Solo Leveling Kang Taeshik

Appearance

Taeshik was a lanky looking man that appeared to be in his mid to late 20s. He has spiky purple hair with matching purple eyes with a sadistic look to them. As an employee of the Korean Hunters Association, he wore a formal business attire that consists of a black suit and tie with a belt where he held his daggers and knives.

Personality

Taeshik was a cocky and psychopathic individual who lived to kill and found murdering other hunters to be more fun than killing monsters. Ironically, despite the fact that he was a serial killer, he looked down on other criminals and used them as outlets for his murderous tendencies. He was also prideful in his status as a B-Rank Hunter and had the ideology of a hunter supremacist, believing that hunters were not obligated to follow human laws due to being superior to normal humans altogether.

Despite his bloodlust, Taeshik was not solely driven by the thrill of killing and was also highly motivated by financial gain. This was displayed when he demanded an extra 1 billion won from a client in anticipation of having to eliminate the other hunters in the dungeons, a prediction that indeed came true. Furthermore, after exchanging attacks with Jinwoo and realizing that the latter was able to match him in both speed and strength, Taeshik lamented that he should have demanded a higher fee for the job had he known beforehand that he was going to fight against such a challenging opponent, underscoring his calculated and money-driven approach to his heinous crimes.

Likely due to having secretly worked as a hitman for years, Taeshik was incredibly deceptive, as displayed when he tried to weave a web of lies to cover up his crimes during his confrontation with Jinwoo, pretended that he only intended to target the prisoners, and even offered to spare the lives of Jinwoo, Joohee, and Song if they kept quiet about the whole ordeal. However, in reality, Taeshik only told them these words to catch them off-guard, which would make it easier for him to kill them later, and he actually had no real intention of sparing anyone, a fact that Jinwoo quickly realized after noticing the dishonesty in Taeshik's facial expressions. His deception also extended to where he had concocted an elaborate story to justify the deaths of the prisoners he was hired to kill, attributing it to a goblin ambush, and planned to alter his story to explain the deaths of the other hunters, claiming that the prisoners had turned on them while he was fighting alone against the dungeon boss and thus making him the sole survivor.

Despite his ruthless outlook on life, Taeshik displayed a sense of respect for the natural hierarchy. When Jinwoo fatally stabbed him in the chest, Taeshik acknowledged his opponent's superiority and accepted with fate with dignity. Before dying from his wounds, he also warned Jinwoo about the side effects of gaining greater power and observed that Jinwoo was embarking on a dark path akin to his own in his pursuit of strength, hinting at the potential moral corruption that comes with more power.

History

Dungeon & Prisoners Arc

Taeshik was called to assist in clearing a C-Rank dungeon and was given the responsibility of monitoring three C-Rank "probational prisoners" who were allowed to join the raid in exchange for reduced sentences. This approach was taken by the Hunters Association due to a shortage of available hunters after the disastrous Double Dungeon incident. However, unknown to the others in the raid and to the Association's leadership, Taeshik had secretly been paid 3 billion won (about 2.6 million USD) by a victim's parent to eliminate the prisoners the night before the raid.

After separating from the other hunters and clearing the dungeon of monsters, Taeshik questioned the prisoners if they would be able to kill 100 human children, if they were attacked by them in the dungeon. After hearing their boastful reply, Taeshik immediately attacked the prisoners, murdering two of them. His torture of a third was interrupted by Kim Sangshik and Kang Jeongho, who accidentally discovered the scene. Viewing them as witnesses, Taeshik quickly eliminated Jeongho and gravely injured Kim. He then laid a trap for Song Chi-Yul, Lee Joohee, and Sung Jinwoo, the others in the raiding party who heard the screams. When Taeshik tried to ambush and eliminate Joohee, recognizing her critical role as a Healer, Jinwoo intervened and saved her at the last moment.

In a tense confrontation, Taeshik revealed his plan to blame the prisoners for the hunters' deaths. As Song Chi-Yul stepped up to defend his friends, he managed to parry Taeshik's swift attacks, earning the latter's begrudging respect. However, as a C-Rank Mage, Song was eventually overwhelmed by the speed of Taeshik. In a desperate move, Song used his fire magic against Taeshik, who narrowly escaped, but was amused by Song's last ditch attempt. Just as Taeshik was about to deliver a final blow, Jinwoo intervened, surprising everyone.

Realizing that Jinwoo had been hiding his true skill, Taeshik decided to kill him first but was countered again and again by Jinwoo's arsenal of abilities as the fight dragged on. Seeking to end the battle and do what he was paid to do, Taeshik unleashed his full power and charged Jinwoo with his Stealth skill activated, but fell prey to Jinwoo's Bloodlust skill, leaving him wide open long enough for Jinwoo to fatally stab him in the chest.

Epilogue

In the Webtoon, Taeshik is briefly seen in the new timeline created by Sung Jinwoo traveling back in time using the Cup of Reincarnation. He is shown being arrested by his former Hunters Association coworker Woo Jinchul.

Ragnarok

Decades later, in the aftermath of the Great Cataclysm and the emergence of many humans awakening with magic, Woo Jinchul the Director of the newly established Korean Hunters Association approached the imprisoned Taeshik with a proposition. Knowing he had awakened and his path as an assassin for hire in the original timeline, Jinchul sought to use the criminal's talents. He offered Taeshik not only his freedom but to work as a certified bounty hunter, effectively giving him permission to kill any escaped awakened villain that could threaten South Korea. Taeshik accepted the deal offered to him as a means to satisfy his bloodlust.

Abilities

As a B-Rank assassin-type hunter, Taeshik was inhumanly fast, to the point that he was able to easily defeat Song Chi-Yul even though the latter had received a strength buff from Joohee. Taeshik was so fast that he was able to escape a close range fire attack by Song. He was also strong enough to clash evenly with Jinwoo at the time and resist the Paralyze and Bleed effects of Kasaka's Venom Fang.

• Stealth: Taeshik was able to camouflage with his surroundings and hide all traces of his presence, essentially turning himself both physically and magically invisible.

Trivia

• In the Japanese version of the anime, Taeshik's name is changed to Taisei Michikado (道門泰星).