Highlights
- Jinwoo and Jinho embark on operation to monopolize C-Rank Gates, leveraging low-ranked Hunters' participation.
- Jinwoo's growth in the Dungeon includes advanced skills like Stealth and Fatal Strike, marking the birth of a monster.
- Ahn from White Tiger Guild seeks to recruit Jinwoo, but ends up losing all three C-Rank Gates in a deal for 600 million won.
The following contains spoilers for Solo Leveling, Episode 10, "What Is This, a Picnic?", available on Crunchyroll.
In the 10th episode of Solo Leveling, Jinwoo and Jinho's quest to become eligible for Guild Mastership begins. Jinho monopolizes numerous C-Rank Gates, and also uses that fortune to leverage the participation of a number of low-ranked Hunters.
Elsewhere, a manager at the White Tiger Guild notices the activity around C-Rank Gates, quickly realizing that Jinwoo may just be the biggest prospect in the history of the industry; while HUNTERS Guild Master, Choi Jong In, has finally put together paperwork for his big plan to return to Jeju Island.
Solo Leveling: Sung Jinwoo vs Kang Taeshik
In the Dungeon, things seem to be going well until the path splits into three, and someone's murderous nature comes into full view.
Aftermath
A Distant Enemy
B-Rank Healer Lee Joohee still held onto the essence crystal Jinwoo gave to her before she was carried to safety by Song Chiyul during the Double Dungeon incident. She talks about how different he is now, as well as her difficulty dealing with tough situations, which has led her to make the decision to retire. As Joohee walks away, Jinwoo recalls his conversation with Woo Jinchul of the Hunter Association right after he cleared the Dungeon in which he was forced to learn of Kang Taeshik's treachery.
Jinchul doesn't believe that an E-Ranker could have killed Taeshik, especially since they had already ruled out the possibility of a second awakening. He gives Jinwoo a warning: S-Rank Hwang Dongsoo is looking for both him. S-Rank Hunters are ridiculously powerful, and as such, they're impervious to the rule of law. As we already saw in Solo Leveling episode 7, not only is Dongsoo looking for them, but he believes without a doubt that his brother was murdered.
Monopolizing The Gates
Jinwoo, The Dungeon Conqueror
Jinho and Jinwoo begin their operation, and their party is a smorgasbord of Hunters each with their own set of irrelevant personal circumstances. Among them is a pretty clear case of trauma-induced alcoholism; an injury, and even a high school student – Han Song Yi, Jinwoo's sister Jinah's classmate and friend. We've seen Song Yi a few times already, and she's among the characters shown to us in episode 1, specifically at the Hunter Association HQ to have her ranking appraised at around the same time as Jinho.
There's ample emphasis on her presence, and her white hoodie with pink stripe stands out among the "extras". Each participant in the raids will receive 3 million won per Gate just for waiting outside; however, if they publicize the deal in any way, they become liable to pay ten times that amount. The deal enables Jinwoo and Jinho to do what's needed in the Dungeon without having any witnesses to his ever-increasing might, which ironically makes Jinwoo more efficient than if he had to go on raids with a party. The proof lies in how Jinwoo completed the first Gate within an hour, when it takes the average strike team at least two hours to do the same. The others are skeptical at first, believing that Jinwoo and Jinho retreated from the Dungeon; however, they are shocked to see the Gate close behind them.
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The Birth of a Monster
Unlocking Skill Trees
They aim to finish three C-Rank Gates each day; easy pickings for Jinwoo as it translates into a much cooler, sleeker and unbothered approach to combat. He fights with his hand in his pocket during one of the raids, effortlessly slashing through scores of goblins, pirouetting through the air to avoid incoming blows. He also equips the Stealth Skill he earned after killing Taeshik, making us witnesses to the birth of a monster.
His new Skills include Advanced Dagger Wielding and one called Fatal Strike that presumably enables Jinwoo to have a higher Crit Rate; however, one unchecked detail in the various status panels that appear would have them read "You have defeated [Skill Name]" instead of a different verb like "earned" or "unlocked", but that's something only the more pedantic viewers would notice among all that excitement. What is great about Jinwoo's growth is his realization of the importance of his Intelligence stat, and after all this leveling up, he has achieved the required level for a "Job Change Quest".
Scouting A Promising Rookie
What Is This, A Picnic?
At the White Tiger Guild, Admin Team Manager Ahn Sang Min learns of a strike team led by Yoo Jinho spending nearly double the market value on attaining the rights to C-Rank Gates. When he sees Jinwoo's name on the line-up, Ahn recalls him from various incidents, which ignites his instincts as he can tell there's something huge going on. He knows that Jinwoo has survived three major disasters: the Cartenon Temple; Hwang Dongsuk's strike team being fully decimated, and Kang Taeshik.
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Ahn and his assistant Kichul head out to the Gate where Jinwoo's team is currently, in order to get some answers. They come across a scene far too relaxed for a raid party. Ahn has great intuition, and he learns that Jinwoo could potentially be a bigger deal than he thought. By the later raids, the sense of incredulousness at the idea that Jinwoo could conquer a raid alone is long gone. Ahn and Kichul leave after Song Yi sends them on their way, but the smell of something huge keeps him around as he prepares to ambush Jinwoo with what he believes is an irresistible deal to join the White Tiger Guild.
A Special Hell
Recurring Nightmares and A New Plan
A gorgeously animated and horrifying sequence appears in which vibrant flames burn hot around the screaming silhouettes of people, while a giant ant looms overhead. All Choi Jong In can do is watch through broken glasses as the blood of his comrades spills onto the ground before him. This vision of destruction continues until the figure of an injured woman emerges from the source of the burning flames, and her head is quickly lopped off just before Jong In awakens. This is a recurring nightmare he experiences due to the trauma from the Third Jeju Island Raid, a terrible loss for the Korean Hunter Association as a talented S-Rank Hunter lost his life and another retired. After recovering from the nightmare, Jong In reaches for a stack of papers that serve as formal evidence of his desire to perform another Jeju Island raid, which is one of the most pivotal and exciting arcs in the Solo Leveling story.
A Trade Secret
"Transfer Talks Have Broken Down"
Ahn tries to recruit Jinwoo to become a Hunter for the White Tiger Guild. He is shocked to learn of the huge 30 billion won deal between Jinwoo and Yoojin Construction. Ahn assumed he was getting a paltry deal and assumed he could offer "twice what Yoojin is offering" with some extras, but as it turns out, he cannot simply fork over 60 billion. Jinwoo goes on the offensive, using his Stealth skill to learn more about how Ahn came to know about him, emphasizing that he'd like to keep a low profile and instead offers to make a deal over three C-Rank gates.
The deal comes out at 600 million, but Ahn agrees without looking into it further, discovering the next morning that Jinwoo actually sold him not "three of their C-Rank Gates", but all of them – all three, for much more than they're worth, with a single Gate actually being worth only 70 million. Jinwoo calls this being even, at which Ahn accepts defeat with a smile because now he has Sung Jinwoo's contact information.
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Solo Leveling's hunters come in all shapes and sizes and are categorized by these six different character classes.
