Solo leveling Session 01 Episode 03 (It's Like a Game)
Rating: 8.7/10
Season: Season 1
Episode:03
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Adventure
Language: Japanese
Year: 2023
Subtitle: Available
Main Characters
Shin: The main protagonist, a brave and determined fighter.
Yuki: Shin's best friend with a mysterious past.
Kira: A powerful antagonist with a hidden agenda.
Solo Leveling Season 1 Episode 03 – "It's Like a Game"
Scene 1: Waking Up in the Hospital – A New Beginning
The episode opens with a haunting silence, followed by the slow beeping of a hospital monitor. Sung Jinwoo opens his eyes. His breathing is shallow, and his vision is blurry. He blinks, trying to understand where he is. The ceiling above him is unfamiliar. Slowly, it dawns on him—he's not dead. Not anymore.
He jerks upright, clutching his chest. Memories flood back. The double dungeon. The massacre. The statue’s divine judgment. Yet here he is, alive. Confused, he looks down at his body. No wounds. No pain. Just a sharp sense of clarity. Jinwoo frowns. Something’s off.
Moments later, a nurse enters. She’s surprised to see him awake. "You were in critical condition," she says, "We didn’t think you’d make it." Jinwoo’s eyes widen, but he says nothing. He's too focused on the screen now blinking in front of his eyes—a screen that only he can see. It reads: “Daily Quest Complete. Reward Ready to Claim.”
The System has followed him back into the real world.
Scene 2: The System Interface – Rules of the Game
The mysterious blue screen hovering in mid-air is not a hallucination. It behaves like an interface straight out of an RPG game. Jinwoo watches it respond to his thoughts. Options. Quests. Inventory. Stats. It’s all there.
He opens his status window: STR – 10, AGI – 10, and so on. Below that, an intriguing message: “You are the only player in this world. Follow the rules and survive.” The System even shows a log of his past quests, including the brutal trial he survived in the double dungeon.
Jinwoo realizes this is not a dream. It's real. He touches the screen—and it reacts. He's somehow become a player in a real-life game. Confused but intrigued, he opens his quest log. The Daily Quest is there again: “Do 100 Push-ups, 100 Sit-ups, 100 Squats, and a 10KM Run.” Classic training, but the punishment for skipping? Death. He gulps. The System isn’t messing around.
Scene 3: The First Daily Quest – Painful Progress
Still recovering in the hospital, Jinwoo begins the Daily Quest. He struggles to complete even a fraction of the exercises. His muscles scream in pain. His body isn't ready for this. He collapses halfway through, exhausted and soaked in sweat.
But the System doesn’t care about excuses. The moment he gives up, a new screen flashes: “Penalty Quest Activated.” He’s instantly teleported—ripped from the hospital and dropped into a bleak, endless desert. Scorching winds whip his face. Monstrous wolves, dozens of feet tall, growl in the distance. He’s unarmed, helpless.
The Penalty Zone is terrifying. Each second is a battle for survival. Jinwoo runs, dodging the wolves' jaws and narrowly avoiding death. The environment is barren, but the danger is overwhelming. For an entire hour, he’s hunted like prey.
Then—he’s back in the hospital. Gasping. Shaking. Alive. Barely. The System chimes: “Penalty Complete. Returning.” Jinwoo collapses onto his bed. He now understands—the System rewards effort, but punishes laziness. If he doesn’t grow stronger, he’ll die. Simple as that.
Scene 4: A Visit from Joohee – The Cost of Survival
The next day, Jinwoo receives a visitor—Joohee, the gentle healer from the double dungeon. Her eyes water as she sees him alive. She embraces him tightly, relieved beyond words. She’d been haunted by the memory of the massacre, blaming herself for not doing more.
They sit together, the mood bittersweet. Joohee admits she’s retiring from hunting. “After what happened... I can’t go back in,” she says softly. Jinwoo doesn’t blame her. He too remembers the screams, the statues, the blood. But unlike her, he has no choice. He needs money for his mother’s hospital bills. He can’t quit.
He watches her leave, and for a moment, he feels the weight of loneliness again. The System has given him something unimaginable—but at what cost? If he continues down this path, he may lose more than just his life. He may lose everyone he cares about.
Scene 5: Choosing to Train – A New Resolve
Later that evening, Jinwoo opens the System again. He scrolls through his quest log, his stats, his rewards. The thought of another penalty quest terrifies him. But this time, he finishes the full workout, every push-up and sit-up, no matter how painful.
At the end, a new notification appears: “Strength +1” Jinwoo is stunned. His muscles ache, but he feels... stronger. A real increase in power. This isn’t metaphorical—it’s measurable. The rules of the game are clear: train hard, complete quests, get stronger.
His mind races. If he can grind like in an RPG, he might go from the weakest hunter... to something far greater. From now on, he decides, he will treat this life like a game. One he intends to win.
Scene 6: Back at the Guild – A Taste of Strength
Jinwoo visits the Hunter's Association for a physical re-evaluation. As expected, the scan still labels him as an E-Rank. The System is invisible to the real world, and his stats don’t show up in conventional assessments. He chuckles. The true growth is hidden—but it’s there.
Outside, he runs into a group of familiar faces—other low-rank hunters who mock him for being “the world’s weakest.” He takes it in stride. He knows something they don’t. He’s changing. Fast.
Later, he accepts a dungeon raid invite. A low-level C-rank gate. Normally he would have avoided it, but now he sees it as a training ground. His confidence builds, his expression calm. The System is with him. The old Jinwoo would’ve trembled. The new Jinwoo is ready.
Scene 7: Into the Dungeon – Unleashing the Player
Inside the dungeon, the team begins clearing minor mobs—goblins, slimes, lesser beasts. Jinwoo holds back at first, watching the others. Then, when a goblin leaps toward him, he strikes. Fast. Sharp. Efficient. The creature drops in a single blow.
The others stare. Did Jinwoo just... one-shot a goblin?
He brushes it off. “Must’ve gotten lucky,” he says. But he knows the truth. The System is real, and the strength he’s gained is only the beginning.
As the party proceeds deeper, Jinwoo continues to prove himself. He’s more agile, faster to react, and more confident than ever before. Even the veteran hunters start taking notice.
When a larger mob appears—a mini-boss—Jinwoo volunteers to distract it. The others laugh, thinking he’s just buying time. But then, they watch in disbelief as Jinwoo dodges, counters, and defeats the beast solo. Silence follows.
The team cheers. One of them jokes, “Hey, maybe you’re not the weakest after all.” Jinwoo smiles quietly. He’s finally rewriting his story.
Scene 8: Logging Out – The Game Has Just Begun
After the raid, Jinwoo returns to his tiny apartment. The room is quiet, but his heart is racing. He opens the System once more. His stats have risen again. Strength. Agility. Vitality. All climbing.
A final message flashes: “Daily Quest Completed. Level Up!”
Jinwoo sits on the edge of his bed, staring at the screen. The game isn’t over. In fact, it’s only just begun. He grips his hands into fists and whispers, “I’m going to keep rising.”
As the screen fades to black, the narrator echoes the core of Jinwoo’s transformation:
“He was once the weakest hunter. But now… he’s the only player in a world that doesn’t even know the game has started.”
End of Episode 03 – The game is on, and Sung Jinwoo is just getting started.