Yu Ijin is the central protagonist of the Mercenary Enrollment (alternative title: Teenage Mercenary, Ipak Yongbyeong). A gifted young mercenary and survivor of a plane crash, he opens the story when he returns to Korea after a decade to reunite with his family. His sole intent is to keep a low profile, but this is increasingly thwarted by school bullies, kidnappers, and international criminals.
Ijin's story drives home multiple overarching themes in the manhwa, such as defending the weak and treasuring relationships. He has taken on the role of the protector multiple times, having protected his sister Yu Dayoen from bullies, Cha Dusik from other gangsters, 032 from other mercenaries, etc. He has also stood up for Sin Yoena, Sin Jiyeh, and Cha Seoha. The people whom he serves are mostly relations of some sort, or individuals vulnerable to abuse of authority; these actions are taken on behalf of his values and further emphasize the manhwa's objectives.
Appearance[]
Ijin in camouflage
Yu Ijin is a tall, grey-haired boy in his teens. Although he is portrayed with a slender build, he is at least as strong as soldiers of the Special Military Force. He currently outclasses everyone in terms of combat skills introduced in the story except 002, who taught him how to fight and he seems evenly matched with. In his mercenary days, he wore olive fatigues and a shemagh to conceal his face. He is mainly seen wearing school attire, casual wear and his formal suit (after becoming a bodyguard trainee). When angry, his face is expressionless, but he is portrayed with reddish irises of the eyes and a blue aura surrounds him. Ijin's most powerful features is his EYES. Whenever Ijin is really happy or peaceful or worried his eyes are closed or hidden from view. When he is shown shirtless, his torso and arms is covered in scars from knife and bullet wounds.
Personality[]
Due to grueling training as a mercenary, Ijin is a composed and reserved individual who never panics in the face of danger and is very astute and decisive- qualities that can be prominently seen in combat. He gradually explores the concepts of love and affection after reuniting and spending time with his family, which he begins to value above anything else. After he begins to attend high school, Ijin is able to make friends and frequently joins them to play Legends of League (MOBA) at the internet cafe. He is noted to be inept at video games but is unusually adept at actual combat.
He is the strong silent type, who speaks less and listens more. He almost never shows his emotions when fighting and there are countless times when he is shown to be simply listening and thinking about things he sees or hears (speech balloon with lots of dots are shown numerous times in every chapter)
He is emotionally stable and has only shown extreme distress when (1) when he remembers his plane crash with his parents at 9 years age, and (2) when he was ordered to kill a mother and young girl while working as a mercenary (it is not known if he actually did kill these innocent people).
CHARACTER QUIRKS AND CAPABILITIES
Ijin is depicted as an ideal fighter: good looking, physically strong, well-versed in battle tactics and strategy planning (including espionage), extremely intelligent for his age, and possessing a code of honor. He is very gifted in IQ (intelligence quotient) and EQ (emotional quotient), though he experienced some awkwardness in the beginning of the manhwa due to his initial excessive defensiveness (a problem that Sukjoo sometimes shares). His code of honor includes repaying his debts and kindness done towards him, as well as protecting the weak if he sees them subject to mistreatment. He has almost no school issues or family issues and hides his battlefield memories quite well because he wants a normal life with family. When required to do settle professional matters, however, he is capable of being incredibly calculated, on par with any highly trained adult far older than he is. This includes Lt. Hamchan, who rescued him from the battlefield, and his grandfather, who remains uninformed of his background.
CHARACTER FLAWS
Although Ijin is mostly shown in ideal manner, here are times where he is shown with faults as well. In earlier chapters, his behavior towards Shin Yuna and Koh Sukjoo was superficial and detached. In addition, he seemingly is averse to romantic love since it would hinder his goal of protecting his family members. For this reason, he tries to avoid becoming close to Shin Yuna and purposely kept her at a distance. However, latest chapters show there may be a blossoming romance between them.
