Hand Jumper, a thrilling fantasy webtoon, is centered around the contempted magical individuals known as Aberrants. When perfect student Sayeon takes her final Aberrancy test, all her academic dreams dissipate, and she’s thrust into a dangerous, horrifying world where the lines separating power, justice, and crime blend. As Sayeon’s little world takes a steep plunge into darkness, can she rise and face the challenges, or will she drown like so many before her? Let’s read Hand Jumper Chapter 1-10 to find out more.
Hand Jumper Chapter 1: Sayeon’s Inner Demon
Hand Jumper Chapter 1 thrillingly begins with a professionally dressed woman running for her life. Hastily locking the door, she contemplates escaping through the window. Tendrils of green power seep in and crash into the room before she can get further. A man, in a hideous pig mask, stands in the destroyed doorway. The woman, sobbing now, promises the pig-man that the Corps will kill him and calls him a ‘filthy Aberrant’.
In the morning, Sayeon watches the news channel, which explains the mysterious murder of criminal prosecutor, Jieun Bo, by super-powered individuals called Aberrants. The prosecutor had previously convicted an Aberrant of murder… was it revenge? Lost in thought, Sayeon is snapped back to reality by her older sister.
Sayeon’s sister muses over the news. The prosecutor’s two children had been mercifully spared, but her disapproving sister has a different opinion- “When you uproot a weed, you burn the seeds, too.” She casually moves past the cruel remark and brings up Sayeon’s final Aberrancy test. Triggered, Sayeon slams the table and yells that she isn’t an Aberrant- as implied by her sister- and that even if she were, she’d never be like her. Taking her bag, she slams the door and storms down the footpath.
Jaeil the Bank Robber
While swearing at her difficult sister, she runs into her friend, Jaeil, waiting by the sidewalk. His cheerful greeting brightens her mood. Falling into step with him, Sayeon reminds him that she’d told him to stay away from her house. Jaeil casually replies that it was ‘a worst rule’ since they’d been friends for years. When she notices the absence of his backpack, Jaeil explains that he was planning to skip school after the Aberrancy test. Mature and responsible, Sayeon juxtaposes his characteristic devil-may-care attitude. She advises him against ruining his future, although Jaeil insists that he wants to be a bank robber. He jokes that Sayeon, who dreams of being a criminal prosecutor, will bail him out of jail.
When Jaeil humorously tells her to be careful, so as not to end up like the Aberrant murdered prosecutor, the words hit Sayeon harder than intended. She begins thinking of her Aberrant sister.
Aberrants, although rare in society, wield worryingly powerful abilities. According to the law, every child between ten and eighteen had to take an annual Aberrancy test. Those who tested negative were given a Peace card, and those who were identified as Aberrants were enlisted into the Aberrant Corps to become law enforcers.
Sayeon’s sister had decided against it. Both of her parents were Aberrant outlaws, too. Hand Jumper Chapter 1 concludes with her sister’s words- ‘And one day, little sis, you will be one too.’
Hand Jumper Chapter 2: Friends Until the End
Hand Jumper Chapter 2 begins as Sayeon explains that she’d never cared to know about her sister’s Aberrant life. As a brilliant student aiming for law school, she’d turned a blind eye to her criminal sibling. Their blood relation didn’t matter and never would.
However, that philosophy has one exception- the Aberrancy test day. Since Aberrancy is hereditary, it did matter, for one day every year, who she was related to.
Sitting in class, waiting for her name to be called out, Sayeon is a bundle of nerves. Even a goofy picture of Jaeil’s cat, Bobo, doesn’t cheer her up. Wedging himself next to Sayeon, Jaeil consoles his friend and freezes when she rests her head on his shoulder. Suddenly, the door bangs open and a student barges in, flaunting his newly renewed Peace card. Next in line, Jaeil gets up to leave. Sayeon reaches into her bag and pulls out a band-aid- pink, to embarrass him out of being careless- to replace the old one on his cheek. Smiling, he takes it and bids her farewell.
