Kei (케이) was a Japanese S-Rank Hunter and a member of the Draw Sword Guild.
Appearance
Kei was a young man with short white hair, purple eyes and thin eyebrows. He also wore a large metallic mask over his nose and mouth, due to his extremely mana-sensitive nose.
Personality
Due to his unusually high sensitivity to mana, Kei didn't like being around other hunters and tended to stay quiet around them so that he wouldn't barf in his mask from the stench. He was also somewhat shy, as he decided to not to chat with Cha Hae-In so that the other hunters wouldn't think that he was hitting on her,[1] and had a competitive side, as displayed when he wondered out loud to Ippei as to whether he would win in a fight with Choi Jong-In.[2]
History
Four days before the 4th Jeju Island Raid was slated to take place, Kei met up with the rest of the Jeju Island Raid Party inside the Korean Hunters Gym. Due to his nose, he did not talk much, even telling Ishida not to talk to him out of fear of throwing up in his mask, and ultimately decided against talking to Cha out of fear that it would seem like he was flirting with her. When the bout between Goto and Jinwoo ultimately got too heated, Kei generated a wall of ice between them to forcibly stop their match before things got out of hand.[3]
During the 4th Jeju Island Raid, Kei was paired up with Ippei in Team Delta and two of them were able to easily slaughter scores of ants. Things continued to go as planned until Team Charlie suddenly stopped answering their coms, prompting Goto to order Kei and Ippei to go find them. Much to their horror, they discovered that the entire group had been killed, with their headless corpses lying around on the ground.
Before they could warn their surviving guildmates, Kei sensed the presence of the Ant King from his nose and vomited from the monster's stench. As it was too late to run away, Kei attempted to protect both himself and Ippei by generating a huge wall of ice. Unfortunately, the Ant King slashed through it effortlessly, killing Kei in a single strike.[4]
Abilities
As a hunter whose abilities were recognized by Goto, Kei was quite strong for a S-Rank.
- Mana Smell: Like Cha, Kei was sensitive to the smell of mana. However, he had it much worse than she did and was forced to wear a thick mask whenever he went out on raids with his guilds so that he wouldn't get sick. His sensitivity to mana was also so strong that he was instantly able to sense the Ant King's presence, while Ippei had no idea the monster was nearby.
- Ice Magic: Kei was a skilled ice mage. He demonstrated this by freezing multiple ant soldiers in an instant and creating a massive ice wall to shield himself from the Ant King.
- Enhanced Speed: Although he didn't specialize in close combat, Kei was able to move at great speeds, as displayed by how he was able to keep up with Ippei, an assassin-type hunter, with little trouble.
Etymology
- The name Kei is written in katakana (ケイ), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (慧, 圭, 慶, or 恵), it could mean:
- 慧 - "intelligent".
- 圭 - "gemstone".
- 慶 - "congratulate, celebrate".
- 恵 - "favor, benefit".
Trivia
- In the localized Japanese versions of the anime and the webtoon, Kei's name is changed to just ”K”.
Gallery
References
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 91
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 96
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 93
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 97