Warning: This article contains spoilers for Solo Leveling by Dubu, Chugong, and h-goon available in English at Tapas and Tappytoon.
When dungeons first appeared in the world of Solo Leveling, humans were exposed to magic, catalyzing changes in a portion of humans and giving birth to Hunters. There weren't any criteria for awakening, and those who received powers seemed purely based on luck. After all, the only possible means of getting a power-up is through a re-awakening, except for Sung Jinwoo. Even though the awakening doesn't discriminate, the manhwa only introduced a handful of female Hunters, especially in the upper echelon. Cha Hae-In is part of that small demographic.
Whi Is Hunter Cha Hae-In?
Cha Hae-In is the Vice-Guild Master of the Hunters Guild and the only female S-Rank Hunter in Korea. She's a capable and compassionate hunter often shown patrolling the dungeon she helped clear to ensure the safety of her guildmates. Even though she's already one of the strongest Hunters in the nation, she doesn't slack off when it comes to training. However, socialization isn't her forte. She's shy and easily embarrassed, and often comes off as socially awkward. Because of this, she doesn't have many friends outside of her guild.
Cha Hae-In later became Sung Jinwoo's romantic partner. Hae-In had a unique ability that allows her to smell mana, which came off as a foul odor for her. She often covered her nose when she was near other Hunters because of this. However, Jinwoo, being a player of the System, was an exception. This was the start of her one-sided admiration for Jinwoo, and the latter ended up reciprocating her feelings. In fact, he liked her enough to make her the reason to continue living after single-handedly handling the Monarchs.
Cha Hae-In's Abilities
Hae-In's fighting style revolves around using a sword. She is a master swordswoman who can efficiently use unorthodox ways to eliminate monsters. As an awakened human and an S-Rank Hunter, she also has superhuman physical abilities. She was strong enough to wreck normal structures and durable enough to survive even after some of her organs were ruptured. However, speed is where she truly excels. She may not be able to defeat Jinwoo, but she is fast enough to execute quick attacks that often catch her opponents off-guard. Her speed is also acknowledged by the Korean Hunter community, as well as other S-Rank Hunters as she overwhelmed two Japanese S-Ranks using her speed.
As a swordswoman, she also has various sword-related abilities. She has a move called Sword Dance, wherein she dramatically increases her attack speed. This gives the observers an impression that she's dancing. She can also transform her sword into pure light, which significantly raises its cutting ability. Ultimately, stabbing her sword to the ground can also induce a small quake for her to exploit.
How Strong is Cha Hae-In?
Given that she's an S-Rank Hunter and the Vice-Guild Master of the Hunters Guild, Hae-In is undoubtedly one of the strongest characters in Solo Leveling. She's the third-ranked strongest Hunter in Korea, second only to Go Gunhee and Jinwoo. However, Jinwoo acknowledged her as someone at the same level as Gunhee. Even the Ant King, who later on became Beru, considered her as the strongest among the Korean Hunters during the Jeju Island raid.
Hae-In isn't strong enough to hold a candle to Jinwoo, but she was strong enough to kill the Ant Queen with a single slash. She also once defeated Igris, though the shadow was given a big handicap. Hae-In was also able to defeat two of Japan's S-Rank Hunters. Simply put, Hae-In is probably one of the strongest S-Rank Hunters but isn't powerful enough to be considered a National Level Hunter.