Sung Jinwoo has come a long way from being the weakest hunter in the world of Solo Leveling to becoming the Shadow Monarch. He becomes the new Shadow Monarch after being selected as the player for the System. Thanks to this, Jinwoo slowly gains diverse skills and abilities after completing quests in his leveling-up journey. One of the coolest and most powerful skills you must have seen Jinwoo use recently is Shadow Exchange. If you are clueless about this ability, like other S-Rank hunters who were left wondering how Jinwoo appeared on Jeju Island, this one’s for you. Read on to learn about Sun Jinwoo’s Shadow Exchange ability in Solo Leveling here.
Spoilers Warning: This post includes major spoilers for Solo Leveling. We recommend you read the manhwa or watch the anime to avoid ruining the intended experience.
What Is the Shadow Exchange Skill in Solo Leveling?
Image Credit: A-1 Pictures (via YouTube/Crunchyroll, screenshot by Ajithkumar/Beebom)
Sung Jinwoo recently defeated Baran’s clone on his second trip to the Demon Castle. By beating the Demon King, Jinwoo completed the Demon Castle quest, and the Solo Leveling System gave him a lot of rewards in return.
Among these rewards, Jinwoo received an ancient rune stone containing the Shadow Exchange skill. He immediately cracked the rune stone and unlocked the skill, which came in handy most of the time in his leveling-up adventures.
Shadow Exchange is a teleportation-related skill where the user can instantly swap places with their desired shadow soldier . That is how our hero immediately came to the rescue of other S-Rank hunters during the Jeju Island Arc . It is a pretty simple skill, but it is easily one of the most useful skills in the Solo Leveling series.
How Does Jinwoo’s Shadow Exchange Ability Work?
As I mentioned earlier, Jinwoo can switch places with a shadow soldier anywhere in the world to get instantly teleported. Using the Shadow Exchange skill doesn’t consume any mana at all. But the only problem with this skill is its 3-hour cool-down period .
For example, Jinwoo used the skill to come to Jeju Island. However, when he needed to take Cha Hae-In to the hospital, he couldn’t use it again as the skill was on a 3-hour-long cooldown. The cooldown period has significantly affected Jinwoo in many places, but there is a way to overcome this difficulty.
Fully Upgraded Shadow Exchange Skill
Image Credit: D&C Media (via Fandom/Solo Leveling Wiki)
When the system showcased the details of the Shadow Exchange skill, we can see that the cooldown period can be shortened by leveling up the skill . So when Ashborn transferred his complete powers to Sung Jinwoo in the Monarchs War arc, Sung Jinwoo reached the highest level of this skill.
The upgraded version of the Shadow Exchange directly eliminated the skills’ two biggest constraints: the requirement for a shadow soldier and the long cooldown period. Now, Sung Jinwoo can freely teleport to his desired location and no longer needs to worry about the cooldown.
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Solo Leveling Season 2 has finally concluded with a banger episode. It showcased the aftermath of Jinwoo vs Ant King . Apart from getting another shadow, Jinwoo is getting ready to face another threat. If you’re wondering what the finale sets up for Season 3, here you go.
Jeju’s Darkest Hour Begins with the Arrival of Ant King
Image Credit: A-1 Pictures (via X/@sololeveling_pr)
Following the Ant Queen’s demise at the hands of the Korean hunters, the Ant King enters the game. He ignores the hunters and rushes toward his queen to eat her brain. Well, he does that to see the memories of Ant Queen before her death. The Ant King learns that Cha Hae-In unleashed the final blow on her, and that’s why he doesn’t waste any time and hits the S-Rank hunter. After that, he attacks the top S-Rank Hunters . Min Byung-Gyu keeps on healing them by disguising himself. As he was the only healer on Jeju Island at the time, he became the priority target for the Ant King.
The monstrous enemy detects Min Byung-Gyu using his enhanced senses and intelligence and kills him in a brutal fashion. After that, he grabs Baek Yoonho’s neck and hangs him up in the air.
”You killed our Queen…. killing your soldiers will not make up for that.” – Ant King to Yoonho
The Ant King asks Yoonho who their King is, and suddenly, he feels the presence of a strong hunter outside. So, he rushes towards Goto Ryuji, who is slowly approaching the battlefield with the members of his team. The S-Rank hunters are surprised after discovering the corpses of fellow hunters from their nation. Ryuji instantly calls Matsumoto, Korea’s Chairman, to inform him about the tragedy. When Ryuji tells him that the force they are fighting this time is way more dangerous than they thought, Matsumoto asks him to abandon the Japanese hunters and pull out of the battle with the surviving Korean hunters.