ANONYMITY
Ijin is extremely conscious of his own privacy, and for his family and school life (he was very rude and blunt to Yuna because she had ordered Sukjoo to check up on his background). As he is secretive, he replies in almost terse statements to questions. He also declines invitations to dinners where he feels he might be indebted to people. Sukjoo was the first person to be invited by him personally to eat together, as appreciation for having helped him. He takes interest in people who are willing to respect his decision. Ijin hates people who keep forced him or don't listen to him. He willing to share his secret if the person doesn't question his explanation, just like Sukjoo, who would accept without doubt his hint about his past and 006, simply taking it for what it was,
Despite being so strong he does not want to indulge in becoming a "bully" or a "boss" in school but rather wants to blend peacefully. Intelligent people usually hide their emotional scars and it's true for Ijin also. At a young age he has probably experience being abandoned, manipulated, trapped or controlled by persons in power or wealth. It seemed that he had rescued many people during his mercenary days but the only one to rescue him in turn and help him reunite with his own family is Lt. Hamchan, hence Ijin is especially close to him.
Interestingly, politicians like the Senator Kim and rich businessmen are not shown in a particularly good light in the manga, while military is portrayed more favorably. Gang bosses are also not shown very nicely except one person Cha Dusik who is "somewhat" friendly with Ijin. However, Ijin on the other hand kept Cha Dusik at an arms-length distance (until very recently), despite that Ijin had to borrow Cha's motorbike several times to, including to rescue his sister Yu Dayun (chapter 17) and even to battle another mercenary 006.
This is why he kept aloof from Cha Dusik because Cha Dusik used to be close to Senator Kim. Also, Ijin seems to be very hesitant and distrustful of the Shin family in the beginning including Shin Yuna, Shin Jihie and even the grandfather of Shin family. His attitude changes when he realizes that Shin Yuna’s father had met him during mercenary days and was a kind man who treated him like a son. Even when Ijin starts work part-time as a bodyguard for Shin Jihie, he appears to be aloof initially but the l'attestation chapters show him being pretty close to her. The fact that Shin Jiye know personally Major Hamchan played a rôle on this.
History[]
When Ijin was nine, he and his parents were involved in a plane crash. Although Ijin survived, he was orphaned and was stranded from his remaining family. On top of that, he also lost his memories about his past. Eventually he was taken in by an unnamed group. In chapter 94, we find out that this unnamed group (called the Camp) is a special experimental unit under Iron (a global private military corporation). In this experimental unit 1000 people were put under extreme training, which only 40 people managed to survive in the end. These people were called “the numbers”. Ijin underwent harsh training together with the other numbers and he worked as a top-class mercenary for about five years, serving in the harshest battlefields across the world. At some point, he defected from the camp, when he was ordered to kill a mother and a young girl while working as a mercenary. At that time his memory also started to return. In chapter 92, it was said that the camp suffered near annihilation when they tried to kill Ijin for defecting, but rumors spread that he died during that night. Nevertheless, he was still alive and continued to work as a mercenary under a different alias (Code name “JIN”) for about 5 years.
Later, during a rescue mission, he saved a RoK major named Kang Hamchan, his team and a doctor named Andrian Ken. Kang Hamchan traced Ijin's family and helped him retire. Ijin underwent a six-month orientation from Major Kang to help him adjust to civilian life. He's currently living with his grandfather and his sister in Seoul. Aside from attending Shinan high school, Ijin works as a part time bodyguard at the SW group's security team, along with his fellow classmate Koh Sukjoo.
In Chapter 1, we are clearly told by Ijin himself, that he was 9 years old when he suffered a plane crash and through his sister, Dayun we learn that he has returned home after 10 years.
In the same Chapter 1, when discussing with Lt. Hamchan, Ijin also tells he was on the battlefield as a mercenary for 10 years.
Plus, also in Chapter 1, Ijin had a six-month orientation with Lt. Hamchan before reuniting with his family and also forged but official documents were being created by the government to give him suitable cover to reintegrate normally into school and family life (also in those 6 months Lt. Hamschan MUST have been possibly MONITORING if Ijin has any serious psychological issues that could cause problems for his smooth integration).