Looking out the window, Sayeon mentally tells Jaeil a secret she’s ashamed of- ‘If I do turn out to be an Aberrant, I wish you’d be one too.’
Meanwhile, in the testing room, drops of blood collect into a pool on the table. Jaeil sits, facing the Aberrant tester, with blood seeping out of his face. The inspector happily stands up, declares his Aberrancy, and orders her assistant to clean up the mess, concluding Hand Jumper Chapter 2.
Hand Jumper Chapter 3: Officer Ahn Is Not Nice
Hand Jumper Chapter 3 begins as Sayeon realizes that Jaeil hadn’t returned from his test. She concludes that he must’ve skipped school like he’d resolved to. When her turn comes, she nervously walks down the aisle. With every step, she tells herself that she’ll make it out, Peace card in hand, and continue chasing the top universities like before.
Before she can reach for the doorknob, a man swings the door open from inside for her. Rattled, Sayeon wonders if he was listening to her footsteps. She nervously walks in and faces the inspector- a pale woman with stark white hair, wearing a crisp white suit and a bright yellow tie- who brightly introduces herself as Officer Ahn.
Sayeon, breathing with a sigh of relief, realizes that she seems more amiable than the previous year’s inspector (doubtful that Jaeil agrees). Before the test, Officer Ahn asks Sayeon basic questions about herself. In the middle, Sayeon notices the Officer’s tie pin- the roman numerals for the number eight. Ahn explains, with a hint of madness, that it meant she was a Level Eight officer. No Aberrant would escape her. Sayeon recognizes the officer’s strangeness as an Aberrant characteristic, noting that even her sister hadn’t been the same criminal-minded person when they were younger.
Officer Ahn asks Sayeon if there were any Aberrants in her immediate family. She thinks about her parents and sister, all of whom are Aberrants, and firmly denies it. “I have no family,” she says, and it isn’t a lie.
Sayeon’s Aberrancy Test
Officer Ahn stands up. Usually, for the Aberrancy test, the inspector would touch the child’s hand, and a small spark would occur, indicating Aberrancy. Instead, for Sayeon, Ahn raises her hand and briefly taps her forehead.
In a flash of golden light, Sayeon’s eyes begin glowing teal. Her glasses crack with the power radiating out from her. Ahn begins to laugh, explaining that she’d caught on to her Aberrancy the second she walked in. Sayeon, horrified, looks down at the blue power whirling through her hand, concluding Hand Jumper Chapter 3.
Hand Jumper Chapter 4: Existential Crisis
Hand Jumper Chapter 4 begins as Sayeon, looking down at her unfamiliar power, recognizes its teal colour- the same shade as her sister’s. Officer Ahn calls her name, and she backs away, trying to protest. Something catches her leg, and she trips.
Officer Ahn ominously approaches her. However, unlike Jaeil’s horror show, she cheerfully congratulates Sayeon on her Aberrancy. Handcuffs are placed on her wrists, which seep her essence and make Aberrancy nearly impossible. Sayeon, still in shock and denial, tries to convince the officer that she isn’t an Aberrant. Ahn explains her dormant power- unusual but not unheard of- and tells her that she’ll be taken to Aberrant headquarters in the morning.
At home, Sayeon lies on her bed. She stares at her cracked glasses, telling herself not to cry. On her wall, numerous graded papers are taped- each boasting a perfect score. She’d tried to outrun her Aberrancy by working harder than everyone else. She begins to crumple the papers up, her mind racing through all the times she’d denied herself enjoyment. Parties, friends, hobbies, she’d always pushed it away. Had she ever been happy during those years?
