The best manhwa like Mercenary Enrollment is Weak Hero. It has the same core picture, a quiet new student who is far more dangerous than he looks, and it's finished, which helps while Mercenary Enrollment is on a break.
The other five follow, each matched to one part of Ijin Yu's story: the school fights, the underdog climb, or a long run.
Mercenary Enrollment (입학용병), story by YC, art by Rakyeon (Korean cover via AniList).
What manhwa like Mercenary Enrollment need to have
Mercenary Enrollment (입학용병) is published in English on WEBTOON as Teenage Mercenary, written by YC and drawn by Rakyeon. WEBTOON's summary: at eight, Ijin Yu lost his parents in a plane crash and was "forced to become a child mercenary in order to stay alive." Ten years later he comes home to his family in Korea, "with only one year of high school left."
So a good match needs a fighter who outclasses his school, a reason the fights matter beyond winning, and ideally some family underneath. The six below each have at least two of those.
Where Mercenary Enrollment stands
It's on a break in both languages. WEBTOON's English page shows Episode 276, posted June 23, 2026, under the note "Teenage Mercenary will return!" Naver's Korean run stopped at episode 280 in April 2026 and is marked as resting. Our Teenage Mercenary hiatus explainer tracks the return.
There's also an anime coming. WEBTOON Entertainment announced in June 2025 that LINE Digital Frontier is developing it, and it's set for 2027 from J.C.Staff, directed by Manabu Ono, with music by Hiroyuki Sawano. Here's the announcement video from HAYATE, one of the studios AniList lists on the anime:
Teenage Mercenary TV anime announcement video (2027), from HAYATE Inc.'s YouTube channel.
Manhwa like Mercenary Enrollment at a glance
| Series | Pick it for | Status | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weak Hero | Small, quiet, dangerous | Finished, 268 chapters | WEBTOON |
| Study Group | Fighting to protect something else | Ongoing | WEBTOON |
| Viral Hit | The underdog version | Finished | WEBTOON |
| Lookism | A long school saga | Ongoing | WEBTOON |
| The God of High School | Tournament fights | Finished, 569 chapters | WEBTOON |
| Eleceed | A hidden pro and a family feel | Ongoing | WEBTOON |
1. Weak Hero: the closest match
Weak Hero (약한영웅), story by Seopass, art by Kim Jin-seok (Korean cover via AniList).
Weak Hero (약한영웅) starts with a school "run by tyrants" and a new student, Gray, who changes the balance. WEBTOON's summary nails the comparison: "He may be small in stature, but his calculative and brutal fighting leaves unsuspecting opponents lying on the floor begging for mercy."
That's Ijin Yu's appeal with the military background taken out. Gray doesn't have years of war behind him, so his fights are closer, but the pleasure of watching bullies misjudge the quiet kid is the same. It finished at 268 chapters in 2023 and is complete on WEBTOON (the website shows the first few episodes; the rest are in the app). Start with our Weak Hero reading guide.
2. Study Group: fighting so he can study
Study Group (스터디그룹), story by Shin Hyung-wook, art by Ryu Seung-yeon (Korean cover via AniList).
Study Group (스터디그룹) is set at Yusung Technical High, nicknamed "the school for future criminals," where Gamin has one goal: getting into university. Nobody will let him join a study group, so he starts his own.
Like Ijin, Gamin wants something ordinary at a school that won't let him have it. One r/manhwa reader in a thread asking for series like Mercenary Enrollment put it well: "you get the same satisfied feeling when the mc does what he does." It's ongoing, with Season 3 updating on WEBTOON every Sunday. Our Study Group review has more.
3. Viral Hit: the underdog version
Viral Hit (싸움독학), story by Taejun Pak, art by Kim Junghyun (Korean cover via AniList).
Viral Hit runs the premise backwards. Hobin Yu is a bullied student whose fight with a bully goes viral, so he starts a NewTube channel and learns to fight from a rooster-masked NewTuber. Where Ijin arrives already dangerous, Hobin has to become it.
