Solo Leveling’s New S-Rank Hunter Is the Perfect Sung Jinwoo Replacement

Solo Leveling’s new official manhwa chapter reveals a brand-new female S-Rank Hunter who makes the perfect replacement for Sung Jinwoo.

Solo Leveling: Arise’s latest Hunter Origin manhwa one-shot revolves around the backstory of Agnes Rivera, an Italian S-Rank Hunter and leader of the Rivera Guild. Her new origin story reveals the tragic events that led to her awakening and motivation as a Hunter, ultimately turning her into the dark warrior that players see in the game.

In fact, that darkness is just one of the many features that make Agnes the ideal female stand-in for Sung Jinwoo.

Agnes Rivera’s Backstory Could Hint at Future Conflict With Sung Jinwoo

Agnes Rivers’s Solo Leveling: Arise Hunter Origin manhwa one-shot was released on July 2 on Netmarble’s official website. The story tells of the tragic moment Agnes’ lover, Dante, seemed to turn evil one night at a high-class ball.

Using a strange gas-like substance, Dante turned the party-goers into rabid zombies who attacked and killed each other before turning their sights on Agnes. In her moment of desperation, Agnes awakened as a Hunter, able to save her own life but never quite living down the loss of Dante to whatever strange motivations drove him to commit this atrocious deed.

As Agnes learns years later, Dante was actually also under the control of some villain in the shadows, who took over Dante’s body and turned him into a killer.

At the end of the story, Dante all but begs Agnes to take his life because he has lost all control. With Dante’s limp body in her arms, Agnes pledges to get revenge on “whoever was puppeting my Dante Grossi from the shadows.”

While the villain who took control of Dante is still unclear, it will be interesting to see how Agnes responds to Jinwoo when she learns about his power to control the shadows of the dead. To an outsider, this ability can seem like a form of mind control, similar to what happened to Dante. Jinwoo’s power does force his shadow soldiers to have unyielding loyalty to him as well, so Agnes would be right to feel suspicious if she ever saw his Shadow Extraction skill at work firsthand.

Agnes Rivera Is Solo Leveling’s Female Version of Sung Jinwoo

Despite having ample reason to question Jinwoo’s motives by the end of her origin story, Agnes Rivera has a lot in common with the Shadow Monarch. Her dark aura and no-nonsense attitude are very reminiscent of Jinwoo’s own general disposition. Her description in the game even mirrors Sung Jinwoo perfectly: “Though ruthless toward her enemies, she would risk her life to protect those she considers her people.”

This is almost a 1-to-1 description of Jinwoo too, as he’s known to take no prisoners in battle but also has a soft spot for those he deems friends or family. Like Jinwoo, Agnes won’t hesitate to kill her enemies, but her main motivation is her loved ones. However, the similarities between Jinwoo and Agnes Rivera go even deeper than that.

Agnes is one of the few Dark Element Hunters in Solo Leveling: Arise, making her a reasonable replacement for Jinwoo (who is also a Dark Element) on any player’s team in the game. Even Agnes’ main choice of weapon, a gun, while not the norm for Jinwoo in the main story, is notably one of the new weapon types he can wield in the upcoming Solo Leveling Karma game. Her melee weapon is also none other than a pair of daggers, just like Jinwoo’s.

While Cha Haein will forever be Jinwoo’s soulmate and that’s not going to change any time soon, Agnes Rivera is the closest thing to a gender-swapped Jinwoo that Solo Leveling may ever get.