Five Major Guilds

Solo Leveling Episode 5 explains the role the Hunter guilds play in society. And, this was kind of the most interesting part of the episode. This series is extremely slow. It feels like nothing much happens in the majority of the episodes.

Anyway, the top five guilds in Korea are the Hunters Guild, the Fame Guild, the White Tiger Guild, the Reaper Guild, and the Knights Guild. As far as I know, this is their ranking, with the Hunters Guild being the largest. But, regardless of ranking, they’re all large.

From my understanding, these five pretty much have a monopoly. There are smaller guilds around. But, if you want to be a successful Hunter, you should join one of these five. They have all the money and wield all the political power.

The government manages access to the gates that appear throughout the country. So, the large guilds are able to use their money and influence to lobby for that access. And, once a guild gets the rights to a particular gate, they’re the ones who choose which Hunters can enter. This is why it’s beneficial to be part of a large guild.

Let’s also not forget how important the resources found within the gates are. This is the reason the guilds want access to the gates. They can extract the resources, sell them, and turn a profit. And, this is why a company like Yoojin Construction wants to launch a guild of its own.

Why let the current top guilds continue their monopoly? With its current resources, Yoojin Construction hopes to form a guild that can rival the best. And once they do, they’ll be able to make even more money – because the rich always want to get richer.

Returning to Jeju Island

Way back in Episode 1, we saw a failed raid on Jeju Island, where a high-ranked gate opened up. The fact that this raid was a failure is pretty surprising considering who was involved. There were a lot of Hunters, including many high-ranking Hunters from the top guilds.

Jongin Choi, the guild master of the Hunters Guild, is one of the Hunters who was on the island that day. And, he plans to return with an even larger, better-prepared force. But, to do that, he needs the five major guilds to agree to work together.

This is where Yoojin Construction’s new guild comes in. It’s threatening this goal by trying to poach high-ranking Hunters from the top guilds. If these Hunters join Yoojin Construction, it’s less likely that they’ll take part in the raid. There’s no guarantee that this new guild will want to work with the old guard.

The whole point of Yuujin Construction’s guild is to steal profit from the other guilds. Working with the other guilds kind of goes against that. And, since profit is most important, Jeju Island’s gate might not be worth it.

Why would Yoojin Construction bother with such a dangerous gate? If they fail to conquer it, it’s a waste of money and manpower. The other guilds, however, have an incentive to clear the Jeju Island gate — revenge. They have their pride as Hunters. They can’t leave that gate alone because it’s a reminder of their previous failure.

But, how dangerous do you think the Jeju Island gate is compared to the Demon Castle dungeon? Do you think it’s even more dangerous? If that’s the case, I guess the Demon Castle dungeon won’t be the final dungeon of the series. I wonder what the reward for clearing Jeju Island is.

Dungeon Raiding with Convicts

At the end of Episode 8, most of the survivors of the double dungeon reunite. They’ve answered an emergency summons to take on a D-Rank dungeon. But, there are only five of them. So, who will the other three Hunters in their squad be? Convicts.

I don’t know about you, but, to me, that seems like a pretty bad idea. I’m not saying that convicts shouldn’t be able to work with non-convicts. But, there are certain situations in which this feels like an unnecessary risk. For example, this exact situation.

We already know that “what happens in the gates stays in the gates.” So, why is the government sending convicts into a gate with law-abiding citizens? Well, the reason is that there’s currently a shortage of Hunters. And, the government believes that these convicts won’t pose a risk to the others for two reasons.

First, these are C-Rank convicts with a B-Rank handler, Taeshik Kang. If anything goes wrong, the idea is that the handler should be able to take care of all three of them. But, the government doesn’t expect that the handler will have to intervene. Why? Because it’s in the best interest of the convicts to not cause problems.

These convicts are working as Hunters in order to earn early release. If they complete their jobs without incident, they’ll get out of prison earlier. So, why would they cause problems? Well, that’s nice thinking. But, these particular convicts don’t exactly seem like stand-up guys.

On top of that, I’m not sure why it’s even necessary to use the convicts in this situation. I get that you need a team of 8 to enter a dungeon. But, if the B-Rank handler is stronger than all three C-Rank convicts combined — why not just send the handler?

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Solo Leveling Episode 8? Do you agree that the pacing of this series is too slow — especially with a recap episode last week? Do you think the Jeju Island gate or the Demon Castle dungeon is more dangerous? And, would you want to raid a gate with convicts?

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about the perks of supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 9 is available now.