Pick it if you liked the money and family pressure under Ijin's school life: Hobin is fighting for cash because his mother is sick. It's finished, and our Viral Hit reading guide covers where to start.
4. Lookism: the long run
Lookism (외모지상주의), story and art by Taejun Pak (Korean cover via AniList).
Lookism (외모지상주의) is Taejun Pak's long-running school series: Daniel, "an unattractive loner," wakes up in a different, tall and handsome body, and has to keep both lives going.
Pick it for length. It's been running since 2014, WEBTOON posts new episodes every Sunday, and Netflix made an animated series from it. Our Lookism review covers what you're signing up for.
For more school-fight series sorted by hook, see manhwa like Lookism.
5. The God of High School: tournament fights
The God of High School (갓 오브 하이스쿨), story and art by Yongje Park (Korean cover via AniList).
Mori Jin is "a high school student and Taekwondo specialist" who enters a tournament "that promises the winner anything they want," and the tournament turns out to be part of something much larger. It starts as a school fighting story and keeps escalating.
It's further from Mercenary Enrollment than Weak Hero, but one reader in an r/manhwa thread asking for series like it listed "God of highschool." It finished in 2022 at 569 chapters, and the 2020 anime ran 13 episodes. Our God of High School review has the verdict.
6. Eleceed: the hidden pro
Eleceed (일렉시드), story by Son Jae-ho, art by Kim Hye-jin (Korean cover via AniList).
Eleceed (일렉시드) pairs Jiwoo, "a kind-hearted young man" with cat-quick reflexes, with Kayden, "a secret agent on the run" stuck in the body of a fat old cat. Kayden is the hidden professional here, and Jiwoo has the powers.
There's no war backstory, and it has superpowers, which Mercenary Enrollment doesn't. It's on the list for the warmth: like Ijin with his family, the fighting happens around people the hero cares about. It's ongoing on WEBTOON every Tuesday, and an anime is listed for 2027. Our Eleceed review goes deeper.
Our Take
Of the manhwa like Mercenary Enrollment here, read Weak Hero first. It's the same quiet-new-kid fantasy and it's finished. If you want something that keeps updating while you wait, Study Group is the one. Viral Hit is the pick if you want to see the climb instead of the finished fighter.
When the break ends, our Mercenary Enrollment reading guide will help you find your place again.
How We Checked This
On October 15, 2026 we checked each series against AniList (creators, Korean title, status, chapter count where finished, adaptations) and its WEBTOON English page (summary, status, latest episode and update day), plus Naver's episode list for 입학용병, WEBTOON Entertainment's anime press release, Wikipedia's Teenage Mercenary page, the anime announcement's YouTube listing and the r/manhwa thread quoted above. The old version of this page had several names and credits wrong: Weak Hero's lead is Gray (Yeon Si-eun), Viral Hit's is Hobin Yu with art by Kim Junghyun, Study Group's is Gamin with Shin Hyung-wook and Ryu Seung-yeon credited, and in Eleceed it's Kayden, the cat, who is the secret agent. It also said Teenage Mercenary updates on Tuesdays (WEBTOON lists Wednesday), carried a broken image and a duplicate cover for each entry, and gave an anime chapter range for The God of High School that we couldn't source.
Last reviewed: October 15, 2026
Related Reading
- Mercenary Enrollment Review: why the series works and where it flags.
- Teenage Mercenary Hiatus: what the break means and when it's back.
- Weak Hero Review: our verdict on pick 1.
- Viral Hit Manhwa Review: the finished underdog story.
- Best Manhwa with an OP MC: more heroes who outclass everyone around them.
References
- Teenage Mercenary on WEBTOON: summary, latest episode, will-return note
- Teenage Mercenary on AniList: creators, Korean title, anime listing
- WEBTOON Entertainment: Teenage Mercenary anime press release
- Teenage Mercenary on Wikipedia: anime staff and studio
- Weak Hero on WEBTOON
- Study Group on WEBTOON
- Viral Hit on WEBTOON
- Lookism on WEBTOON
- The God of High School on WEBTOON
- Eleceed on WEBTOON
