Solo Leveling: Who is Kang Taeshik? The previous user of Stealth explained

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the Solo Leveling Manhwa series and includes the author's opinion.

Solo Leveling Episode 8 marked the reappearance of Kang Taeshik, Sung Jinwoo's next opponent. Episode 7 ended with Sung Jinwoo showcasing his new abilities against Hwang Dongsuk's party by killing each one of them.

But this will not end the protagonist's awakening moments, as his next quest could be to see him in an even more significant moment. The next quest Sung Jinwoo accepts involves him entering a C-rank dungeon alongside some old friends and some criminals supervised by a Hunter Organization supervisor named Kang Taeshik.

Kang Taeshik is an assassin-class hunter who appeared during the first episode of the anime and has made his first appearance since his introduction. What are his abilities, and what is he up to in the next mission Sung Jinwoo participates in?

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Solo Leveling: Explaining the assassin-class hunter Kang Taeshik, Sung Jinwoo's next opponent

Kang Taeshik is a B-class hunter who works under the Korean Hunters Organization. He was introduced in episode 3 of the series as he accompanied Woo Jinchul to the hospital to test whether Sung Jinwoo had awakened.

Since then, he hasn't made an appearance in the anime. In episode 8, Kang Taeshik reappeared, but this time as a supervisor for the criminals involved in Sung Jinwoo's next quest. The criminals were allowed to take part in this quest as a way to reduce their sentence.

This quest was inside a C-rank dungeon and involved Song Chiyul and Joohee, Sung Jinwoo's old friends. As soon as Sung Jinwoo and Taeshik cross paths, the former gets a bad feeling from the latter.

Taeshik as seen in the anime (Image via A-1 Pictures)

As the quest continued, the path was divided into three ways, and Taeshik took the criminals in a different direction. Sung Jinwoo and his friends continued in their direction as the protagonist grew even more suspicious of Taeshik.

Unfortunately, Kim Sangshik entered Taeshik's direction and witnessed him killing the criminals. The latter's secret job as a 'hitman' was revealed at this moment. He was paid three billion won by a person to kill one of the criminals who went on this quest.

Kim Sangshik saw him killing these criminals and shouted after Taeshik attacked him. Jinwoo immediately rushed in the direction of the scream. Taeshik suddenly jumped over Joohee to kill her but was stopped by Jinwoo.

Being a B-class assassin-class hunter, Taeshik was considerably faster than other hunters. He was able to overpower Song Chiyul, whom Joohee was continuously healing. The special ability he possessed was Stealth.

Kang Taeshik using his 'Stealth' ability, as seen in the manhwa (Image via DUBU/Chu Gong)

This ability camouflaged Taeshik's presence for a few seconds, which helped him sneak onto his opponent. As his battle with Sung Jinwoo gets heated, he uses this skill to surprise the protagonist and even injure him.

But the former's Bloodlust skill, which detects bloodlust, sensed him before he snuck up onto him and stabbed him. This ultimately led to Taeshik dying. After he died, Sung Jinwoo obtained a rune stone from his body for the skill 'Stealth.' Sung Jinwoo is later seen using this skill, which means he probably broke the rune stone to obtain 'Stealth.'

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The appearance of Kang Taeshik in Episode 3

Taesik (left) and Woo Jinchul (right) as seen in the anime (Image via A-1 Pictures)

Most Manhwa fans, who are also watching the anime series, would have been taken aback by the appearance of Kang Taeshik in episode 3. In the official webtoon series, he doesn't appear during Sung Jinwoo's hospital awakening test.

He was introduced in chapter 27, corresponding to the current episode (episode 8). This was an anime-original addition from the animation studio of this series to foreshadow Kang Taeshik as an upcoming opponent of Sung Jinwoo.

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