Let’s See How Far I Can Go

Jinho attempts to recruit Jinwoo in Solo Leveling Episode 7. And, he fails. Specifically, Jinho wants to recruit Jinwoo to accompany him on 19 additional raids. But, why does he want to reach that number? What does he get out of it?

Apparently, anyone who completes 20 dungeon raids can apply to be a guild leader. Jinho’s father’s construction company is interested in creating a guild. And, Jinho wants to be the leader. I guess the fact that he’s a D-Rank Hunter doesn’t matter as long as he has strong Hunters working under him.

So, we know what’s in it for Jinho. But, what about Jinwoo? What does he get out of this arrangement? A high-ranking position in the guild? No. Jinho offers him 30 billion won — or a building worth 30 billion won. It wasn’t entirely clear which he was offering.

Regardless of what form that 30 billion won comes in, that’s a good chunk of money. If we convert it into USD, that comes out to over $22.5 million. So, Jinwoo would be taking home over $1 million per dungeon he completes.

And, as far as I know, there’s no difficulty threshold for these 20 dungeons Jinho needs to complete. He and Jinwoo could tackle 19 more dungeons that are D-Rank or lower. There are obvious rewards for completing higher-ranked dungeons. Jinho would get more accolades and Jinwoo would get more experience points.

However, as I mentioned at the start, Jinwoo turns him down. Why? Because he believes he’ll be able to make even more money if he focuses on his training and reaches S-Rank levels. Sure, that’s a good idea, too. But, why not both? He can continue getting stronger while also making $22.5 million.

S-Rank Enemy

Dongsuk Hwang was the leader of the Hunters Jinwoo killed in the dungeon. And, before he died, he tried to threaten Jinwoo by dropping his brother’s name. Dongsuk’s younger brother is Dongsoo Hwang, an S-Rank Hunter. But, Jinwoo didn’t seem to care when he heard that name.

Did Jinwoo not care because he already sees himself as being stronger than S-Rank Hunters? No. As we saw in Episode 7, Jinwoo recognizes that he’s not at that level yet. Also, it wouldn’t have mattered if he did recognize Dongsoo’s name — he still had to kill Dongsuk for his quest.

In this episode, though, we find out the reason for why Jinwoo might not have known or cared about Dongsoo. Apparently, there are only seven S-Rank Hunters in the country (South Korea). And, it looks like Dongsoo isn’t one of them. He doesn’t appear to be in South Korea.

Why do I assume Dongsoo isn’t in South Korea? The big giveaway is that he asks his assistant what would happen if he killed someone in another country. He’s referring to killing Jinho and Jinwoo to avenge his brother. And since he’s asking about a different country, it means he’s not in the same country as them.

Where is Dongsoo, then? As far as I know, we don’t have any confirmation about his location. But, there’s a small clue that could point us in the right direction. His assistant refers to him as “Mister Hwang.”

She says “Mister” in English. What’s the largest English-speaking country in the world? The United States. So, I’m going to predict that Dongsoo works as a Hunter in the US. If you want to make a lot of money as a Hunter, it must be great. We love capitalism and the military-industrial complex.

The Demon Castle Dungeon

Is the Demon Castle dungeon going to be the final obstacle for Jinwoo to overcome? I knew he wasn’t going to be strong enough to clear it in this episode. It’s an S-Rank dungeon, after all. But, it seems like it’s going to be the “final boss” of the series.

Jinwoo’s entire reason for being a Hunter is to provide for his family while his mother is in the hospital. He needs money for himself and his sister to live off of. And, he needs money to continue paying for his mother’s treatment.

If he clears the Demon Castle dungeon, though, he can solve all his problems. If he’s strong enough to do that, he’ll have been able to make all the money he’ll ever need. But, more importantly, after clearing the dungeon, he can craft an item that will allow him to cure his mother.

If Jinwoo cures his mother, he’ll never have to work as a Hunter again. Both his personal and financial reasons for doing so will be solved. Would he continue working as a Hunter? Probably. Rich people tend not to stop wanting more money. And, he’d be doing a service by clearing dungeons.

It also makes sense for a dungeon like this to be the final boss rather than another one of the S-Rank Hunters. Sure, Dongsoo wants to kill Jinwoo and you could argue that he could be the final boss. But, that wouldn’t make much sense.

Remember, Jinwoo’s world has been turned into a game. One way in which he could beat this game is by acquiring the Elixer of Life. Another is by defeating the god that did this to him in the first place. But, Dongsoo and the other Hunters have nothing to do with it.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Solo Leveling Episode 7? Should Jinwoo have taken Jinho up on his offer? Where do you think Dongsoo is currently located? And, are you expecting Jinwoo to clear the Demon Castle dungeon in one go at the end, or in pieces as he gets stronger?

