In the world of Solo Leveling, Sung Jinwoo is known to be the absolute strongest Hunter there is. Although he began his journey as a weak Hunter, his reawakening in the Double Dungeon eventually gave him access to the System and allowed him to level up. With time, Jinwoo got progressively stronger and eventually reached a level comparable to the Gods of the world of Solo Leveling.
In the original timeline, Sung Jinwoo was quite easily peerless. But, the Solo Leveling universe has multiple different timelines, among which is also the Solo Leveling: Arise timeline. In one of the timelines, Lee Joohee, who was made out to be a very important character in the early parts of the story, takes a completely different path and experiences a reawakening of her own. She takes over as the protagonist in this particular timeline and achieves powers comparable to Sung Jinwoo himself. Joohee stands as a Reawakened Hunter in Solo Leveling: Arise and is absolutely immense as a fighter, and fans have loved the short hunter origin story that they received for her.
Lee Joohee’s Hunter Origin Story In Alternate Timeline Gives Her An Official Reawakening
Initially, Lee Joohee’s alt was announced for Solo Leveling Rise on August 7, 2026, but she was officially added to the game on August 27. Immediately upon her addition, it was revealed that this Lee Joohee existed in an alternate universe, and her Hunter Origin story was also given to us in the form of a short manhwa, which did wonders for her overall character arc in the Solo Leveling Rise universe. Lee Joohee has two different alts:
- The regular Lee Joohee, which we know to be from the same universe where Sung Jinwoo goes on to become the Shadow Monarch.
- The Pilgrim of the Labyrinth, which exists in a completely different universe altogether, where things go very differently.
At the very beginning of Solo Leveling, Lee Joohee and Sung Jinwoo are seen in the Double Dungeon. In the end, they both manage to survive this altercation, but in this alternate universe, Joohee is pushed out of the DOUBLE Dungeon, with Jinwoo never truly stepping out. In the original universe, Joohee is then scarred forever due to the traumatic events that unfolded against the Statue of God, but in the alternate universe, due to Jinwoo never returning and presumably having even died, she goes on to gain immense motivation as well as new powers.
As Lee Joohee finds within her the fire to explore the different Gates and locate Sung Jinwoo, she experiences what is known as a reawakening. In the world of Solo Leveling, Hunters are assigned a power level upon their first awakening, and this power level cannot be increased after that. The only case in which this power level can change is if they experience a reawakening, which makes them even stronger. Lee Joohee experienced this reawakening, and it made her incredibly powerful. Initially, she was a B-Rank Healer, and now, she is believed to be an incredibly powerful Hunter, rivaling even the likes of Sung Jinwoo, given that she can even fight in S-Rank Gates all by herself.
“They were good people. They welcomed me despite how meek and timid I was. They were the reason I could still smile, even in the dungeons I feared so much. But in a flash… I lost them all.” — Lee Joohee’s New Hunter Origin Story
Joohee Takes Over Jinwoo’s Role In Her Hunter Origin Story
In this alternate timeline of Solo Leveling, Sung Jinwoo doesn’t exist as the protagonist of the story. We all know Jinwoo to be an incredibly powerful character and the vessel for Ashborn — the Shadow Monarch. Jinwoo eventually receives all the powers of Ashborn and becomes the strongest in the world, but in this alternate timeline, this does not happen. Whether Ashborn chooses Jinwoo as successor or if he simply dies remains unknown. What we do know is that Lee Joohee takes the role of the main character, and she becomes stronger than ever before.
Following her reawakening, Lee Joohee clears several Gates in an attempt to locate Jinwoo, and that is when she becomes the Pilgrim of the Labyrinth, which essentially describes the new alt that players can use in the game. As the main character, Lee Joohee is tremendously overpowered in her Hunter Story as well as in the game, and this adds an exciting twist to her overarching character arc.
“Maybe I’ve lost my mind. Maybe it’s fate. Maybe it’s a sign not to rely on anyone else. To face my guilt head-on. Whatever the case… there’s only one way to find out. Wait for me, everyone. I’ll save you… no matter what it takes.” — Lee Joohee’s latest Hunter Origin Story
Why Lee Joohee Could Be A National Level Hunter In The New Release
It is unclear as to what Lee Joohee’s power level is after she experiences a reawakening, but given the feats that she is able to pull off, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that she is, at the very least, an S-Rank Hunter. She might even be a National Level Hunter, given that all she needs to do is clear an S-Rank Gate all by herself to achieve this feat, and her strength certainly seems more than enough to pull something like that off.
It is also important to remember that she officially replaces Sung Jinwoo in this alternate timeline, meaning that, as the main character, she must have received strength rivaling that of Sung Jinwoo to balance things out. As such, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Lee Joohee is a new National-level Hunter in this alternate timeline of Solo Leveling.
Unfortunately, just like all the other hunter origin stories that stem from Solo Leveling arise, this story is also non-canon. It is not written directly by the original creator, Chugong, but the author has previously already confirmed that there exist alternate timelines of Solo Leveling. The story of Sung Suho, Jinwoo’s son, which takes place in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, is set in an alternate timeline. The stories that are explored in Solo Leveling Arise are also different alternate timelines that are all canon to their own universes but different from his own story.
This is a beautiful touch from the original creator, as it gives credence to each version of the story and allows fans to explore these different stories without putting them down. We are excited to see if this alternate timeline of Lee Joohee is ever expanded upon further, and if it is, we’ll be curious to see how strong she gets in the future.
Solo Leveling Arise is available to play on Mobile.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
