Solo Leveling – Season 1 Episode 7 Recap & Review

Let’s See How Far I Can Go

Episode 7 of Solo Leveling begins with a man presenting Woo with documents concerning Sung and Yoo’s dungeon expedition with Hwang and the others. Despite the man’s concerns about the expedition, Woo isn’t too interested to look into it himself. The man shares more details regarding who was involved in the expedition to entice Woo to look into it. 

Sung returns home with chicken and other delectable food items. Jinah greets Sung and Sung tells Jinah that he’ll be able to cover their hospital bills and other expenses for a while. While the two eat, Jinah asks Sung how his recent dungeon expedition went. She asks him several questions regarding his health and party members. 

Sung reflects on his experiences and believes he’s changed. Jinah notices something’s amiss with Sung and asks him if he’s okay. Sung ensures Jinah that he’s alright. Internally, Sung says he’s focused on becoming stronger and surviving. He says he’ll kill more humans if put in the situation again. Then, the Player Log system informs him that the beverage he’s consuming will harm him. 

Sung returns to his room and continues drinking the alcohol. He realizes he’s not getting drunk from it and wonders if the Player Log system’s preventing that from happening. Then, the Player Log system tells Sung that a reward he earned from the double dungeon is helping him avoid that. Sung realizes this is why his limbs grew back after that fiasco.

Later, Jinah wakes Sung up and tells him that Yoo wants to meet him at a cafe. At the cafe, Yoo tells Sung he’s crafting a Strike Team and would love him to join him on 19 or so dungeon expeditions. Sung attempts to leave, but Yoo convinces him to stay. Yoo confirms he wants to become a licensed guild master. 

He says he needs 20 raids to achieve his mission, and notes the one he and Sung participated in counts as one. He reveals his father wants to put a guild together for business purposes. He particularly wants an S-Rank Hunter guild master and Yoo’s brother to serve in a second-in-command role. 

Sung reminds Yoo that there are only a few guild masters in the world, with most already being affiliated with a guild. He also questions Yoo if his father planned to poach a guildmaster from a guild. Sung feels if Yoo’s father does that, it’d be a terrible move because he’d draw negative attention to his business. 

Yoo hands Sung a portfolio containing documents about a building Yoo’s father wants to use for the guild’s headquarters. He says its current market value is thirty billion and says he’s willing to offer that to Sung if he can help him complete 19 successful raids. Sung thinks this through and declines Yoo’s offer. Although Yoo tries to entice Sung further, Sung departs. 

Meanwhile, we cut to Hwang’s brother, Dongsoo. He asks someone to get him intel on the two people who went on the raid with his brother and his men. A woman named Laura hands Dongsoo a document on the incident. Dongsoo feels his brother was murdered by someone and asks Laura what would happen to him if he killed someone abroad. 

After hearing Laura out and discussing his scheduling concerns with Laura, Dongsoo hopes Sung and Yoo will survive long enough for him to enact his revenge. As Sung and Jinah go for a jog, they discuss what she’d do if she had thirty billion dollars. Sung picks up the pace and leaves Jinah behind. He checks the Player Log system and notices he overachieved in his quest’s running requirement. 

Sung questions how high it can go and continues running. Sung realizes the system cuts off at a certain point. Additionally, he notices the daily quest turned into a secret one. Sung checks the awards he earned from this quest. He spots a “blessed random loot box” item and selects it. Sung opens the box and receives “The Demon Castle’s Key.” 

The item’s bio states that it’ll allow Sung to enter an S-Rank dungeon called The Demon’s Castle. If he conquers it, he’ll achieve the ingredients for the “Elixir of Life,” which can cure all illnesses via powerful magic. Sung visits his mother and wonders if this elixir has the power to cure her. He flees to the area that the Player Log system told him to visit so he can use the key. 

Sung enters the dungeon and says if things get hasty, he plans to use the teleportation stone he saved from his instance dungeon outing. Sung confronts a magic beast called Hell’s Gatekeeper Cerberus. The two fight but none of Sung’s weapons, enhancements, or abilities assist him against Cerberus. 

Sung attempts to use his teleportation stone, but Cerberus attacks Sung, causing him to lose it. He opens up the Player Log’s store and buys a few potions. However, the potions don’t give him much. Sung notices he still has Kasaka’s Venom Gland item in his inventory. Sung selects the item and drinks the concoction. 

With this item’s power and Sung’s several eye-stabbing attempts, he successfully defeats Cerberus. After getting healed up, the Player Log system alerts Sung about some things he unlocked. Sung notices something else popped up, too. He selects it and receives a small document-like reward. 

Then, the Player Log system tells Sung that he must find three items to craft the Elixir of Life. It says he can find these items in the Demon’s Castle. Sung knows if he heads into that castle now, he’ll perish. The episode closes with Sung stating that he plans to investigate the castle at a later time. 

The Episode Review

Solo Leveling delivers another fun chapter for fans to seek their teeth into this week. This one has as much bloodshed and tension as Sung’s previous affairs with Hwang and the others. Additionally, the chapter sets viewers up for a future squabble between Sung, Yoo, and Dongsoo that’ll likely result in something getting severely wounded. 

As to who will be walking away in bandages, begs to be seen though. On that note, Sung’s battle with Cerberus will stir up much discussion about Sung’s capabilities as a hunter. Not only was this beast a powerful threat, but it heired from an S-Rank dungeon, making it way stronger than the foes Sung had met before. 

Some folks may have their gripes on how Sung defeated this powerful enemy though. From using items to relying on multiple stabbing techniques, some may feel Sung should’ve lost against the beast. On the flip side, gamers who tend to use items and potions a lot in RPGs will cherish Sung’s methods he used during this bout. 

Overall, Solo Leveling continues to be a delight, both narratively and visually. I’m excited to see where this Elixir of Life mission takes our E-Rank hunter.