Episode 3 picks up with Sung Jinwoo on the verge of death inside the dungeon from Episode 2. In a moment of desperation, he utters, “I wish I had another chance,” and is suddenly granted just that, awakening three days later in a hospital bed with his missing leg, missing arm, and the puncture wound in his chest fully restored. Jinwoo wonders if it was all just a nightmare.
Could It Be a Second Awakening?
Inspectors from the surveillance team of the Korean Hunters Association, Woo Jinchul and Kang Taeshik, visit Jinwoo to try to understand what happened. They explain that of the 13 hunters who went into the double dungeon, only six survived. The leader of their group, Chiyul Song, lost his arm and will likely retire, while Joohee was deeply traumatized and is in psychiatric care.
They go on to explain that when the White Tiger Guild showed up on the scene for rescue, they found Jinwoo laying at the entrance of the dungeon. They also found no signs of the temple or the statues.
Wondering how Jinwoo could have survived, they consider that he may have experienced a “second awakening,” which could allow a hunter to reach a higher rank. The inspectors have Jinwoo place his hand on the mana meter to test his rank, but he scores a 10.
He remains an E-rank and there is no sign of a second awakening. The inspectors later mention that E-ranks score higher than 70, which puts Jinwoo at almost the same level as a civilian.
Notification Screens That Only Jinwoo Can See
Jinwoo’s biggest surprise comes when he realizes he can now see a game-like interface that nobody else can see, not even his younger sister, Jinah, who comes to visit him in the hospital.
After she leaves, he looks through his inbox and finds a daily quest.
It’s a strength-training quest and the requirement is to do 100 each of push-ups, sit-ups, and squats, followed by 10km of running.
Dismissing it as a joke, he learns the hard way that ignoring a quest has dire consequences. At 12am, as Jinwoo is sleeping, he’s awakened by what feels like an earthquake. A “penalty quest” forcibly teleports him to a nightmarish desert realm filled with enormous sand centipedes.
Barely surviving the required four hours, Jinwoo is returned to his hospital room, left with no doubt that these “quests” are real and hold tremendous power. Determined to change his fate, he begins completing daily tasks to earn three rewards; full recovery, ability points, and random loot boxes.
A D-Rank Gate Opens in the City
While Jinwoo recovers in the hospital, a D-rank gate opens in the city. Joohee’s guild manger asks if she can help with the raid, as know other guilds are available. Understanding her recent mental health issues, they understand if she turns the job down, which she does. Her manager also mentions that Jinwoo is doing great in the hospital.
Joohee goes to visit Jinwoo and sees him outside running and that he has recovered from his injuries, even his leg, which she witnessed being cut off. She decides to leave without speaking to him.
A New Path to Strength
In a flashback, we learn Sung’s mother has been in a coma for four years, which doctors believe is due to over-exposure to mana. With high hospital costs and the hope of finding a cure, it’s clear why Jinwoo continues risking his life as a hunter. His newfound abilities could be the key to saving her.
One such reward is an “Instance Dungeon Key,” which creates a mysterious locked door at a subway entrance.
Upon using the key, Jinwoo is sealed inside a different dimension, completely alone inside a dungeon for the first time.
Despite his higher stats, he’s still riddled with self-doubt, expecting to die at any moment.
Even so, he manages to defeat a group of goblins and notices a definite increase in his skills.
A sudden attack by a powerful wolf tests his newfound strength.
The wolf easily shatters Jinwoo’s knife in its metal jaws and then slashes Jinwoo’s face, which is when Jinwoo realizes that he doesn’t have a healer to help him and he doesn’t get a second chance in this fight. The wolf lunges, and just when it looks as if Jinwoo might be overwhelmed, the episode ends on another tense cliffhanger.
Final Thoughts
Episode 3 firmly establishes Sung Jinwoo as a unique hunter, one who can seemingly “level up” through quests and stat allocations. Although he remains officially ranked as an E-level hunter, these new abilities and rewards offer unlimited possibilities. More importantly, his desperation to provide for his comatose mother adds real emotional weight to his actions. With the introduction of instance dungeons, penalty quests, and the revelation of how badly Jinwoo wants to change his life, Episode 3 sets up an exciting, game-like progression system that promises ever more dangerous encounters, and character growth in the near future.