In Chapter 20, Ijin’s fellow mercenaries call him JIN. Then, in Chapter 24, Shin Yuna’s grandfather mentions that Shin Yuna’s father Shin Ingook was rescued by Ijin three years earlier from the date of Ijin’s school meeting with Shin Yuna’s grandfather. This fact is further confirmed in Chapter 26, (when Ijin is selected as best performer in SW training). We learn from Shin Yuna’s grandfather that he was identified with code name” Jin” when he rescued Shin Ingook.
In Chapter 10, Ijin hacked Cha Dusik's computer (a leading crime gang boss with a good heart).
In Chapter 31, Head Mercenary of the camp "Mad Dog" remembers being wounded by Ijin (blinding him in one eye). We also know he is the head mercenary because in Chapter 55, his face is shown when 032 is referring to him with Ijin.
In Chapter 50, a female mercenary named Krasilla states that the mercenary JIN disappeared about 6 months ago.
In Chapter 52, Ijin has a nightmare from remembering his trauma of killing a young girl and her mother, during a mission.
In Chapter 61, Ijin correctly understands the complicated financial transactions between 2 companies collaborating with each other to pressurize Cha Seoha to work for them (thus avoiding bankruptcy) while even though being older, Cha Seoha does not realize this.
In Chapter 72, Ijin seems to understand Lewis Bailey’s (an American’s) discussion with Yuna, hence rescues Yuna from an embarrassing situation. We also know that Yuna and Sukjoo spent time in the USA so they can understand English.
In chapter 93, Lt Hamchan mentions that Ijin was 16 years old when they first met.
In chapter 94-95, Ijin states that he only subdued the 26 numbers that were after him when he defected, yet he never killed them. Therefore, someone else must have killed them and blamed their death’s on Ijin. This was probably done by the chef of the Iron corporation since he also tried to kill 005 by sending a group of mercenaries yet failed regardless duo to Ijin and 005’s collaboration.
In chapter 96, Ijin states that he was a mercenary for 5 years before returning to Korea.
In chapter 97, it was revealed that 5 years prior to being a mercenary Ijin was part of the camp where he underwent hellish training together with the other numbers.
In chapter 98, Ijin became in charge of the special unit of numbers and received the name “001”.
So from information above, we add the situation up and arrive at the following conclusion
a) Ijin is ATLEAST capable of understanding two (2) languages Korean and English and probably one other language of the foreign country where he was raised as an orphan mercenary. Since countries where English is normally spoken are mostly developed countries with good security and absence of war, such mercenary camps using " ORPHAN child soldiers" are unlikely to be operating from inside a developed country (Infact ORPHANS as CHILD SOLDIERS are used in war affected countries, so this point is realistic)
b) Ijin was ATLEAST 15.5 or 16 years old when he deserted the Camp and operated as JIN, till he was rescued by Lt Hamchan at 18.5 or 19 years. When rescued by Lt Hamchan, and with 6 months orientation, he is now probably already 19 or 19.5 years old. So Ijin picked up all his battle skills (additional language ability, computer hacking skills, physical fighting and tactical analysis, leadership skills, sophisticated financial knowledge) in 6 years from age of 9 onwards till 15-16 years, when he felt confident enough to desert the camp, (even at that age he was an better fighter than the head mercenary at the camp "Mad Dog", having blinded him in one eye) as well as, kept his new identity so skillfully a secret that the camp did not suspect that "JIN" and "001" are actually the same person. Also, during this period of 9-16 years of age, he had also killed a mother and young daughter which deeply traumatized him and made him attack the Head Mercenary, as well, as abandon his camp. Ijin must have already killed countless people but killing an innocent mother and her daughter was VERY DISTURBING for him.
Affiliation[]
Yu Family[]
Born as Yu Family, Yu Ijin is eldest son. After his memory comeback, Yu Ijin comebac home and found out that his family only have his sister, Yu Dayoen and his grandfather, Yu Kangsu. Both of them are precious family for Yu Ijin and Yu Ijin willing to anything to protect them from the danger.
Numbers[]
Etymology[]
Trivia[]
References[]
[]
Template:Yu Family
| Numbers | 001 (Yu Ijin) | 002 | 003 | 004 | 004 | 005 (Maya) | 006 (Liam) | 008 | 016 | 018 | 032 | |
|---|---|---|
Template:SW Corporation