Solo Leveling Min Byung-Gyu

Min Byung-Gyu (민병규) was a Korean S-Rank Healer and a good friend of Baek Yoonho.

Appearance

Byung-Gyu was a thin young man with spiky black hair, pale skin, and black eyes. In his first appearance he wore a black coat over a white shirt and black slacks. During the 4th Jeju Island Raid, he wore teal-black armor with a gray hoodie, carried a spellbook on the right side of his waist, and wielded a brownish-golden mace.

As a shadow, Byung-Gyu had bright glowing blue skin and wore a tattered, black hooded cloak. He also had blank white eyes and carried a teal-colored spellbook in his right hand.

Personality

Byung-Gyu was a friendly and compassionate individual with a profound distaste for violence. As a result, he retired early on and was planning on living a normal civilian life as a Korean history teacher before the Korean government announced that they were planning on launching a fourth search-and-destroy mission on Jeju Island. At the same time, however, Byung-Gyu had a strong sense of duty and willingly participated in the 4th Jeju Island Raid even though he hated fighting and did not enjoy being a hunter.

History

Min Byung-Gu, despite being in perfect health, chose to retire from being a hunter. His retirement was deeply tied to the tragic events on Jeju Island, where he took part in all three failed search-and destroy raids.^[1] The devastating outcomes, particularly the loss of Eunseok, weighed heavily on him. A year prior to the Double Dungeon Incident, Byung-Gu joined the 3rd Jeju Island Raid with Eunseok and his close friend Baek Yoonho. The raid's failure and Eunseok's death left Byung-Gu so traumatized that he decided to retire and seek a different path in life.

Return to Demon Castle Arc

Despite having retired, Byung-Gu traveled to Japan after the country reached out to the Korean Hunters Association seeking insight from those with experience from the Jeju Island raids. Upon arrival, he and the team discovered that the ants had been evolving at an alarming rate, now developing wings, posing a renewed threat to surrounding countries. Byung-Gu called Baek Yoonho and let him know this.

About five days before the 4th Jeju Island Raid was scheduled to launch, Byung-Gyu went out drinking with Baek and told the latter that he was planning on becoming a history teacher. At the same time, however, he also made it clear to Baek that there was no way in hell that he was ever going back to Jeju Island.

Jeju Island Arc

Despite his initial decision to sit out of the 4th Jeju Island Raid, Byung-Gyu ultimately changed his mind and joined the Jeju Island Raid Party the next day. During the raid itself, he assisted his teammates by giving them stat buffs and quickly healing them whenever they got injured.

Unfortunately, their killing of the Ant Queen attracted the attention of the Ant King and he ferociously attacked them upon discovering the queen's corpse, grievously injuring them with one strike each. Knowing that his teammates couldn't survive the Ant King's assault without his healing magic, Byung-Gyu activated his Disguise skill and tried to heal them as best as he could. Unfortunately, the Ant King was able to track Byung-Gyu's presence and brutally attacked him last, impaling him through his chest from the back side. Realizing that he was a goner, Byung-Gyu yelled at Baek to run just before the Ant King devoured his head, killing him instantly and absorbing his powers.

After Jinwoo killed the Ant King, he revived Byung-Gyu as a shadow soldier in order to heal Cha Hae-In, who was on the brink of death due to the severity of her injuries. Once Byung-Gyu had done his job and saved Cha's life, Jinwoo decided to honor Baek's request to allow Byung-Gyu to rest in peace and terminated the extraction, allowing the latter's soul to pass on peacefully.

Ahjin Guild Arc

Sometime after the 4th Jeju Island Raid, Cha Hae-In had a strange vision one night of Byung-Gyu's spirit pleading her to warn Jinwoo to be careful with his powers.^[2] She would later relay this warning to Jinwoo personally, which convinced him that finding the source of his powers was more important than growing stronger.

Ragnorak 

Due to Jinwoo resetting time using the Cup of Reincarnation, Byung-Gyu’s death was undone. In the revised timeline, Byung-Gyu worked as a university instructor teaching Korean history, before moving into medicine and becoming a doctor. Eventually he would meet Oh Seonjoo and the two would marry. Though he lost his memories as a hunter, on occasion Byung-Gyu would experience nightmares of his death by a giant ant.

Two years after the Great Cataclysm, Byung-Gyu in his 60s had become a doctor and evaluator at the Hunters Association. He gain some fame for being the only doctor in the country to be studying stardust and it’s effects on humans.

When Suho for a revealing his rank, Beru was summoned to demonstrate his summoning skills. Upon seeing the small ant, Byung-Gyu nearly has a panic attack. Likewise Beru recognized the doctor and feeling sympathy and a familial connection to Byung-Gyu, as he was in a way responsible for his existence, Beru blessed Byung-Gyu with his protection.

While he could not give Byung-Gyu all his powers as a S-Rank Healer, as the human’s abilities had long since been incorporated in his essence, his blessing allowed Byung-Gyu to awaken becoming a C-Rank Healer. Though he was awakened, Byung-Gyu decided not to join a guild or become a hunter, feeling his talents would be better served in focusing on his stardust research.

Abilities

As a S-Rank healer, Byung-Gyu was a master at healing magic and could almost instantly heal his fellow hunters even from severe wounds. According to himself, he also had the combat ability of an A-Rank.

• Spellbook: Byung-Gyu utilises a spellbook when healing, which enhances his healing abilities and grants him multiple different buffs he can apply to his teammates. The role or power of this item remains unconfirmed, which is likely an artifact. It is uncertain whether he is able to apply the same level of healing when wielding his Mace.

• Mace: In combat, Byung-Gyu would wield a rounded Mace with a spiked point to dispatch enemies. Though his combat skill wasn't displayed much, he appears to have high battle IQ and similar combat abilities to the Japanese S-Rank healer Shimizu, or a high A-Rank combat role.

• Healing Magic: Byung-Gyu was an incredibly powerful healer. He was able to instantly restore both Baek and Ma Dongwook back to their peaks after the Ant Queen spit poison all over them, suggesting the ability to remove negative effects. He was also able to near-instantly regenerate Ma's arms after the Ant King ripped them off and instantly restore Cha back to full health from the brink of death despite having his healing powers "nerfed" by his shadow status, something that Jinwoo wasn't able to do using the System's healing potions. Moreover, the range of his healing appears to surpass A-Rank and below healers by many times, at a range of up to around 12-15 meters.

• As a shortly-lived character, however, the full extent of his abilities were not displayed. It is suggested that unlike A-Rank and lower healers, he was capable of regenerating himself and others almost instantly as long as he retained cognitive function, hence the Ant King's rapid and complete disposal of him. The Ant King was also able to heal himself using Byung-Gyu's abilities, though without the spellbook it was minimal.

• Buff Magic: Byung-Gyu was able to extensively buff the stats of his fellow hunters using his spellbook, geared towards their strengths. There appears to be either a very large or no limit to the amount of buffs he can apply and the range and duration of these buffs. This appears to be an healer ability exclusive to Byung-Gyu and likely atrributed to his spellbook, as the B-Rank healer Joohee, the A-Rank healer in the Orc Dungeon, nor the S-Rank Shimizu seemed to have this ability.

• Mana Pool: Unlike other lower ranked mage and healer characters, Byung-Gyu appears to have a large mana pool or stamina despite his retirement, seen in his ability to provide multiple restorations and buffs without any physical exhaustion.

• Disguise: Byung-Gyu was able to blend in with his surroundings and hide all traces of his presence, rendering himself both physically and magically invisible. However, he was unable to move whenever he had this skill active, making him an easy target if he was caught by a stray attack or somehow detected.