I recommend this if you want a new action manhwa with amazing art and a “you are what you eat” type of protagonist
WEBTOONSummary of the Plot So Far
Nachal are monsters that spontaneously appear in clouds of yellow dust, slaughtering anyone caught inside them.
Nachalists are humans who gain superhuman abilities while inside these yellow dust clouds.
And Maru Han is a regular man with social anxiety and ADHD who is struggling to pass the civil service exam.
After failing to pass for the fifth time, he makes a trip to a mountain at the suggestion of a shaman his mother visited to improve his luck.
When Maru reaches the top of the mountain, he’s hit by old memories, a panic attack, and a nachal.
He survives his encounter with the nachal which earns himself a place with the Special Civil Service of the Ministry of Environment, a secret branch of the government tasked with eliminating nachal.
While Maru is getting settled in his new job, the nachal are acting odd and are looking for him.
Plus, there’s a prophecy claiming an apocalypse will arrive in a year’s time.
My Thoughts (Contains Minor Spoilers)
TL;DR Good story, cool characters, and a reluctant MC worth rooting for
Setting
This takes place in modern-day South Korea on an island called Gangwha Island.
The general public doesn’t know nachal exist as it’s a state secret and normal humans caught up in the yellow dust forget what happened when it goes away.
The Special Civil Service is spread out across the country to combat them but how they normally recruit/find nachalists seems to be by coincidence.
There’s no explicit explanation but it seems they question everyone found in a yellow dust cloud after the fact to see if they remember what happened.
No equipment has been shown to test for nachalist powers or for how strong a nachalist is.
Nachalists do have ranks but it’s based on the rank of the nachal whose power they absorbed and is why Maru is ranked at the lowest tier despite his potential.
However, the Special Civil Service does have technology to detect when a nachal has appeared.
Maybe they can adapt that technology to screen humans at some point?
All in all, this very much feels like the organization is relatively new, learning and developing in response to nachal.
Nachal
So far, nearly all nachal have been humanoids with disturbing features and supernatural abilities.
They come out of gates that only spawn in uninhabited mountains which is probably why there haven’t been any large casualty events (that we know of.)
The yellow dust they generate also disrupts cellular signals which also prevents anyone from livestreaming what happens inside.
If it didn’t disrupt signals, the Special Civil Service would’ve probably sent a drone through one of those gates to see what’s on the other side.
The nachal also seem to be targeting Maru and it probably involves his father based on Maru’s flashbacks.
Apart from that, the nachal seem to be aimless killing machines though they can speak.
Only one nachalist (that we know of) can understand what they’re saying but they can only use simple words.
Other than what they do, very little is known about them or where they’re coming from.
Protagonist
Maru is a very realistic and relatable character.
He’s 29 and still struggling with his work and personal life.
And he’s not excited about the idea of fighting monsters for a day job though the hazard pay is hard to pass up.
But even then, he’d still rather run than fight a nachal unless he has no choice.
Like when a bystander is in danger and no one else is around to help.
Which I really like him for since he’s terrified and knows he doesn’t stand a chance but still throws himself into the line of fire.
It’s also in these moments where we see he has some sort of connection to the nachal.
He gets panic attacks when he initially sees them and they tend to make a bee-line towards him.
They still try to injure/kill him so it’s hard to say what the nachal want him for but I would not be surprised if they intended to drag him through one of the gates.
Side Characters
In terms of character design and personality, this manhwa has a very colorful cast across both male and female characters.
One who stands out is Eden Seonwu.
He’s a jerk who resents Maru for being weak and makes it known he hates being assigned to the Ganghwa Island team.
But when it comes down to fighting, he breaks his own bones to kill nachal without hesitation.
So I can’t totally hate him.
Then there’s the entire Ganghwa Island team, which is a group of misfits who couldn’t be placed elsewhere.
While they do consider nachal as a threat, they’re also pretty laid-back about the Day of Reckoning/apocalypse predicted to happen in a year.
The captain of the team is also uninterested in knowing more about nachal which I feel is going to bite them all in the ass.
Like, we’re starting to see examples of nachal who are technically at a lower rank yet can overpower nachalists at a higher rank.
So I’m looking forward to seeing if the characters decide to learn from that or stick with the assumption that rank means everything.
Another stand-out character is Maru’s mom, who’s built like a tank and has a heart of gold.
After Maru’s dad disappeared when Maru was young, she took care of him on her own and she still dotes on Maru without being too overbearing.
And lastly, there’s the director of the Special Civil Service who has spatial manipulation powers.
This type of power is my personal favorite and seeing them be used by the strongest person in the story (so far) is a treat.
Normally, spatial abilities are limited to inventory use or just traveling (which can be great strategically) but seeing them used offensively is refreshing.
If you’ve read this far, I hope that means you’re willing to give Special Civil Servant a try!
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