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The following contains spoilers for the Solo Leveling manhwa.
Despite the story ofSolo Levelingestablishing early that most hunters’ powers never get stronger, people in the world are aware of a mysterious phenomenon called rewakening, where a hunter’s powers do just that. While it is implied to be very rare, it is the first idea A-Rank Hunter Woo Jinchul thinks of to explainSung Jinwoo surviving the double dungeon.
Just what are the mechanics behind the concept of this “double awakening” that seems to go against the world’s established rules, and why has it gone underexplored through much ofSolo Levelingso far?
What is Reawakening?
Hunters Bypass Their Natural Limits
When Sung Jinwoo wakes up in his hospital bedafter nearly being killed in the double dungeon incident, he is greeted by investigators from the Hunter’s Guild. One of them, Woo Jinchul, explains that their theory is that they suspect Jinwoo was the recipient of a second awakening, referred to as a ‘double awakening’ in the manhwa.
“A hunter’s stats are set when they receive the ‘awakening’ or power. However, some hunters get awakened again after the first time. There have been cases of C-ranks plowing directly to an A-rank, or a B-rank shooting straight to an S-Rank.” -Narration boxes in Chapter 11 of the Solo Leveling manhwa.
The investigators have Jinwoo take another mana examination, which reveals he still has the mana level of an E-rank hunter and clears their suspicions for now. However, as Jinwoo begins to level up, his mana level also grows stronger. This allows Jinwoo to take a reevaluation. When his mana in this new test cannot be properly calculated, he is then certified as an S-rank hunter.
Apart from being a device to explain awayJinwoo’s rapid power growth to other characterswithout them asking too many questions, the concept of reawakening is not brought up much in the future. There is a future character not yet adapted to the anime who possesses the power to increase a hunter’s natural power once, but it doesn’t seem like this is the same as a reawakening. From the earlier narration, it’s clear that this phenomenon is known to propel hunters to higher ranks, but we never see any solid examples. Even hunters being used as vessels for the powers of other beings, as we find out later, never go only to A-rank as described initially with reawakenings.
Why Is It Underexplored?
Double Awakenings Might Undercut Jinwoo’s Story
Since the concept of a reawakening is never fleshed out much, it’s possible that the idea was just introduced at the beginning of the story in case it was necessary later. The world is clearly set upfor Jinwoo to be an exception to the rulesbecause he is the only one who levels up. If other characters were also rapidly growing in power through awakenings, Jinwoo would lose some of what sets him apart from everyone else as the main character.
“Hunter Jinwoo Sung, by chance, did you experience a second awakening?” -Woo Jinchul in Episode 3.
Still, it would be interesting if there were another character who underwent a reawakening like Jinwoo early in the story. This character could serve as a foil to Jinwoo, giving him someone he has to worry about overcoming and instilling a lesson that he still has to earn his place through hard work despite his special status. Also, as we see later in the series, every timeanother hunter is shown to be strongor receives some form of power-up, there is usually an explanation for it. Leaving reawakening as a random phenomenon that was possible for any hunter to undertake would undermine the influence of the power players and beings that are seemingly responsible for the world ofSolo Levelingtaking shape. It’s possible that as the series continues to develop, reawakenings could be brought back into the forefront of the story. However, as they are now, they exist mostly as an early series footnote, never properly utilized inSolo Leveling.
Solo Leveling
Cast
A-1 Pictures' Solo Leveling is an anime based on Chugong’s popular web novel. Set in an unforgiving fantasy world where hunters explore dungeons filled with monsters, the vulnerable Sung Jinwoo gains a significant power boost after he is picked to be a solo player by the System.
