Teenage Mercenary

Orphaned at eight when a plane crash claimed his parents, I-Jin Yu was left stranded in a hostile foreign land with no one to turn to. To survive, he had no choice but to take up the brutal life of a child mercenary—trading his childhood for combat drills, bloodstained contracts, and the constant shadow of death. Ten years later, he finally returns to Korea, stepping back into a world that feels almost alien in its normalcy: a family waiting to embrace him, a roof overhead, and meals that don't have to be earned with a gun. Yet peace is a fragile illusion. High school, with its cliques, rivalries, and unspoken codes of cruelty, proves to be a battlefield of an entirely different kind. With only a single year left before graduation, I-Jin must navigate hallways more treacherous than any warzone, using lethal instincts honed over a decade to deal with bullies, social politics, and the everyday chaos of teenage life. The question isn't whether he can endure the school year—but whether the school itself can withstand the quiet storm he brings. For a boy forged in fire, fitting in may be the deadliest mission of all.