In the year 2071, the Korean Peninsula has become a dystopian world due to a comet collision that occurred 40 years ago. Only 1% of the population survived in this barren land. The “Thousand Names Group” holds control over essential resources and oxygen, dominating society. People are divided into special zones, core zones, and refugee zones, creating a society with distinct social classes.
in NETFLIX
Delivery drivers
Delivery drivers, known as “couriers,” play a crucial role in this world, delivering essential goods in an environment where leaving one’s home is challenging due to air pollution. They protect items from thieves known as “hunters” and ensure safe deliveries. Among them, the legendary courier 5-8 undertakes special missions to help refugees and leads a team called the “Black Knights,” striving for a world without discrimination.
The protagonist, April, dreams of becoming a courier like the legendary 5-8. However, the leader of the Thousand Names Group, Ryu-seok, uses courier 5-7 to kidnap children for unethical experiments, threatening them. Ryu-seok organizes a courier selection competition to conceal his sinister plans.
The drama unfolds around the legendary courier 5-8 and April as they uncover the Thousand Names Group’s conspiracies and the events that affect April’s family. Set against the backdrop of the year 2071 in a desolate Korean Peninsula, the story features constant action elements in this action drama.
Webtoon Plot Summary:
In a Korea contaminated by polluted air, people must wear gas masks and rely on deliveries instead of going outdoors. Society is divided into citizens with regular rights and refugees, with some refugees possessing extraordinary physical abilities. Citizens live in central villages, special zones, and regular areas, with a guardian called the “Guardpost” protecting central villages. Central villages are the only areas where people can live without gas masks.
Citizens possess barcodes (ID cards) allowing them to lead regular lives, but refugees lack this privilege. Refugees cannot live together, venture out of regular villages, or confront citizens, facing numerous restrictions in their daily lives. The police execute refugees if they break the law, and if citizens protect refugees, both can face the death penalty. As a result, refugees hide underground or survive by attacking couriers and stealing their goods. Couriers, skilled fighters, are selected to defend against such attacks. Refugees cannot become citizens under normal circumstances, but they can earn courier status by winning fights in the tournament and, ultimately, become couriers.
The protagonist, April, is a refugee but is lucky enough to be taken in by a citizen, living as her sister. One day, April’s sister is kidnapped by an unscrupulous corporation named Cheonmyeong Group for illegal barcode implant surgery. In her quest to rescue her sister, April undergoes rigorous training and eventually becomes the first female courier, succeeding against all odds. April trains hard with the help of couriers from Zone 5-8. Meanwhile, the poor air quality in regular and special residential areas is due to Cheonmyeong Group’s emission of polluted air from central villages, where they profit from selling gas masks, deceiving citizens.
Cheonmyeong also conducts experiments on refugees, specifically targeting couriers who refuse to support them. They create Cheonmyeong Courier to enter the courier business. April, with her steel bones as a gifted person, infiltrates the special zone through the sewer system. After defeating Guardpost and destroying the oxygen supply, she penetrates the central zone but gets captured. To save her sister, April volunteers as an experimental subject in her place, and her request is granted. In the meantime, the courier from Zone 5-8 wins the courier tournament and becomes the Guardpost. Refugees, citizens, and the president rise against Cheonmyeong Group’s authoritarian rule, capturing the central zone and imprisoning key Cheonmyeong Group members. April’s sister is rescued by Scart Brother. The story concludes with the impending war between the protesters and the Cheonmyeong Group’s experimental subjects in Part 2.