༺Cheon Jin Man༻︴༒

1. Veritas ("Truth") - Intellectuals and Managers. · Color: Dark blue. The color of stability, depth of thought, and wisdom. Role in the faction: The brains of the city. Veritas manages the economy, laws, science, and education. They develop technologies, negotiate, and plan the future of Aegis. Without them, the city would descend into chaos and ignorance. Hierarchy: The most complex and intricate system. Advancement depends on scientific discoveries, successful legislation, or winning lawsuits. Cunning, logic, and oratory are valued here. Physical strength is unimportant.

2. Industry (“Labor”) – Builders and Workers. Color: Orange. The color of energy, warmth, and creativity, the color of factory lights and workwear. Role in the faction: These are the city's arms. They are responsible for all material matters: the construction of houses and roads, the production of food, clothing, electricity, and water. Without them, the city would simply fall apart. Hierarchy: "Whoever does the most is right." Endurance, physical strength, practical skills, and teamwork are valued. Conflicts are resolved quickly and harshly, often with fists.

3. Incognita ("Unknown") - Explorers and Guardians of the Borders. Color: Green (khaki/swamp green). The color of camouflage, life, and uncharted lands beyond the wall. Role in the faction: They are the eyes and shield of the city. They patrol the outer borders, protect against external threats, and also undertake dangerous forays into the ruins of the Old World for resources (water, metals, fuel). They are scouts and warriors. Hierarchy: Military. There's a clear chain of command, and orders are not discussed. Status is determined by combat merit, the number of successful missions, and survival skills. Weakness here means death for the entire group.

4. Empathy ("Sympathy") - Healers and Guardians. Color: Turquoise. The color of calm, purity, harmony, and healing. Role in the faction: This is the heart of the city. Doctors, psychologists, firefighters, elementary school teachers. They monitor the health of citizens, maintain peace in society, and educate children until they are 18 (until they are assigned). Without them, the city would become brutal and die from disease. Hierarchy: Gentle, based on experience and knowledge. The oldest and wisest healers are at the top. Patience, compassion, and healing talent are valued. Competition exists, but it is hidden, for the best positions in hospitals and laboratories.

· Color: Gray (lack of color). Who they are: People whose DNA doesn't fit into any faction, or were exiled from factions for not matching. They live behind the wall (or in the dungeons beneath the city) in dire poverty. They are considered "bad" by the system. They are forbidden to have children, hold any positions, or even touch "clean" citizens. They survive on handouts and theft.

This is the faction that 90% of teenagers dream of joining. Being a Border Guard means carrying a weapon, seeing the world beyond the wall, having unquestionable authority in the city, and the most beautiful uniform.

· Why they want to get in: The romance of danger, power, respect, the opportunity to make a real difference. How they're assigned: The Incognito aptitude test is the most brutal. The machine searches your DNA for "combat" genes: a high pain threshold, instant reaction time, adrenaline addiction, and a reduced instinct for self-preservation for the sake of the group. Very few such people are born. · Statistics (Rating System): · New recruits (18 years old) enter boot camp. · Everyone has a personal rating, which is updated weekly. It consists of three points:

1. Physical training (40%): Running, strength training, obstacle course.
2. Combat skills (40%): Sparring (real, until first blood), weapon mastery.
3. Tactical thinking (20%): Solving survival problems, orientation. Every week, the person at the very bottom of the list receives a "Red Mark." They have exactly seven days to move up at least one spot. · If on the day of the next count (once a month) a recruit is in the bottom 5% of the rating for the second time in a row, his...
4. They deprive you of your faction icon (it’s a disgrace).
5. Either they are sent beyond the wall to certain death on a solo reconnaissance patrol (for show), or they are simply banished to the Outcasts. Among the veterans (those already serving), the system is even harsher. There, the bottom 1% are sent on "Eternal Watch"—an expedition without the right to return to the city.

"Daringness" is where the cult of strength through pain reigns.

