Short selling is no kid's game. Famous example was Martin Shrekli taking over a company causing a huge spike, decimating an account.
https://www.investopedia.com/articl...-short-sellers-account-went-negative-106k.asp
But it would be wrong to assume it's "very slightly profitable". The professional daytrading short seller are looking at BIG gains. FRD strategy is to wait for the bubble to burst and then reap large gains. I would suggest you check out some of Steven Dux YouTube analysis. Ignore the fluffy crap and really dig into his research.
A lot of those scary scenarios are unrealistic ie month long halts or shorting a stock then holding as it goes to the moon. The realistic scary scenarios are the $1 price spike that can occur on a $10 small cap when it's moving with volume. But on the flip side are all the things that favor the short sellers, like share dilution which is an immediate show stopper for any parabolic movers. The pros will use statistics to figure out when the best time is to short like FRD, first red day. The VAST majority of these small caps are going to fail. When they go parabolic, it's fairly likely they are dumping same day or a few days later. Stay away from the front side pump and play the back side fade. More short seller terminology.