That’s right.”

The moment they think they’ve been betrayed, that guy will try to get revenge no matter what.

“And from the perspective of the person involved, it’s really ambiguous to sue.”

“But not everyone will sue, right?”

“Of course not.”

Park Do-joon shrugged and said.

“But someone will show signs of stress. Very extremely.”

“Because they’ll believe they’ve become a target of investigation.”

This is a place where all information is blocked. And currently, the media is not reporting about the murder case and the question leak in order to prevent confusion regarding the SAT [Scholastic Aptitude Test, a standardized test for college admissions].

“That means we’re the only ones who can provide information.”

From the perpetrator’s point of view, that’s a very fearful and terrifying situation. Their neck is being tightened every moment, but they have no way to stop or avoid it.

“And the stress from anger and the stress from such despair are subtly different.”

Park Do-joon said confidently.

“They can’t be the same.”

And all he had to do was catch them.

A Natural-Born Profiler