Summary
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Solo Levelingis primarily focused on the story of Jinwoo’s rise to ultimate power. Because of this, some of the other characters don’t get much time to shine in the spotlight. This can make it hard to evaluate the relative strength and power levels of other characters besides Sung Jinwoo, especially with the unquantifiable power held by the other S-Rank hunters.
In a fight between two of the more popular S-Rank Hunters inSolo Leveling, Cha Hae-In and Baek Yoonho, who would come out victorious?Cha Hae-in’s grace and sword skills seem unmatchedamong the S-ranks, but we have never seen Baek Yoonho get to go all out with his seemingly powerful tiger-like transformation.
Jinwoo’s Evaluation
What the Manhwa Says About Their Power Levels
Since there are not a lot of onscreen feats in the anime to use to compare the power levels of these two S-Rank hunters, the best evidence we have of what would happen in a fight between Cha Hae-in and Baek Yoonho comes from statements about their power from other characters. In Chapter 90 of the manhwa,we learn that Jinwoo has a high opinionof Baek Yoonho, placing him above the strength of many S-Rank hunters because of his ability to transform.
“But if Baek Yoonh-ho were to give it his all, Ma Dong-wook wouldn’t stand a chance.” -Sung Jinwoo watching a sparring match in Chapter 90.
This strength is further confirmed by Chairman Go Gun-hee, who in Chapter 92 calls Yoonho “the strongest” among all the S-rank hunters in terms of physical strength. From these statements,we know that Baek Yoonho is incredibly strong, but how does he compare to Cha Hae-in? Goto Ryuji, while evaluating the strengths of the Korean S-Rank hunters, finds very few of them impressive enough to be worth noticing. However, despite seeing Yoonho’s potential, he makes special notice of Cha Hae-in, seeing her as one of the best in the room.
“There’s one useful hunter. Did they say her name was Cha Hae-in? Cha Hae-in and Go Gun-hee are comparable to our best members.” -Goto Ryuji commenting on the Korean S-Rank hunters in Chapter 91.
The story inSolo Levelingseems to imply thatCha Hae-in is at least marginally more powerfulthan hunters like Baek Yoonho, despite him possessing so much physical strength while transformed. This is further confirmed during the team battle between the Korean and Japanese S-Ranks, where Yoonho jokes that his opponents think they got it easy fighting him instead of Cha Hae-in.
How Would the Fight Go?
Cha Hae-in Would Struggle, But Likely Find a Way to Win
Given that Cha Hae-in is implied to be a more powerful hunter than Baek Yoonho, she would likely win in a bout between the two. However, it’s unlikely that she would have an easy fight. Baek Yoonho, when fully transformed, would be physically stronger than her and his speed would be comparable. This means she would have to use an intelligent strategy to beat him, since facing him head-on would be difficult.
Luckily, one of Yoonho’s weaknesses is that when he is transformed, he gains power but becomes a bit mindless due to his battle instincts taking over. While in this state,Cha Hae-in could use the terrain to give her an advantage, finding the perfect moment to catch him off guard with her graceful sword techniques. During the sparring session with the Japanese hunters, Cha Hae-in was caught off guard and was still able to fire off attacks so fast that S-rank hunter bystanders watching the fight couldn’t properly count them.
“How many fists did she just throw right there? Ten.. No, probably closer to fourteen. Being spammed with that amount of fists in that short span of time. He won’t be able to block that.” Japanese S-Rank hunters are commenting on the fight between Cha Hae-in and Atsushi in Chapter 92.
Based on where Season 2 of the anime currently ends, Cha Hae-in would be the winner if she ever went up against Baek Yoonho. When the anime continues, we will also get to see more feats from Cha Hae-in, who puts up more impressive showings against powerful opponents. Meanwhile, Baek Yoonho doesn’t really get any notable feats that demonstrate his strength, making a contest between the two seem even more one-sided as the series continues.