1. Initiation: On their very first day, newcomers are told: "Forget your names. Here, you are a number until you earn the right to be called a Guardian." Their personal belongings are taken away.
2. Sparring: This is the basis of everything. These are not training fights, but real ones. · "Blood" Rule: The match ends only when one of the participants suffers a severe nosebleed, a cut, or loses consciousness. Instructors do not interfere. · Punishment: If you refuse sparring or give up without receiving a scratch, you are deprived of rations for a week, transferred to bread and water, and assigned the dirtiest work.
3. Relationships: Friendship is a luxury that can cost lives. You can be forced to fight your best friend, and if you give in, both will be eliminated. Romantic relationships between recruits are forbidden—it's a distraction. Violators can be punished by sending one of the pair on the most dangerous raid.
4. Fears: The worst punishment isn't death or exile. The worst is the "Break." If a person's psyche can't handle it, they break, but are still physically strong, and they can be transferred to the "Cannon Fodder" squad. These are the suicide bombers who are the first to engage the enemy or enter dangerous zones to save the lives of the "true" Guardians. A person ceases to be an individual, becoming a tool.

(30 years old)

Position: Supreme Instructor of the Combat Wing, Chief Arbiter of Trials.

Appearance: He's tall—the top of his head rises above the crowd of recruits as he walks past the line. His build is athletic but lean, without an ounce of excess weight. This body isn't pumped up in the gym for looks—it's a machine built for speed, explosive power, and endurance. His movements are fluid, economical, without unnecessary gestures, like those of a wild animal frozen in tension.

Asian features are sharp and regular. A thin nose, a strong jawline. Dark, deep-set eyes with a heavy, unblinking gaze that makes recruits weak at the knees.

The most remarkable thing is his skin. There's not a single scar on his face or hands. In a world where bloody sparring and combat missions take place every day, this lack of scars speaks volumes: he's so perfect that his enemies simply can't touch him. This is more frightening than any wound, even the most grievous.

Hairstyle and style: His dark, jet-black hair is slicked back, making his gaze even more distant and dangerous. Even into battle, he wears it perfectly—it's part of his invincibility.

His back is always as straight as a string. Even sitting at the table or watching sparring from the observation deck, he doesn't allow himself to relax even a millimeter.

· Absolute calm: Jin Man never raises his voice. He speaks quietly, calmly, enunciating every word. In the noisy hall where recruits are fighting, his whisper is heard by everyone because the silence is deathly silent whenever he opens his mouth. Cruelty through Indifference: He doesn't revel in violence like a sadist. He treats it like a job. When a rookie falls unconscious from a blow, Jin Man looks at him with mild boredom, as if he were a broken piece of exercise equipment. His famous line: "Get up. Death won't wait. For anyone." · Justice of the Law: For him, rules aren't just instructions; they're the air he breathes. If a rule stipulates a punishment for losing, he'll enforce it, even if the loser is his friend (which he doesn't have). Favoritism, for him, is the worst crime. Predator's Intelligence: He's not just a dumb soldier. He plans everything several moves ahead. During a duel, he doesn't just see the two combatants, but analyzes their potential, weaknesses, reaction speed, and tactical errors. He knows the name and statistics of every recruit by heart.

Hand-to-hand combat: His style is a blend of brutal, military-style martial arts. No wasted movement. All strikes are aimed at quickly disabling the opponent: to the throat, groin, eyes, and joints. · Shooting: Phenomenal. At the shooting range, he doesn't aim—he just looks at the target, and the bullet flies right on target. He often gives demonstrations for beginners, shooting with both hands, on the move, while turning, without looking. Fencing: Incognita teaches the use of bladed weapons (knives, machetes). Jin Man prefers a short tactical knife, which he always carries with him.

Personal life (or lack thereof): He is completely, fanatically devoted to the faction. He has no family, no hobbies outside of duty. His room is spartanly bare: a bed, a desk, a weapon. Rumor has it he sleeps only three to four hours a night, and the rest of the time he spends training or studying reports. For him, Incognita isn't a place of work; it's his home, his family, and his god.

The recruits fear him to the point of trembling in their knees. The veterans treat him with a kind of animalistic, primal respect. In his presence, even the most daring and powerful men lower their eyes. Because everyone knows: Jung Jin-man is the living embodiment of perfection, and if you doubt your strength for even a moment, he will prove your insignificance in a second, without even breaking a sweat.

Jin-man's shadow - Grip (Kang Tae-hyun), 32 years old

Position: Chief Instructor of Martial Arts and Hand-to-Hand Combat.

If Jin-man is the strategist and living symbol of the faction, then Tae-hyung is his fighting hand. He's responsible for ensuring that new recruits are able to kill with their bare hands.

Appearance: He's the complete opposite of Jin-man. While Jin-man is tall and slender, Tae-hyun is short and stocky, with a powerful torso and incredibly long arms (his reach is like that of a professional swimmer). He has a crew cut, and his face bears several old knife scars that he makes no attempt to hide. His left eyebrow is split in two. He has a strong jaw and a heavy, sullen gaze.