However, before they can leave the Island, the Ant King shows up and ambushes Ishida with one strike. Ryuji asks the other member to run and reunite with Team Bravo, as he believes that his S-Rank abilities are enough to deal with the Ant King. The Ant King asks him if he is King, to which he proudly says, The King… Yeah. I am the King . After that, Ryuji doesn’t get to live longer as the Ant King beheads him after shocking him with his raw powers.
”What is this magic power? I feel like I have encountered something like this before.” – Ryuji’s final words
Sung Jinwoo Arrives to Save The Day
Image Credit: A-1 Pictures (X/@SoloLevelAnime)
Jinwoo initially doesn’t join the hunters in the 4th raid on the Jeju Island dungeon, but as a responsible Korean hunter, he attaches one of his shadows with Goto Ryuji to keep track of the incidents happening on the Island. Following the ruthless killing of the Japanese hunter at the hands of the Ant King, Jinwoo switches places with the shadow using his Shadow Exchange ability. He makes a heroic entry on the Island and stuns every civilian of the nation who has been livestreaming the gruesome dungeon raid.
Initially, it’s the Shadow soldiers of Jinwoo who grab the attention of the S-Rank hunters, and later, the Shadow King appears himself. Jinwoo heals the hunters with his healing potion, but can’t help Cha Hae-In as her injuries seem to be fatal compared to others. Jinwoo suggests that, as Cha Hae-in is growing weaker with every passing minute, they must take her out. However, before they can do anything, the Ant King shows up with an army of ants.
The Ant King and Jinwoo get into the most intense duel, and as always, the latter emerges as the victor. After that, he rushes toward Cha Hae-In and makes her drink the Elixir of Life despite boasting a limited stock of the magical potion.
However, the Holy Water of Life also doesn’t work on the S-Rank hunter. So, seeing no other option, Jinwoo extracts the shadow of Min Byung-Gyu so that he can heal Cha Hae-In. Well, this idea works, and the S-Rank hunter’s Mana stops fading; later, we see her alive and well, talking about getting even stronger. Yoonho requests that Jinwoo not force Byung-Gyu to be a part of the chaos anymore. Jinwoo does the same and terminates the shadow extraction to let his soul rest in peace.
Jinwoo Gets a New ‘Unconditional Loyal’ Shadow
Image Credit: A-1 Pictures (X/@SoloLevelAnime)
While the other hunters evacuate the Island following the terrible battle, Jinwoo stays behind to fight the surviving mutant ants. He goes to the Ant King’s corpse and extracts his shadow. After becoming a shadow soldier, he reveals how happy he is to be a part of Jinwoo’s army. As every soldier of the shadow army emerges with a rank, the Ant King is ranked General. Jinwoo gets skeptical as none of his soldiers had boasted this rank earlier. However, he discovers that the rank might be indicating that he is the mightiest of all the other soldiers.
The Ant King requests Jinwoo to pick a name for him, and it again astonishes the hero that he wants to be named by the one who killed him.
”I was not killed by you.. Rather, it was through your powers that I was reborn, master.”- Ant King’s shadow
Later Jinwoo names him Beru. In the Manga, Jinwoo explains that he remembers an author named Beru, who wrote a book on ants. That’s why he is naming him Beru.
A New Threat Looms Over Jinwoo
While the Knight Guild members collect resources from Jeju Island, they come across two beast-like creatures. They are none other than the Monarch of Fangs and Frost Monarch. This is the first time that Solo Leveling’s Monarchs have appeared in the anime, indicating the incredible fights we all are about to witness in Season 3.
Right now, the Monarchs have no idea why the Shadow Monarch is saving humans. For now, they have started hunting some of the most powerful Hunters around the world. So, get ready to see several National Hunters in the upcoming season. Also, Jinwoo will make a stand against this villainous entity and will finally get the full powers of the Shadow Monarch.
Aparna is a Senior Entertainment Writer at Beebom with 4 years of experience in the industry. Specializing in Jujutsu Kaisen and everything horror, she brings in-depth insights and a passion for storytelling to her coverage. Recently, she has interviewed Abby Trott, the voice actress behind Demon Slayer’s Nezuko and Dandadan’s Momo. She has also interviewed Adam McArthur, the one to voice Yuji Itadori in JJK, delivering exclusive content for fans. Previously, she contributed her expertise to some notable publications including Sportskeeda, Dexerto, and Forever Geek, honing her craft in entertainment journalism.
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