Thinking of Jaeil, Sayeon dials his number and hopes that he’ll pick up… At that moment, Samin, her sister, knocks on the door and asks how the test went. Sayeon finally breaks. She yells at her sister for her pretenses, non-existent virtues, and zero sense of familial value. Her sister killed people- and she would never, ever do the same. Sayeon, still harbouring her naive view of justice, believes that the Corps would only execute the deserving. Samin asks her if she’s sure and reminds her that they’d disposed of their mother. Sayeon, thinking of her mother, firmly stands by her opinion.
Hand Jumper Chapter 5: Bittersweet Goodbyes
Hand Jumper Chapter 5 begins as Samin peeks through Sayeon’s bedroom window and watches her sleep (creepy much?) A man with her, Jungwoo, asks if she’ll let her sister join the Corps. Samin, suddenly gaining integrity, explains that she won’t dictate her sister’s life (although she does send someone to watch over her at the Corps). She elucidates that- with a metaphor about a suffocating goldfish- she doesn’t want to confine Sayeon to her expectations. Samin observes, “You could call me a bad person, but never a bad sister.”
The next morning, Sayeon knocks on Jaeil’s door. His father opens up unenthusiastically and dismissively tells her that his son isn’t home. Sayeon clarifies that she’d come to meet him and not Jaeil. Bowing, she asks Mr. Kim to look after him, despite their rocky father-son relationship, when she is gone. Jaeil’s father remembers the countless times Sayeon had arrived at their doorstep, finding their cat, dropping his stuff, bringing a drunken Jaeil home, and basically, cleaning up after her friend’s messes. Mr. Kim tells her that she isn’t responsible for Jaeil and shouldn’t let herself get dragged down by him- “You chased your dreams. He chased his tail.” Then, with an almost fond look, he tells Sayeon to leave and not worry about his son.
Sayeon Leaves Home
Walking to school for the last time, Sayeon realizes how little her existence is. Only two people would notice her disappearance- Jaeil and Samin. For a brief moment, she begins to regret losing her temper at her sister. She approaches her chauffeur, the man from the Aberrancy test, before time. He discusses compensation for her glasses (that had cracked during the test) and advises her to take the money since the Corps wasn’t exactly well-paying. For the first time in her relatively sheltered life, Sayeon worries about finances.
During the car ride, Sayeon shares the backseat with another girl. With short-cropped hair, a baseball cap, and an oversized jacket, she completes her street vibe with hostility towards Sayeon. At the headquarters, she marches out of the car, purposefully bumping into someone on the way in. When Sayeon runs to check on the boy she’d shouldered, she’s met with a cold, pale face- much like Officer Ahn’s. Hand Jumper Chapter 5 concludes as Sayeon is suddenly years for home.
Hand Jumper Chapter 6: An Unsettling Orientation
Staring at the scarred face of the pale boy, Sayeon finds it hard to believe he’s the same age as her- and not a long-convicted criminal, beginning Hand Jumper Chapter 6. The boy explains to Sayeon’s chauffeur that his officer hadn’t shown up, and he’d ended up running to the Corps. Sayeon begins to wonder how far he’d run when she’s hurriedly shoved inside the building.
In the auditorium, all the amateur Aberrants are grouped. Sayeon and the strange boy arrive later than everyone else, which is noted by their instructor. Perched on a high railing above them, the strict-faced woman looks more bird of prey than a human. The tall level-nine officer gracefully lands on her heels in front of Sayeon, who explains that her officer had picked her up late. The instructor, standing face-to-face with her, asks if she always blamed others for her failures. She turns to the boy for his reason, and he simply says he hadn’t run fast enough. The woman, Instructor Sang, praises his straightforwardness and then attacks him with her green power. She explains that the boy and Sayeon were in the same cell, and therefore in the same team. In the Corps, students were punished for their teammates’ blunders.
The Pecking Order
Turning to everyone, Instructor Sang explains the points system. Aberrants could travel up the ranks by earning points, from level one to level five (graduation). Beyond that, some officers may even climb the ladder to higher levels, with level ten being the highest and most improbable. Sang further explains that the trainee years have a fatality rate of eighty percent, leading to hushed whispers among the recruits. “Everyone dies eventually,” she declares, “Few get to choose how.”