Personality: A dark, taciturn sadist. While Jin Man punishes with cold indifference, Tae Hyun relishes the process. He loves sparring and personally enters the ring with the new recruits to "show them how it's done." He doesn't maim them (Jin Man would forbid it), but he beats them methodically, demonstrating their utter helplessness. The new recruits fear him even more than Jin Man, because Jin Man is a distant god, while Tae Hyun is a devil standing right in front of you in a cage.

Fighting style: Wrestling, sambo, judo. He loves painful holds and chokes. His signature move is forcing a recruit to submit by simply twisting him into a knot so tight that the cracking of his joints can be heard in the next wing.

Relationship with Jin Man: Tae Hyun is the only person with whom Jin Man occasionally allows himself to have closed sparring sessions (one-on-one, without spectators). No one knows who wins. Tae Hyun is the only one who calls Jin Man by his first name, without titles, but with respect.

Faction Sniper Rifle - Iceberg (Yoo Na Bi), 28 years old

Position: Chief Instructor for Firearms Training and Long-Range Combat Tactics.

A woman who has made it into Incognita's elite not through physical strength (though she is in excellent shape), but through her phenomenal composure and talent as a marksman.

Appearance: Tall, slender, with long legs. She has smooth, pale skin and a completely impassive face. Her dark hair is always pulled back into a tight, perfectly smooth bun—not a single hair out of place. She has delicate features, narrow eyes, and pale lips that almost never smile. She is beautiful, but in the beauty of a statue or an expensive weapon—perfect and terrifying.

Personality: Absolutely emotionless. They nicknamed her Iceberg because she can stand behind a rookie shooting and not even blink when a bullet ricochets a centimeter from her face. She speaks quietly, monotonously. She doesn't tolerate stupidity or inattention. If a rookie misses because of a sweaty finger or a twitch, she can simply put them in a corner for the entire day, forcing them to hold their rifle at arm's length.

Skills: Sniper marksmanship from any distance, from any position, in any weather. She can calculate a bullet's trajectory, adjusting for wind, faster than a computer. She has phenomenal vestibular function—she can hit her target even while standing on one hand on the edge of a moving platform.

Relationship with Jin Man: Deepest mutual respect. They barely speak, but understand each other perfectly. Jin Man knows that if he orders her to shoot an enemy from 2 kilometers away, the bullet will hit him right in the left eye. She is his ace in the hole. Rumor has it that she is the only one who can sit in the same room with Jin Man and remain silent for hours, and they both enjoy it.

Walking Textbook - Professor (Park Jung-soo), 45 years old

Position: Chief Analyst, Strategist and Tactical Instructor.

The oldest of the four, he could have retired long ago or taken a cushy office, but he's a true fanatic of his craft. His body isn't as strong as the others', but his brain works like a supercomputer.

Appearance: Of medium height, with a noticeable stoop (the result of years spent poring over maps and documents). His short hair, graying at the temples, is always combed back. He wears old-fashioned glasses with thin wire frames. He has the slender fingers of a pianist or surgeon, which constantly tap the table when he's thinking. He's always impeccably dressed, his uniform fits him perfectly, but it's clear he's wearing it as if he's wearing someone else's skin—more comfortable in the lab than in the field.

Personality: Calm, ironic, and sarcastic. He's the only one who allows himself to tease Jin Man (within reason). He despises brute force and values ​​intelligence. His favorite phrase to new recruits is: "You can do a thousand push-ups, but if you don't know where the enemy's guard post is, you'll simply die gracefully first."

Role: He develops training scenarios, analyzes data from forays beyond the wall, and identifies enemy weaknesses. He's the one who sits at headquarters with maps and tablets while the others train. He sees the big picture. Jin-man consults with him before any major strategic decision.

Skills: Phenomenal memory. He remembers the names, strengths, and weaknesses of every recruit for the past 20 years. He can predict a soldier's actions in a critical situation based on their behavior. At the tactical game of Go (which he sometimes plays with Jin Man), he has no equal in the city.

Relationship with Jin Man: The most trusting. Jin Man sees him not just as a subordinate, but as a mentor in matters of strategy. The professor, in turn, sees Jin Man as an ideal student, one who has surpassed his teacher in martial arts, yet retains respect for his knowledge.