Summary
- Jin-Woo re-evaluates his rank and becomes an S-Rank Hunter, Korea’s tenth.
- His power level surpasses other Korean S-Rank Hunters like Baek Yoonho.
- Jin-Woo is approached by wealthy Guilds, which could potentially disrupt the balance of power.
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Season 2 of Solo Leveling started off with action-packed episodes, something that the entire fandom was hoping to see. We saw Jin-Woo defeating the Ice Elf Boss inside an A-Rank Dungeon while also substantially expanding his Shadow Army. The premiere episodes made it pretty clear that Sung Jin-Woo has come a long way in terms of strength.
Jin-Woo has been using The System to level up at an incredible pace, and he now has access to some of the most powerful weapons. Also, let’s not forget that our protagonist has more than one A-Rank soldier in his Shadow Army. He started off as an E-Rank Hunter, but thanks to the powers bestowed upon him by the Architect, Jin-Woo has now become one of the strongest Hunters in Korea.
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Sung Jin-Woo Decides To Re-Evaluate His Rank
He’s Officially An S-Rank Hunter
More often than not, Rank re-evaluation doesn’t change anything for Hunters in Solo Leveling. Mostly, these Hunters end up paying a hefty fee for the re-assessment only to end up disappointed after getting the same rank.
Of course, there are some rare instances of reawakening, but that usually happens with a Hunter in the midst of a battle. In such cases, the Hunter Association takes action on its own end and sends some agents to re-evaluate the Hunter. This happened with Jin-Woo after he returned unscathed from the Double Dungeon. Jin-Woo was re-assessed by the Hunter Association, but since he didn’t use The System at the time, he was still E-Rank.
This happens every so often. Delusional Hunters who are unhappy with life come here looking for a second chance – Agent at the Hunter Association HQ.
When Jin-Woo appeared for retesting, some agents thought that he was just another “Delusional Hunter” who would end up wasting his money. The agent also realized that Jin-Woo was retested after his return from the Double Dungeon, and it was nothing but a false alarm.
However, the agent is shocked to see the Error message when Jin-Woo puts his hand on the machine. At first, the agent thought it was some technical glitch, but she soon learned that their machine was incapable of measuring Jin-Woo’s mana levels, which further means that Jin-Woo is now an S-Rank Hunter. The last time something like that happened was with Cha Hae-In, who was the ninth S-Rank Hunter to come out of Korea. It means that Sung Jin-Woo is Korea’s tenth S-Rank Hunter.
Jin-Woo’s Power Level Compared To Other S-Rank Hunter
Jin-Woo is the tenth S-Rank Hunter to come out of Korea, but there’s no official way of knowing how he compares to other S-Rank Hunters. Since the mana machine shows an error message when evaluating an S-Rank Hunter, there’s no way of comparing the mana levels of S-Ranks. However, S-Rank Hunters can very well sense each other’s power level. In the first episode of Season 2, Jin-Woo realizes that he’s on the same level as Baek Yoonho, Korea’s weakest S-Rank Hunter. That being said, Jin-Woo levels up after the Red Gate Arc, so he’s now much stronger than Baek Yoonho.
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Similarly, in the fourth episode, Jin-Woo senses Go Gunhee’s power level and confirms that, at that particular moment, they are almost equal in power. Despite his old age, Go Gunhee is still possibly the strongest Hunter in Korea. If Jin-Woo is “almost” equal to Go Gunhee, then he’s already stronger than other Korean S-Rank Hunters.
The S-Rank Status Opens A Lot Of Doors For Jin-Woo
He’s Being Approached By Some Of The Wealthiest Guilds
Before the re-evaluation, very few people knew about Jin-Woo’s true potential. However, the much-awaited re-evaluation makes Jin-Woo’s new rank go public, so it shouldn’t be surprising that he is being approached by some immensely wealthy Guilds. A Hunter being evaluated as an S-Rank isn’t a usual occurrence, so obviously, the news about Jin-Woo spreads like wildfire. In fact, Choi Jong-In, the Guild Master Hunters Guild (Korea’s largest Guild), was already enquiring about the Hunter who “took down the Red Gate.” And, well, he only had to walk a few steps to find the guy. Choi Jong-In instantly senses Jin-Woo’s mana level and extends his hand for friendship. However, Jin-Woo turns him down by saying that he’s in a hurry. So, you could say that Jin-Woo has already rejected the offer from Korea’s wealthiest Guild.
At the same time, Baek Yoonho, Guild Master of the White Tiger Guild, ran all the way to find Jin-Woo in the building. Baek already made it pretty clear that he wants to recruit Jin-Woo. But now that Jin-Woo is officially an S-Rank, Baek is growing more desperate to bag the Hunter for his Guild. There are five big Guilds in Korea, so it’s obvious that the three remaining Guilds will also approach Jin-Woo and try to recruit him. However, Jin-Woo joining one of the five Guilds could throw things out of balance.
These five behemoths are barely maintaining balance. But as soon as you join any of them, that balance will be shattered – Go Gunhee to Sung Jin-Woo.
As Go Gunhee mentioned in the episode, the five major Guilds are “barely maintaining balance,” and that balance will shatter if Jin-Woo joins one of these Guilds. In short, one of these Guilds can control the entire country if it comes out on the top. To prevent that from happening, Go Gunhee offers Jin-Woo the opportunity to join the Korean Hunters Association. Hunters Association can become powerful enough to keep a check on these Guilds if Jin-Woo joins them. But, as expected, Jin-Woo also rejects Go Gunhee’s offer. At first, Go Gunhee wonders if he’s rejecting the offer because of money, but there’s something else going on in Jin-Woo’s mind. Apparently, the Hunters Association doesn’t take part in Dungeon Raids, and Jin-Woo needs to fight monsters to level up.
Jin-Woo is getting all the unwanted attention right now, and it isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Right now, the world sees Jin-Woo as Korea’s tenth S-Rank Hunter, but it won’t take long for Jin-Woo to become the world’s strongest. When that happens, our beloved protagonist will get offers from Guilds outside of Korea as well.
Solo Leveling
- Release Date
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January 7, 2024
- Directors
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Shunsuke Nakashige
- Writers
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Noboru Kimura
Cast
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Taito Ban
Shun Mizushino (voice)
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Genta Nakamura
Kenta Morobishi (voice)
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Haruna Mikawa
Aoi Mizushino (voice)
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