Hearing those words, Sayeon thinks back to the day she’d watched the news. She’d wanted to do better than the murdered prosecutor, she wanted to stay alive. Having ranked in the top 0.5% in national exams, Sayeon realizes that being part of 20% at the Aberrant Corps would be a cakewalk. If she could become a red-tie officer, then her dream of serving justice to the world was still within reach. Instructor Sang removes Sayeon’s restricting cuffs and makes it clear that they’re not on good terms, concluding Hand Jumper Chapter 6.
Hand Jumper Chapter 7: Team Bonding… Sort of
Hand Jumper Chapter 7 begins in Sayeon’s cell. The four teammates- including the pale boy and the girl from the car- awkwardly face each other. A cheery blonde boy, Iseul, tries to break the tension by introducing himself. As he begins a round of introductions, his unfettered enthusiasm hits Sayeon like a gust of wind. Iseul turns toward the baseball cap-wearing girl, who establishes herself as Ryujin. The pale boy calls himself Min, and lastly, Sayeon introduces herself too. She apologizes to Min for causing the Inspector to hit him. He simply brushes a hand over his bruised cheek and heals it effortlessly, as if just wiping the damage off.
Noticing Sayeon’s utter shock, Iseul realizes she’d never used her essence before. He demonstrates his power: he claps his hands, and orange power flows toward her, levitating her glasses off her face. Encouragingly, he stimulates her to practice. However, no amount of clapping helps Sayeon get in touch with her powers. It does succeed in ticking off Ryujin, who stands up for her idea. She balls her fists, explaining that adrenaline triggers essence, and knocks Sayeon to the ground- but no luck. Ryujin hypothesizes that she’s just weak and talentless. Sayeon begins to believe it when Min catches her off guard with a sharp slice at her neck. Strands of her hair fall to the floor, cut off by his Aberrant-powered knife, and Sayeon’s eyes glow teal, concluding Hand Jumper Chapter 7.
Hand Jumper Chapter 8: A Fight, Two New Friends
Hand Jumper Chapter 8 begins as Min retracts his outstretched hand, bluntly pointing out that his strategy worked. Iseul butts in, horrified at him, yet optimistic that Sayeon’s essence had been activated. Ryujin, fed up, leaves the room despite Iseul’s protests. A hand touches her new haircut. Sayeon offers to go after her.
After she leaves, Iseul tells Min that he’d ‘messed up big time’ since girls hated it when others messed up their hair and nearly lanced off their heads.
Meanwhile, Sayeon stalks after Ryujin in the corridors. Turning around, Ryujin calls her an unassertive coward for running away from Min and not confronting him about the chop. Angrily, Sayeon tells her thorny roommate that she knew nothing about her. Ryujin walks away, saying that she hates people like her.
Sayeon is left pondering, her mind swimming through her past trauma, when two girls suddenly pierce her thoughts. The pink-haired girl, Dahee, greets Sayeon with the same gust-of-wind enthusiasm as Iseul, and the other, Tsubaki, quietly mutters her greeting. Dahee compliments her in vogue, asymmetrical haircut, and she nervously explains that her roommate had cut it off. Dahee immediately changes her tune, deciding to set things straight (literally).
Sweet Dreams (Just Kidding)
Later, in their room, Sayeon sits with her newly evened-out hair. She gratefully thanks the girls for their kindness, but is soon left alone by them. She falls back onto a bed, trying to sort through her tired, overwhelmed thoughts. Slowly, she drifts off to sleep, wondering how Jaeil was faring at home.
Sayeon dreams of the day she’d been chasing butterflies as a young kid, and had lost her sister. Crying out of desperation, she’d met a kind man with a red tie. Not long after, Samin had found them. She’d quickly snatched Sayeon away from the man, making her promise never to go near ‘those officers’ again.
