Solo Leveling: Does Lee Joo-hee return as a hunter? Explained

Modified Mar 15, 2024 04:33 GMT

Lee Joo-He as seen in the Solo Leveling opening (image via A-1 Pictures)

Despite her limited appearances in the ongoing Solo Leveling anime, Lee Joo-hee emerged as a favorite among fans, mostly due to her kind and caring nature. She was one of Sung Jin-woo's closest allies and was interested in him romantically even before his double reawakening.

However, Joo-hee eventually chose to leave the life of a Hunter behind, mainly due to the several traumatic experiences she went through inside the dungeon raids. As such, fans have often wondered if they would ever get to see her return to the battlefield as a Hunter once again.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Solo Leveling manhwa. Reader's discretion is advised.

Solo Leveling: Explaining Lee Joo-hee's eventual return to the series

Lee Joo-hee as seen in the anime (image via A-1 Pictures)

Episode 9 of the Solo Leveling anime successfully adapted one of the most anticipated story arcs of the series, i.e. the Dungeons and Prisoners arc, which saw Sung Jin-woo participating in a D-Rank dungeon raid along with his surviving party members from the Double Dungeon incident.

It was during this arc that fans finally got to witness Jin-woo and Joo-hee's long-awaited reunion. That said, their relationship never saw the light of day, considering that Joo-hee ended up retiring as a Hunter following the events of this arc.

Her decision to step away from the life of a Hunter primarily stemmed from her traumatic near-death experiences from the Double Dungeon incident and the D-Rank Dungeon incident. This, coupled with the fact that she felt like a burden to others during both these incidents due to her lack of fighting abilities, led her to decide to retire as a Hunter.

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Following this, Lee Joo-hee doesn't appear again in the Solo Leveling manhwa for a very long time, since she went back to her hometown following her last dungeon raid. However, she ended up returning to the battlefield during the Jeju Island arc, where she volunteered to defend the shores of Busan alongside Song Chi-yul, in case the ants invaded the city during the raid.

As Joo-hee nervously prepared to fight the ants, Beru appeared out of nowhere and effortlessly slaughtered the ants, thereby saving the former from the trouble of fighting against the deadly creatures. After this, Joo-hee does not appear in the main story of the Solo Leveling manhwa again.

That said, she does eventually make a brief appearance in the Solo Leveling side stories, where she runs into Jin-woo on the street. This incident occurred in a new timeline created by Jin-woo, following his battle against Antares where he asked the Rulers to use the Cup of Reincarnation to turn back time. This action resulted in the creation of a new timeline, where the memories of the original timeline were erased from the mind of every single person in the world.

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As such, when Joo-hee came across Jin-woo in the new timeline, she had no recollection of their friendship from the original timeline. However, she surprisingly asked him whether they knew each other before, to which Jin-woo politely declined. This goes to show that despite having no memories of her time with Jin-woo, there was some part of Joo-hee's mind that still remembered him and the bond they used to have.

This moment marked Lee Joo-hee's official last appearance in the series. Her character wasn't a crucial part of the story following the Dungeons and Prisoners arc, which understandably upset some fans.

Considering that her next appearance takes place towards the very end of the Jeju Island arc, fans can expect to see her again at the end of a potential second season or a third season of the Solo Leveling anime.