RECAP: Solo Leveling Episode 3, "It's Like a Game"

Based on author Chugong’s web novel and illustrator Dubu’s webtoon, Solo Leveling is one of the most anticipated anime of the season. In this fantasy series, hardworking E-Rank hunter Jinwoo Sung and his allies fight monsters from another world that threaten our own. As a low-ranking hunter, Jinwoo is used to scraping by in raids and always manages to survive. But one day, a seemingly typical raid changes everything… RELATED: Recap: Solo Leveling Episode 2, "If I Had One More Chance" Let’s talk about everything that happened in episode 3! And catch the next new episode of Solo Leveling , only on Crunchyroll. Warning : Full spoilers for the currently airing season of Solo Leveling follow. Seriously, major spoilers ahead! Second Awakening The towering statue brings its sword down on Jinwoo’s battered body… and he wakes up with a gasp in a hospital room. His body, including the arm and leg that were both severed in the dungeon, is whole again. Jinwoo wonders if it was all a dream. He hears a knock at the door as two investigators from the Hunter’s Association Surveillance Team, Woo Jinchul and Kang Taeshik, enter his room. RELATED: krage's Solo Leveling Anime Ending Theme Music Video Streamed They tell Jinwoo that he’s been unconscious for three days. Only six hunters survived the raid, including Song and Joohee. When high-ranking hunters were dispatched to the mysterious double dungeon, it had already disappeared; all they found was Jinwoo and the scattered remains of the other hunters. They ask him if he survived due to a second awakening, a rare occurrence that allows a hunter to exceed their current rank. A test of his mana reveals that didn’t happen, to Jinwoo’s disappointment. Notification As the investigators leave the room, Jinwoo wonders why they didn’t ask him about the system message floating above his bed. Just then, the door opens to reveal his sister, Jinah. She starts to lecture him about taking better care of himself; he can’t help smiling because he’s happy to see her. Jinwoo asks if she can see the system message, but she can’t, confirming that it’s only visible to him. She tells him she’s glad he’s okay and leaves. Jinwoo opens his messages and sees two notifications waiting for him. One warns him that failure to comply with a system message results in a penalty. Another notification for a daily quest, “Strength Training,” catches his eye. It lists exercises and endurance training with a ticking down time limit, but Jinwoo decides to rest instead. Penalty Meanwhile, Jinchul relays their findings to Chairman Go. They agree it’s an unusual case to be further studied. At the Hunters Guild headquarters, S-Rank hunter Cha Hae-in is assigned to a B-Rank raid to serve in a training capacity. Hae-in expresses doubts about her ability to be a mentor, but the guild leader assures her that everyone will learn from her example. Elsewhere, gates begin to manifest around the city, although its citizens are used to them by now. RELATED: Solo Leveling Anime: Everything You Need to Know It’s the middle of the night when another system message appears above Jinwoo’s hospital bed. The room shakes, and the low-rank hunter opens his eyes to see a vast desert stretching before him. The system’s penalty has been activated! Jinwoo must survive for four hours as he’s chased by a giant desert centipede. He runs as long as he can and barely makes it to the allotted time. Jinwoo reappears in his hospital room, out of breath and covered in sand and sweat. Doing Dailies Now aware of the consequences, Jinwoo takes his daily training quests seriously. While he’s outside running laps, his friend Joohee – still traumatized from the disastrous raid – brings flowers to the hospital. But when she sees him exercising, Joohee changes her mind and leaves before he sees her. Outside, Jinwoo looks at the system messages tracking his quests and skills. He receives a full recovery as a daily quest reward and allocates his new stat points, concentrating on strength. He also receives a random loot box reward, a key to an instance dungeon . RELATED: Solo Leveling English Dub Cast Officially Announced Jinwoo takes some time to visit his mother in the hospital. He recalls the day four years earlier when she fell unconscious. Doctors diagnosed her with Eternal Sleep Disease, a new condition that appeared along with the otherworldly gates. All they can do is keep her on life support – a costly treatment, and the reason why Jinwoo works so hard as a hunter despite the danger. Clear the Dungeon After pouring stat points into strength, Jinwoo decides he’s ready to take on the instance dungeon . He’s determined to keep getting stronger and plans to run away if things get hairy inside the dungeon. He enters – and the entrance seals behind him. He has no choice but to complete the dungeon, even though he’s never defeated beasts even as low as E-Rank before. As he enters a lower level of the dungeon, goblins burst through the ceiling. The last time Jinwoo faced a goblin, it stabbed him in the abdomen, and now he has to fight three of them. They swing blades in unrelenting attacks and the hunter defends himself, finally managing to slay all of them. Just as Jinwoo realizes he’s gotten stronger, another creature attacks and breaks his sword. It’s a steel-fanged lycan! It leaps at the weaponless hunter… What’s next for Jinwoo Sung? Can he survive on his own? Find out in the next episode of Solo Leveling , right here on Crunchyroll! Watch Solo Leveling on Crunchyroll now!

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