Solo Leveling Season 1 begins with Choi Jong-In leading the S-Rank hunters to raid Jeju Island where a lot of ants came out from the S-Rank gate. Some guys got our attention when they worked perfectly together to fight the ants. One of the guys is Eunseok. Choi Jong-In showed up then. He uses his flame magic to burn the monsters. We don’t know if they made it. Because the camera switched to Sung Jinwoo’s plot.
The action is called the third Jeju Island Raid. It failed and Choi Jong-In took his team to retreat. There were thousands people being killed. The island is controlled by the ants so that there’re no people living on the island now. The chief of Korean Hunters Association Go Gunhee decided to have the fourth Jeju Island Raid since the ants developed the flying ability. He got the support from the Japanese guild Draw Sword Guild. Because they worried that the ants will hurt the people in their nation as well. Choi Jong-In supports Go Gunhee after his last failure. He wants to wipe out the former humiliation. So he convinces Baek Yoonho to join the raid party. Eunseok’s name is mentioned when Baek Yoonho meets with the S-Rank healer Min Byung-Gyu at a bar in Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 9.
Eunseok Is Eaten by Ants on Jeju Island
Eunseok, Baek Yoonho and Min Byung-Gyu were good friends. They’re S-Rank hunters. So they were sent to raid Jeju Island. They planned to close the S-Rank gate on the island. But they encountered a lot of ants. Eunseok is a S-Rank mage. He can use lightning magic when he waves his weapons metal claws. He acted bravely in the third Jeju Island Raid. But he was eaten by ants in the end. Baek Yoonho witnessed his friends dying in front of him. He felt helpless when he was taken away by his teammates. He thought he should take back Eunseok’s dead body at least. But he couldn’t do that.
He agreed to it when Choi Jong-In invited him to join the Jeju Island Raid Party. He remembered his another friend Min Byung-Gyu who retired even if he’s a healthy S-Rank hunter. Min Byung-Gyu is told that Baek Yoonho wants to take part in the fourth Jeju Island Raid. He persuades his friend not to join it. But Baek Yoonho insists on doing so. Because he knows there will be many people killed like Eunseok if he doesn’t go to close the gate on the island.
He knows he might be killed in the raid. So he came to see Byung-Gyu. But Byung-Gyu mistakes that his friend came to persuade him to join the party since there were many people persuading him. He’s not brave like Baek Yoonho since the two witnessed their friend dying in front of them. He fears the ants and he doesn’t walk out of the trauma. He’s scared when he sees blood. So he retired and he wants to be a civil servant.
Eunseok Fears the Ants As Well But He Wants to Protect More People
Go Gunhee holds a press conference. He tells the reporters that they’re going to begin the fourth Jeju Island Raid. He reveals the hunters of Korea and Japan will work together to take part in the raid. It gives people the confident. Min Byung-Gyu sees the news. He’s touched. He remembers he and Eunseok had a talk before they took part in the third Jeju Island Raid.
Eunseok told Min Byung-Gyu that he fears the dungeon as well. But he thought he has duty to close the gate on the island for saving a lot of people. Because he’s powerful hunter. Nobody can do that except them. So he cannot avoid the fate. He worried about his best friend Baek Yoonho who falls asleep when he’s drunk.
Eunseok is a warm guy. He cares for his friend and he knows he needs to protect the world as a hunter. He tried his best to do what he can do as a S-Rank hunter even if he was killed by the ants. His spirit motivates Min Byung-Gyu to take part in the fourth Jeju Island Raid.
But Baek Yoonho and Min Byung-Gyu lost their best friend after Eunseok did something good. Korea lost a hero as well. But people remember Eunseok. He thank him for what he did. There would be more people killed on the island if he didn’t sacrifice himself. His sacrifice earned time for Korean government until the ants had flying ability. The ants couldn’t hurt any citizen within four years after Eunseok died. Choi Jong-In also reflects himself from his failure. He realizes that he’s not a perfect leader. He paid attention to the ants’ movement and he was the first one who reported to Go Gunhee that the ant had wings. It made Go Gunhee do preparations in advance. He informs other nations about the ant’s ability.
Japanese Hunters Association was told the ant’s new ability. They realized that they needed to do something because Jeju Island isn’t far away from Japan. The ants have a high probability to reach Japan so that the villagers in Japan will be involved. So the chairman of Japanese Hunters Association Matsumoto Shigeo made the decision to send ten S-Rank hunters to Korea for helping the Korean hunters raid Jeju Island. The ten S-Rank hunters come from the strongest guild in Japan. It’s Draw Sword Guild. Goto Ryuji leaded the team. He’s the strongest hunter in Japan.
He and his team studied the ant. They came up with a perfect plan that Korean hunters enter the nest to kill Ant Queen when his team draws the ants out. Eunseok’s sacrifice is meaningful. The hunters of Korea and Japan wouldn’t work together without his sacrifice. They wouldn’t learn the lessons from their previous failures.
The hunters of Korea and Japan are practicing in the gym. They’re ready for the upcoming raid. Sung Jinwoo comes back from demon castle. He just heals his mother with the magic potion. He has nothing to worry about. The ants will be killed without any problem if the guy takes his shadow army to join the battle. Go Gunhee invites the guy to Korean Hunters Association. He’s talking about the raid with the guy after he witnesses him coming up with a wyvern. The wyvern is a new shadow soldier he just got from the demon castle.
Go Gunhee tries to persuade Sung Jinwoo even if the hunter doesn’t make decision. But he notes the fight in the gym. Eunseok’s best friend Baek Yoonho is showing off his muscles in the guy. He inherits Eunseok’s will and he decides not to come back until he kills all the ants. Sung Jinwoo watches Baek Yoonho and Ma Dongwook’s fight. He’s interested in it after knowing Baek Yoonho doesn’t use his full strength. It’s a good sign. The guy might take part in raid since his girl Cha Hae-In is there. He doesn’t want to be called a coward in front of his goddess since Eunseok did so well.