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about the benefits you’ll receive for supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 8 is available now.

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?

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 7 is available now.

Picking Up Girls in the Hospital

Solo Leveling Episode 5 featured Jin-Woo’s first time entering a C-Rank dungeon. But, let’s talk about something more important before getting to that. Let’s talk about picking up cute girls in the hospital.

The start of Episode 5 is pretty wild if you look at it from an American perspective. What happens to Jin-Woo after he wakes up from his coma in the hospital is pure fantasy. From an American perspective, it’s just as much of a fantasy as anything else in the series.

If I had a hospital stay like that, I’d expect inter-dimensional gates to exist.

So, what exactly am I talking about? Is it that fantastical that a cute nurse asked Jin-Woo for his contact info? No, that sort of thing happens to me all the time. I’m literally him. What’s fantastical is the fact that he stayed in the hospital for so long.

Okay, yes, obviously, in the US, staying in the hospital for as long as Jin-Woo did would bankrupt him. Healthcare costs aside, though, how long was he there? I forget if he was in a coma for a few days or a few weeks. But, I’m talking about after that.

Pretty much as soon as he woke up, Jin-Woo was healthy. He was back to his usual self. And yet, he stayed in the hospital. He seems to have stayed in the hospital for weeks. How is this possible?

Like, he turned his hospital room into his personal gym. He even left the hospital at one point to explore an instance dungeon. So, he doesn’t need to be there. And yet, he returned and appears to have been living there for weeks. This is a hospital, not a hotel. What’s going on? Why is he still there?

A Pretty Good Deal

Let’s move on to the less interesting part of the episode: The dungeon. Somehow, Jin-Woo gets an invitation to participate in a C-Rank dungeon. We don’t see how this actually happens, though. So, it’s a bit unclear — at least in the anime.

We saw Jin-Woo scrolling through a dungeon party recruiting board. But, he comments on how none of these parties are going to hire him because of his rank. At least, none of the parties planning to tackle higher-ranked dungeons. And, that makes sense when you consider the risks involved.

So, did Jin-Woo contact this group and get accepted, for some reason? Or, did this group reach out to him first? To me, it seemed like the latter is what happened. But, again, we don’t know. The thing is, regardless of which was the case, this is a red flag.

Why would a party want to bring an E-Rank Hunter like Jin-Woo into a C-Rank dungeon? Technically, there is a logical reason for this. They tell Jin-Woo that he’s not a combatant and his only job is to be a pack mule. Fair enough. But, they also say that because he’s not fighting, he gets paid a flat rate.

That’s the above-board reason for bringing someone like Jin-Woo along. If the party is confident in its ability, it can come out of the dungeon with larger shares of loot per person. Instead of splitting the loot eight ways, they only have to split it seven.

In the end, though, this is still a good deal for Jin-Woo. Sure, he’d make more as a combatant. But, this pack mule role comes with less risk and still pays a decent amount. Unfortunately for Jin-Woo (and Jin-Ho), this “pretty good ideal” is actually a trap.

Betrayed in a Dungeon

If you don’t fully understand what happened to Jin-Woo and Jin-Ho, join the club. It’s obvious that the other members of their party betrayed them. They left the boss room and sealed those two inside to fight the boss on their own. But, why?

Jin-Ho believes that he and Jin-Woo are being sacrificed. He believes that the others are doing this so that they can have more shares of the loot. Instead of splitting everything seven or eight ways, they’ll only have to split it six ways. That makes sense. But, is it the truth?

My assumption is no. And, it looks like Jin-Woo recognizes that’s not what’s going on, as well. So, what is going on here? Why were those two sealed in the boss room? What does the rest of the party stand to gain from doing this to them?

There are six members of the core party. Then, there’s Jin-Ho and Jin-Woo, who were recruited to fill mandated party slots. These two are weaker than the rest of the party (on paper). So, if something were to happen in the dungeon, the main party should be able to handle these two.

That assumed weakness is exactly why Jin-Woo is here. They recruited an E-Rank Hunter (the weakest in the world) because he can’t stop them. But, what about Jin-Ho? Jin-Ho is the mark. He’s the one the rest of the party always intended to kill.

Why do they want to kill Jin-Ho? His gear. He’s a weak newbie with extremely expensive gear. Why does he deserve that gear? They’re the ones who have been working as Hunters for years. They deserve it more than him. That’s the logic. They view Jin-Ho as some rich kid whom they can profit off of.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Solo Leveling Episode 5? Are the hospitals in your country free hotels full of cute girls? If so, I’ll have to visit. Would you take a pack mule job in a dungeon? And, do you agree that it appears Jin-Ho is the mark? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 6 is available now.

