Why did Jinchul warn Jin-Woo about Hwang Dongsoo in Solo Leveling? The threat, explained

Solo Leveling episode 10 finally introduced another character of substantial importance in the series - Hwang Dongsoo. This S-Rank Hunter was in the United States and received the news of Hwang Dongsuk, his brother's death. As evident in prior episodes, he was beyond vexed.

Hwang Dongsoo will be one of the major threats to Jin-Woo as the story progresses. At the moment, his power and rank are higher in comparison and needless to mention, he is quite dangerous, as stated by Woo Jinchul himself. But exactly what happened that made Jinchul warn Jin-Woo?

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Solo Leveling: Why did Woo Jinchul warn Jin-Woo?

The Incident

Hwang Dongsuk in Solo Leveling (Image via A-1 Pictures)

Hwang Dongsuk was a C-Rank Hunter who, with his team, would call for Hunters to fill in the quota during raids. But this was all a facade - inside Dungeons, there were no laws and whatever happened there was attributed to an incident involving Magic Beasts.

This malicious group would leverage this and Hunters who joined their raids "disappeared" and they would leave Dungeons with a higher share of loot.

They did this by advertising their raids online. Unfortunately for them, Sung Jin-Woo signed up for one of them.

Since Jin-Woo (E-Rank) and Yoo Jinho (D-Rank) were lower ranked, Dongsuk targeted them but regretted it shortly after. To sum it up, Jin-Woo dispatched the Hunter and his group, thanks to his new-found abilities.

Thus, only Jin-Woo and Jinho exited the Dungeon which brough it to the attention of two parties - Surveillance Team and Hwang Dongsoo.

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The threat

Hwang Dongsoo in Solo Leveling (Image via Chugong, D&C Media)

Now, Hwang Dongsuk had a younger brother named Hwang Dongsoo. The latter was an S-Rank Hunter who moved to America due to specific reasons. When the incident involving Hwang Dongsuk occured, Dongsoo caught wind of his brother's death.

Realizing that just two Hunters, Jin-Woo and Jinho, had survived, he deduced that they had something to do with it. Thus, he immediately targeted them and began making arrangements to take a trip to Korea.

The reason Woo Jinchul warned Jin-Woo of this was that Dongsoo was an S-Rank Hunter. Due to the kind of power S-Ranks possessed, normal laws did not apply to them. In other words, they couldn't be stopped if they ran rampant.

In episode 7, we get a first look at Hwang Dongsoo and his assisstant, Laura. This is where he begins to suspect Jin-Woo and Jinho. He also asks her what would happen if he killed someone abroad.

In essence, unless the country had an extradition treaty for Hunter crimes, the accused would be sent home for prosecution.

This clearly indicates that Dongsoo is considering nothing but the fact that his brother lost his life. He wasn't willing to look at any evidence either. All he saw was that Jin-Woo and Jinho were the only surviviors and thus drew the conclusion that they had something to do with it.

Given his reputation, similar to his brother's, they were both "bullies" and would do whatever to get what they wanted - now, it was Jin-Woo and Jinho's heads.

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Final thoughts

Hwang Dongsoo will stand as the first major human threat in Solo Leveling. Although Jin-Woo will have experienced a plethora of other threatening events before facing Dongsoo, he still holds that title nonetheless.

Also, the warning issued by Jinchul to Jin-Woo regarding Dongsoo is what motivates Jin-Woo further to level up and get stronger. The thought of potentially facing a powerful S-Rank feeds an urge within Jin-Woo to increase his own skillset and hone his battle abilities.

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Related links:

Solo Leveling: Who is Hwang Dongsoo? Sung Jinwoo's major opponent, explained

Solo Leveling episode 10: Jinwoo gains a new skill as Jinchul gives a warning about Dongsoo

10 strongest hunters in Solo Leveling, ranked