Solo Leveling (Episode 12) – Arise
Jinwoo lost the teleportation stone and hasn’t got time to look for it – the knights just keep coming. He’s almost out of stamina and his body is breaking up, but he’s not about to give up. He desperately needs a break!
Solo Leveling (Episode 12) – Arise
What happened?
The knight surrounded Jinwoo, closing in and giving him no time to think. The teleportation stone is gone. There’s no way he can look for it now. His only option is to fight. However, his fatigue is climbing and there seems to be no end to the knights. Still, he can’t give up. Not after coming this far. He charged into the knights, throwing them around like toys, crushing anything he could get his hands on. The absence of a suitable weapon is taking its toll on his hands. Bloody and bruised, he fights on, but then the voice of doubt starts to reach him. Can he really do it?
The voice comes in the form of those who doubted him before, calling him the Weakest Hunter of All Mankind. He hears the voice of Song telling him it’s all right to give up. Joohee’s voice confirms that, telling him it might be better for him if he does. Then, he’s faced with his biggest critic – himself. His former self tells him that he’s fooling himself if he thinks he’s anything more than an E-ranked hunter. His body might be stronger, but inside, he’s still the same. The knights close in around him, getting closer and closer landing that decisive blow that would prove his doubters right. Then, just before that can happen, he gets a notification about his daily quests. He hasn’t completed them and will be punished.
Jinho suddenly finds himself in the desert and has a moment to recover his fatigue. Healing potions won’t do anything to him now that his HP is so great and he’s seriously injured. His only hope is to level up. Luckily, a swarm of Giant Desert Centipede’s arrive. Jinwoo cuts through them with ease, leveling up several times. When he’s done, he’s got four minutes before the punishment quest is over so he updates his equipment, buying a blade that is designed for armoured monsters. He also uses the rune stone that he got from defeating the Red Knight. It gives him the ability to move objects without touching them.
The timer runs out and sends Jinwoo back to the throne room. He attacks with his stamina renewed and his new blade, slicing through the knights, however, something feels off. He’s not getting any level increases no matter how many he kills. That’s when he realises that the knights are simply weapons, summoned by the mages. He counts six in all and rushes to kill them. The final three create a giant golem from the bodies of the fallen knights, but it’s not enough to save them.
When Jinwoo is done, he gets a notification that he’s completed the job-change quest. It gives him the option to become a necromancer. He refuses, but it tells him that the ability is a hidden one. Jinwoo reconsiders and then accepts. Since, he survived the endless quests without using the teleportation stone, retaining over fifty percent of his HP, and other bonuses, he is instantly promoted to Shadow Monarch, which allows him to create a shadow army. He calls on the fallen knights and mages and then turns his attention to Igres the Bloodred and manages to add him to his army!
What did you think?
This is how you end a season! I was reading another post based on episode eleven by Jiraiyan over at Otaku Orbit and they mentioned the daily quest and how Jinwoo hadn’t completed it. As soon as I saw that mentioned by someone else, it all came together. Jinwoo gave us the answer at the beginning of that episode so when the failure to complete his daily quests pop-up appeared, it wasn’t a surprise. It was nice to see it come together though. I love it when they give you all the clues you need to work out what is happening before it happens. It’s enough for even those who don’t realise it at the time to instantly put the pieces together as it happened. That’s the best type of storytelling. It needs to be a surprise but completely obvious once it happens. Of course, as a writer, I’m always looking for things like that.
I loved how Jinwoo summoned Igres the Bloodred by appealing to the warrior in him, allowing him to continue to fight at his side. His shadow army is just going to get bigger and more terrifying as he goes on and having the strength to fight with them is going to make him almost unstoppable. I have to wonder what rank he would be considered now given that Igres was probably an S-ranked monster. Of course, we will have to wait to find out any more. Luckily, a second season has been announced although the details on when it will be are vague. My guess is that it will be in the Winter 2025 lineup and rumours are that it will be a twenty-four-episode season. That will give me plenty of time to dive back into the manwha. This was a great end to a thoroughly enjoyable season.
Episode highlights