Leveling Up

Solo Leveling Episode 4 was another pretty decent episode. The series is definitely overrated on MyAnimeList right now. And, like most anime on there, will likely continue to be. But, at least we’re now into the good content of the series.

In this episode, Jin-Woo leveled up for the first time. He then leveled up many more times. Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly how many times it was. We didn’t see his status screen after he was level 2. And, I’m not going back to count how many times the level-up screen appeared.

But, his precise level isn’t what matters right now. What matters for now is how leveling up impacts his stats. It seems a little overpowered if you ask me. So, every time Jin-Woo levels up, he gains a point in each of his five major stats.

In case you’re wondering, the major stats are strength, agility, perception, vitality, and intelligence. He also has HP and MP stats. But, those don’t appear to increase upon leveling up. I would assume that those are two stats that won’t change. At least, based on logic and what we know of this world.

His HP is literally his health. So, that not going up makes sense. And, we already know that your MP is set when you awaken. Since we see his MP is still only at 11, this could be evidence that he didn’t undergo a second awakening.

But, why is leveling up so powerful? Even if he can’t choose where the points go, he gets five ability points. Daily training only provides three. And, while he puts all his daily points into strength, that’s not necessarily the best choice. Leveling up forces him to become more well-rounded, which is good in the long run.

King of the Swamp

If you want more proof of how overpowered leveling up is, just look at the fight against the King of the Swamp. Jin-Woo assumes this was a C-rank boss based on its drops. And, if that’s the case, he leveled up a lot from fighting some basic monsters.

In the end, he killed the King of the Swamp with his bare hands. He choked it to death despite not being able to wrap his arms all the way around it. In my mind, that would put Jin-Woo at B-rank, at least.

Based on what we see later in the episode, he might even be higher-ranked than that. And, again, this is all from him defeating some low-ranked monsters and a single boss. Imagine how strong he’ll be after fighting some monsters that aren’t weaklings. He’ll become Saitama in no time.

Anyway, I wasn’t that impressed by this fight. I’m sure there are many people out there who thought it was cool. And I’m sure there are many who thought this was a powerful opponent Jin-Woo had to overcome. But, was it really? I don’t see it that way.

Yes, during the entire fight, Jin-Woo kept commenting on how weak he was. He also kept commenting on how fast and strong the King of the Swamp was. However, it never felt like Jin-Woo was actually in any danger. And if you want proof of that, look at all the attacks he was tanking.

He got hit hard multiple times. He even got hit through cement pillars. And yet, he was able to get up again without any serious injuries. This alone should prove how strong Jin-Woo was even by this point. The boss wasn’t stronger than him. He was underestimating himself.

D-Rank Dungeon Break

Before I get to the dungeon break, there’s one more thing I want to mention. Jin-Woo said that the monsters within the instance dungeon weren’t the same as those within the gates. This implies that the gates may not be part of the “game” he’s a player in.

I don’t know what the full implications are. But, it’s possible that this gamification only applies to Jin-Woo and isn’t the “true nature” of the gates. Now, with that said, the timing of the dungeon break in Episode 4 was a bit suspicious. It seems to have happened when Jin-Woo defeated the boss of his instance dungeon.

That’s the only potential connection between the two dungeon’s, though. As far as we know, they have nothing else in common. They aren’t even classified as the same ranks. Though, it’s not exactly clear what rank Jin-Woo’s instance dungeon was.

By the time Jin-Woo makes it out of the instance dungeon, the dungeon break is almost contained. There’s only one monster left — the boss. And, Jin-Woo uses his perception to identify it as a likely D-rank boss. That means it’s weaker than the C-rank boss he just soloed.

So, what does Jin-Woo do? Does he jump into the fray and save the other hunters by taking out the boss on his own? That’s what I expected him to do. But, that’s not what happened. Instead, he threw a sword at the boss, shattering its defenses. This allowed the other hunters to finish it off.

Why didn’t Jin-Woo take a more active role? If I were him, I’d want to show off my new strength. You know, prove to everyone that you aren’t humanity’s weakest hunter anymore. But, I guess with his heightened intelligence stat, Jin-Woo has a plan.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Solo Leveling Episode 4? Which of the five major stats would you put your ability points into? Did you also think that the King of the Swamp fight wasn’t as hard as Jin-Woo made it out to be? And, what rank do you think Jin-Woo is by the end of the episode?

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 5 is available now.