A loud beep jolts Sayeon awake. Over the PA speakers, a voice requests her presence in cell four. Sayeon panics and moves to get up when her fingers find a red paper. Opening the note, she recalls that it hadn’t been there before, concluding Hand Jumper Chapter 8.
Hand Jumper Chapter 9: A College Experience
Hand Jumper Chapter 9 begins as Sayeon reads the words ‘Dearest sister’ on the red note and immediately trashes the paper. A big deep breath later, she walks to the trash can and plucks the note out. Enclosed within the note are three tips to survive the Corps. One, never trust your instructor to keep you safe. Two, never trust officers above level seven. And lastly, Samin wrote (while overseeing the brutal murder of a man) that she’d always be there for her sister after graduation.
Walking back to cell four, Sayeon understands that her sister had planted someone to look after her. She terms it ‘madness’ that her sister had never taken care of her at home, but was monitoring her like a hawk the second she’d gotten her independence. Pushing the door open, she apologizes to her team and instructor for being late (which doesn’t help her new reputation). Sayeon realizes she’d skipped lunch because of her nap, reprimanding herself for her tardiness.
Inspector Sang explains Aberrancy to Sayeon. Green powers were tangible, and augmented the wielder’s body- for example, Sang’s ability to create armour for herself or Min’s healing gifts. Gesturing towards Iseul and his object-floatation powers, she explains that orange powers were intangible. Sayeon asks about her colour, and Sang elucidates that teal essence gave rise to random and impossible abilities.
Team Four’s Field Trip
Inspector Sang asks the team to get dressed for their first mission. They need to shadow an older mentor through the city as Aberrant officers. Before she leaves, she warns Sayeon not to be late ever again. The door slams shut, and Iseul begins praising the ‘cool’ woman. Sayeon, who had never been on a teacher’s bad side, tries not to cry. Ryujin calls her ‘a prick’ and Iseul defends her status. When Sayeon asks if he wants to be a level-nine officer like her, he declares that he wants to reach level ten. Ryujin, dubious, states that there are only three level-ten officers. However, Iseul remains optimistic about the training ahead of him and says that being an Aberrant was the best thing that happened to him.
Later, the team walks out with their blue level-one ties and black suits. Iseul explains how the headquarters were built on the foundation of an unfinished college project. He enthusiastically spins their situation and says that it was as if they were all attending college together, and were on their first “field trip”. Hand Jumper Chapter 9 concludes as the team meets their mentor, an informally dressed girl in a skirt and red tie, waving her hand happily.
Hand Jumper Chapter 10: Make Way for the Crows
Hand Jumper Chapter 10 begins as Juni Chang, Team Four’s mentor, leads the first-timers down a city street. Skipping, with her pigtails flying behind her, she cheerfully expresses her surprise at being a mentor. She’d been demoted to head of building security and reprimanded for unprofessionalism, which paints a clear picture of what Inspector Sang thought of their team. Juni explains that since no one dared to attack Aberrant headquarters, she had it easy.
Sayeon sees a young, curious girl and joyfully waves to her. The girl’s mother notices her black suit and tie and steers her child away, giving Sayeon a reality check.
In an alleyway, the group comes across an illegal drug purchase. Juni, without hesitation, strides in and confronts the men. Watching her yell at them, Sayeon cringes at her assertiveness- it was a preschooler confronting two thugs. The men notice her unconventional clothing and decide that she isn’t a real officer.
Faster than lightning, Juni strikes out at the first criminal. Dealing quick blows, she incapacitates him easily. The second man uncaps the drug vial and drips the blue liquid into his eyes. The drug, Rapture, gives him Aberrant-like abilities. He lunges at Juni, but he proves no match for her and becomes entangled in her blue ribbons of essence. Still sporting a child-like exuberance, Juni asks the dealer about his supply, concluding Hand Jumper Chapter 10.
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