Solo Leveling Episode 6 Review

False Rankers

Big news for Solo Leveling Episode 6. I’m swapping to using the non-hyphenated versions of character names. It’s just easier this way. So, instead of Jin-Woo, I’m going to be calling him Jinwoo. That’s the big news. I hope it lived up to your expectations.

Anyway, in Solo Leveling Episode 6, Jinwoo defeated the C-Rank spider boss. And, to my surprise, Jinho didn’t help at all. I mean, there’s not much Jinho could have done. However, I expected him to at least try to help. He didn’t. Instead, he stood there in fear — but not of the boss.

Sure, Jinho was definitely afraid of the boss. But, the thing he was more afraid of was Jinwoo. How was Jinwoo so strong? He’s supposed to be an E-Rank Hunter. His nickname is even the “World’s Weakest Hunter.” So, what’s going on here?

The answer Jinho decided on is that Jinwoo must be a False Ranker. This is someone who’s able to suppress their mana output so they get a lower rank than they otherwise would have. Basically, it’s IRL smurfing. But, what’s the benefit of doing that? They could make a lot more money as a higher-ranked Hunter.

Simply put, there isn’t a legitimate reason for doing this. If a higher-ranked Hunter wants to take on easier dungeons, they can. There’s no need for them to fake being a lower rank. The only reason that makes sense, which Jinho thinks of, is that they enjoy killing.

What do they enjoy killing? Well, humans are what’s implied. Nobody would be wary of an E-Rank Hunter joining their party. They wouldn’t think it’s the E-Rank Hunter who’s going to kill them. But, this doesn’t seem to be something that happens often — False Rankers are rare.

Jinho Yoo the Bonus Prize

In my review of Episode 5, I predicted that Jinho Yoo was the mark. I thought the other members of the party singled him out because he’s rich. After all, if he died in the dungeon, they’d be able to sell off his expensive gear.

Well, it turns out that was wrong. The party wasn’t looking to kill him, specifically. They would have been fine with any weak Hunters joining them. However, once they saw Jinho’s gear, they recognized that he was a bonus prize. They can get what they’re after and get his gear.

But, what were they after, in the first place? Did they know there was going to be a large amount of mana crystals within the dungeon? No, they didn’t. All they knew was that there would be some amount of loot and that they didn’t want to split it eight ways.

Regardless of whether the boss room was full of mana crystals, things were going to play out the same way. The party was going to trap Jinwoo and Jinwoo in there to die to the boss. Though, not because they didn’t want to get their hands dirty by killing those two themselves.

Instead, the party figured the boss would hibernate after killing those two. Then, while the boss was sleeping, they’d be able to mine the mana crystals without worry. And, if the boss woke up, they’d deal with it then.

Why not deal with the boss first? Again, they still wanted Jinwoo and Jinho dead so they wouldn’t have to split the loot. But, also, we need to remember that dungeons collapse after bosses are defeated. If they defeated the boss first, they wouldn’t have enough time to mine all of the mana crystals. They need to do that first.

Second Awakening Confirmed?

I’m still not sure if Jinwoo experienced a second awakening. He seems to be leaning toward that being the case. I still have some doubts. But, that could just be because the anime didn’t explain things all the way. It’s possible that in the manga (manhwa), it’s not as ambiguous.

Let’s talk about the urgent quest Jinwoo got toward the end of the episode. The quest said he had to kill all six people who were trying to kill him. Does that make sense from a second awakening perspective? It might.

If his second awakening skill is that everything is gamified, then it makes sense. People trying to kill him are bad guys that he needs to defeat. However, it also makes sense in a different context: That Jinwoo is able to see the “true” nature of the dungeons.

If we assume the dungeons, mana, and Hunter skills are all a “game,” this quest still makes sense. Within the “game,” these other characters are trying to kill the player. So, because of that, I can’t take this urgent quest as proof for either scenario being the truth.

There’s something else curious about this quest I need to discuss. Did you notice that the penalty associated with failing the quest changed? Originally, the notification said Jinwoo would “receive an appropriate penalty” if he failed. But, after he hesitated, the notification updated to say his heart would stop as a penalty.

Jinwoo took this to mean the same thing I did. The system wants him to complete this quest. And, that makes it seem less like a second awakening, to me. It really seems like there’s someone or something pulling the strings. And, whoever that is, they want Jinwoo to keep living and getting stronger.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Solo Leveling Episode 6? Were you expecting Jinho to help Jinwoo fight the boss? Don’t you think a party that keeps losing its new members in dungeons would raise suspicion? And, which side do you sit on? Has Jinwoo undergone a second awakening or is it something else?

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My review of Episode 7 is available now.