In the last episode of Solo Leveling, Jinwoo battled the Hell’s Gatekeeper Cerberus. He barely survived and smartly choose not to venture further into the dungeon. However, he did get the formula for “Elixir of Life,” that requires three items that can only be found in the Demon Castle. This of course requires Jinwoo to get stronger. So he decides to agree to Jinho’s offer to complete 19 C-Rank dungeons. His only condition is they do it “alone.” The only problem is that dungeons require an eight man team. Jinho has no choice so he full excepts the terms.
Elsewhere, Yoon Beomgil from Yoojin Construction is seeking S-Ranked hunters. We get some more worldbuilding. The world has become reliant on resources from dungeons to the point that society cannot operate without those resources. Hunters are the only ones who can enter making them extremely valuable. The Hunters Association was established to manage the hunters. The association grades the awakened hunters, gives them the ranks, and provides oversight. The Hunters Association is a government entity, whereas, the guilds are private entities. They hire out hunters as a service.
Hunter Guilds, Gates, and Criminals
As a result, the five largest guilds, the Hunters Guild, the White Tiger Guild, the Reaper Guild, the Fame Guild, and the Knights Guild are wealthy and have a monopoly on the profits gained from the dungeons. Jinho and his father want to become the next guild. Later, Jinwoo realizes that he’s not getting enough experience points from his daily exercises. He needs more dungeons and gets it when he’s invited to join a D-Rank dungeon. There are a number of issues occurring all at once. The Island from the first episode, Jeju Island, is mentioned again. Many S-Ranked hunters are concerned with that Island and intend to return there at some point.
The five surviving hunters from the first dungeon reunite. Many of the hunters like Mr. Kim and Mr. Kang, who threatened Mr. Song, ran from the dungeon, and left Sung for death. They appear ashamed. Mr. Song is missing his arm and Joohee is suffering from PTSD. To make matters worse the Hunter Association has decided to use prisoner to fulfill the number requirements for the team. This seems like a disaster waiting to happen. One criminal particularly signals that he’s going to be a problem.
