Episode 13: You aren't E-rank, are You

Worn out from his job-change quest, Jinwoo answers his sister Jinah's call and agrees to attend her parent-teacher meeting. He arrives utterly changed, trading his drab look for sharp clothes and a fresh bob cut that leaves Jinah stunned and draws stares from her classmates. At the meeting, when asked what he would do if Jinah awakened, he flatly refuses to ever let her become a hunter, citing the dangers. The conversation turns to her friend Song-Yi, and afterward Jinwoo, learning Song-Yi will not abandon the profession, asks her to come along somewhere with him.

Hwang Dongsoo lands in Korea and is met by Woo Jinchul, openly declaring he intends to hunt down and kill both Jinwoo and Jinho inside a dungeon, the E-Rank first. Jinchul calmly states he is only doing his job. At his guild's headquarters, Choi Jong-In reports to Go Gunhee that the Jeju ants have sprouted wings, a development that alarms them both, and Go arranges a thorough investigation.

Through a favor from Ahn Sangmin, Jinwoo and Song-Yi join a White Tiger Guild training raid at a C-Rank gate, where they meet A-Rank tanker Kim Chul, annoyed at babysitting two E-Ranks. Asked to hold back so newer hunters can learn, Jinwoo agrees, hoping Song-Yi will witness the harsh truth of the job. As the team enters, the gate warps into a Red Gate and seals them inside before he can pull her out. Jinwoo shouts for Ahn to alert the main team, and Ahn reaches guild master Baek Yoonho, who rushes over.

Season 2 begins as Jinwoo, drastically altered in appearance, attends Jinah's meeting and vows to keep her from hunting. Hwang Dongsoo arrives intent on murdering Jinwoo and Jinho. Choi reports the winged Jeju ants to Go. The C-Rank gate mutates into a lethal Red Gate that traps Jinwoo's party in a snowbound world where the boss is B-Rank or higher and contact with the outside is cut.

Ice Elves ambush from the trees, killing a C-Rank hunter with an arrow while Jinwoo catches a second shaft meant for Song-Yi, drawing the notice of B-Rank Park Heejin. Kim Chul divides everyone in two, claiming the strong for himself and abandoning the weak, though Heejin quietly joins Jinwoo's team and questions whether he is truly an E-Rank. Jinwoo's group presses into the forest, where he pulls warm fur coats out of his inventory and crushes the supposedly weaker Ice Bears, even summoning his shadow army and Igris to wipe out a bear den. Outside, Baek Yoonho hears Jinwoo's name from Ahn while Hwang Dongsoo, stuck beyond the sealed gate, scoffs that the E-Rank will die. Kim Chul's group is meanwhile cut down by the Ice Elves, sending him into a terrified retreat as their mounted leader looks on.

The thirteenth episode and Season 2 premiere adapts webtoon chapters 46 through 51 in the Red Gate Arc, written by Shigeru Murakoshi and directed by Yuya Horiuchi at A-1 Pictures, airing in Japan on January 4th, 2025. The new opening is ReawakeR by LiSA featuring Felix of Stray Kids, with the ending UN-APEX by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure and the insert SHADOWBORN.

The anime alters Jinwoo's arrow catch so he embraces Song-Yi while doing it, and adds the Choi and Go meeting about Jeju reconnaissance. Numerous beats are trimmed: Jinwoo skips the bank visit and washroom scene after the quest, his party loses four hunters including Yoon Kijoong, the Frostmen monsters are removed so only Ice Elves and Ice Bears remain, and several supporting moments and dialogue exchanges are shortened or cut.