SSS-class Revival Hunter Volume 1 Review

Trigger warning: suicide

Ize Press takes its readers on a new journey where towers, hunters and monsters have become the norm in what’s supposed to be Earth. After the appearance of a tower, some people awaken abilities turning them into hunters—they can fight to defeat monsters and climb the tower. Gongja Kim enters the tower as well in search of fame and riches; however, he’s just an F-rank, the lowest of the lowest. He feels a lot of jealousy toward the Flame Emperor, the strongest hunter in the tower. He wishes to become him so intensely that the tower grants him a new skill thanks to his jealousy: Gongja can copy a skill from another player, but there is a catch… he has to die to copy the skill, which is kind of a let-down.

However, when he sees the Flame Emperor killing another hunter, he realises that his hero is not a hero at all. He’s a villain who has killed countless of people. When Gongja tries to escape from the murder scene, the Flame Emperor catches him and kills him as well. One might think it’s the end but it’s not! His newfound skill allows Gongja to copy one ability from the Flame Emperor and now Gongja travels 24 hours into the past whenever he dies.

Reviving the day of his death, Gongja gets another proof of how the Flame Emperor is not a hero. The only way to avoid countless innocent deaths is to get rid of him, but Gongja can’t even get close to the emperor now. So he takes the drastic decision to go back eleven years into the past before the emperor had his awakening… but to do so means killing himself thousands of times.

Now eleven years in the past, Gongja has to find the best way to get rid of Sooha Yoo, before he becomes the Flame Emperor. As he retains his memories of the future, Gongja knows what will happen and when he meets another hunter called the Sword Emperor by accident, he ends up getting killed once again. However, it might not be too bad this time as the skill Gongja copies from the Sword Emperor makes him gain a companion… sure, it’s sort of a spirit who was a master with the sword when he was alive, but this could be Gongja’s only chance to make it to the top!

Fans of Solo Leveling and Tomb Raider King will enjoy SSS-class Revival Hunter as it encompasses elements of both series. Gongja is starting his journey to become a top hunter thanks to his newfound skills and his ability to travel back to the past whenever he dies. However, he’s not a hero nor an antihero—I don’t know yet how to describe him. He’s not a likeable guy, especially at the beginning. It’s his strong jealousy that makes him gain his initial skill, and it’s revenge that makes him kill himself over and over again to go back in time just to kill one person, although at the end he also convinces himself that he did it to save the future. It could be considered a mix of revenge and self-sacrifice… but I’d also say that’s still to be confirmed.

Travelling back to the past is a useful skill to right the wrongs and to make different decisions, and as he maintains his memories and acquired skills, Gongja seems almost unstoppable. However, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s still at the bottom of the hunters’ ranks. He needs to gain new skills to climb to the top and it seems the sword spirit he acquired from copying the skill from the Sword Emperor is going to become his teacher.

Compared to similar series, I felt like this Volume 1 was quite thick with its page extent allowing the readers to have a full picture as to who Gongja Kim really is and how he gains his powers. The authors are not even trying to depict him in a good light so we know we shouldn’t expect a hero who grows through adversity like  Sung Jinwoo from Solo Leveling. Readers will have to continue the series to make their own opinions on Gongja Kim and whom he’ll become.

The illustrations use dark colour to keep the theme of the story and although there are a few fighting, murder and suicide scenes, the manhwa isn’t gory. The narration flows without interruptions and we know what’s happening at the same time as the main character. The story of Volume 1 has been quite intriguing, and I hope that future volumes can keep the readers’ attention as well. I’m left quite curious about Gongja’s next step.

SSS-class Revival Hunter is written by Sinnoa, illustrated by Bill K and adapted by Neida. It started as a light novel, which was then serialised as a manhwa on Tapas. Ize Press publishes the series in volume format for both print and digital editions. Volume 2 is slated for release in January.

Our review copy from Ize Press was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.