- For the episode of the same name, see Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 71
“The Grim Reaper appears anywhere there's a soul that has to be taken to the Otherworld”
― Gangrim[source]
Kang Seung-Im,[3] known as Gangrim in Lucid Adventure,[1] was a member of the Giga Empire. He was one of the 12 Generals under the direct command of Han Sung-Gong[4][1] and was ranked No.5 in the Lucid Ball Ranking System.[1] Gangrim was one of the Giga players tasked with defending Charming Castle from the Nightmare attacks. He eventually confronted the invading Demon King Ge Des and the Demon King Army.[2] Gangrim was eventually killed by Demon King Ge Des after Gangrim became one of Ham's chess pieces.[5]
In the reset timeline, Kang Seung-Im. is happily married Ji-Eun.[6]
Appearance[]
- Main Article: Gangrim Gallery
Gangrim is a tall young man with pale skin, short black hair with a top knot style and two longer side bangs framing his face, and thick eyebrows. His eyes are blue green with X-shaped irises.
He wears a long black stand collar coat with chest armor underneath, scarf around his neck and waist, gloves, loose pants and boots with wrappings around it, all with an overall dark theme
Personality[]
Gangrim is a workaholic and buries himself in work as he does his duties in Lucid Adventure by recovering almost all of Giga's lost territory, not even realizing that he hadn't seen his fiance much lately, only noticing it when Zhuge Kongming told him about it. He is very stoic and gets straight to business, prefering not to engage in any banter as seen by non-response to Kongming's jokes.
He tends to be cool headed in fights which allows him to assess the situation with a clear head and he does not overestimate his own abilities despite being a top ranker. This could be seen during his battle with Ge Des and the Demon King Army as Gangrim requested back up from Giga's main Castle after witnessing the strength of Ge Des. He was willing to fight to the end to protect his comrades.
Relationships[]
Giga[]
As one of the top rankers in Giga, Gangrim is held in very high regard in the company. This can be seen by the way he is treated by the Giga Soldiers that were exhausted from protecting Charming Castle from Nightmare. The Giga soldiers respectfully called him "Gangrim-nim" and were in awe of his abilities. Gangrim did his best to protect the exhausted Giga soldiers from the Demon King's Army and tried to hold out against Ge Des till back up came.
Zhao Yun[]
Zhao Yun is Gangrim's fiance. They've both been planning on getting married for a while now. Gangrim is worried about her, realizing she hasn't gotten off work and they both haven't seen each other lately both in real life and in game.[2]
Zhuge Kongming[]
Zhuge Kongming seems to be Gangrim's superior as he reports to him whenever something happens. They seem to be casual enough that Zhuge cracked a joke regarding his wife's competitiveness although Gangrim didn't react much, preferring to ignore him.[2]
Dr. Park[]
Dr. Park and Gangrim appear to be on friendly terms. Gangrim respects Dr. Park's power and was pleased that he arrived as backup from the main castle.[2] They seem to have worked together before as Dr. Park knew Gangrim was attempting to activate his True Awakening which led to Dr. Park aiding Gamgrim with the morphine skill.[7]
Abilities[]
Overview[]
As a member of Giga's Team 1, Gangrim is one of the top rankers that was scouted by head scouters and is under the direct control of Han Sung-Gong.[4] Gangrim has been shown to be an extremely powerful combatant.
As the ranked no.5 Player under the Lucid Ball Ranking System, Gangrim is one of the strongest players in Lucid Adventure.[1] During the Nightmare Subjugation at Mouses Castle, Gangrim was strong enough to defeat a Named Nightmare that gave him 30 points. For comparison, Elena almost single-handedly subjugated Ketoru Castle which included Ukang Ukang, a Legendary Rated Named Monster, and only acquired 10 points.[1]
He single-handedly suppressed a Nightmare attack led by Combo Combo on Charming Castle, sealing Combo Combo.[2] Ge Des is one of the few characters that has multiple personal attributes and his abilities even managed to catch the eyes of the Demon King's successor, Ge Des.[8] Such is Gangrim's power that he pushed Ge Des to the edge of defeat and forced the Demon King successor to activate his Royal Horns to turn the tide.[8]
Physical Abilities: As a ranker, Gangrim has high level physical abilities.
- Durability: Gangrim survived multiple blows from Ge Des who is one of the strongest monsters of Lucid Adventure, equaling to that of the Ancient Dragons and whose punches are able to destroy a mountainside with sheer force alone.[2]
Personal Attributes[]
Grim Reaper[]
- Main Article: Grim Reaper
Grim Reaper is a hidden class in the game and the class-type personal attribute of Gangrim. The class carries the motif of various grim reaper myth, the main one being Gangrim Doryeong, the Grim Reaper in Korean mythology.
Jangseung Totem Summoning: Gangrim can summon multiple mecha jangseung (Korean totem poles) units. Each of the units consumes Gangrim's mana.
- Holy Attribute Blasts: The totem poles are capable of firing holy-attribute infused blasts.[2][7]
- Support: The Totems can be used as a support for Gangrim. He summoned a totem pole to break his fall after he was punched away by Ge Des.[2]
Soul Manipulation: Gangrim can manipulate the souls of his targets in various ways. Gangrim manipulates souls with the help of the apparation of the Grim Reaper's Book, Little Dukchun.[2][7]
- Soul Sealing: Gangrim can seal the targets he stabs with his sword in his Grim Reaper's Book.[2]
- Soul Summoning: Gangrim can recall the souls of his targets sealed in his book.[7]
Supernatural Swordsmanship: Gangrim is skilled and incredibly fast with his sword as he was consistently shown to have already stabbed the opponent as he appears right next to them instantly. Stabbing targets with his sword is the first phase of binding their souls.[2][7]
Ranged Weapon Proficiency: Gangrim is proficient at using his Death Revolver to fire bullets at his target.[7] He can fire 6 bullets from it.[7]
- Instant Death: Gangrim's bullet inflict Instant Death on the target it hits.[7]
- Contract Manipulation: Gangrim can form a contract with the souls bound to his book after he shoots them in the head. He has to offer them something in return for the contract to be valid.[7]
- Death Incarnate: After shooting himself in the heart, the God of Death descends on Gangrim and there is a 56% chance can become the Death Incarnate and a 44% chance he falls into a coma.[7]
Fear Debuff Resistance: As a Grim Reaper, Gangrim has a high resistance to the fear debuff. In fact, Gangrim believed he was immune to the fear debuff[8] until he was put in the fear state by the superior being Ge Des after Ge Des activated his Royal Horns and the Demon King's Presence passive was activated.[8]
True Awakening[]
- Main Article: God of Death (死神)
The form Gangim takes after the God of Death descends on Gangrim. Gangrim activates this form by shooting himself in the heart with the Death Revolver. There is a 44% chance that Gangrim will fall into a Coma but this restriction can be bypassed if Dr. Park's Morphine skill is used immediately after Gangrim shoots his heart.[7]
In this form Gangrim becomes the Death incarnate and his appearance has the motif of the Korean Grim Reaper and the classic western Grim Reaper. He gains a black 'gat' (Korean hat) with glowing blue beads , a large black coat and with glowing blue energy emanating from it. His body becomes a skeleton and his face is half human half skeleton.[7] His eyes glow in this form.[7] Not just Gangrim's appearance changes but his spirit changes as well.[8]
In this form, Gangrim is capable of using various conceptual magic with the motif of death. Gangrim overwhelmed the hornless Ge Des and pushed the Demon King's successor to the very limit. He almost single-handedly subjugated the Demon King and forced the Demon King to release his Royal Horns to turn the tide.[8]
Physical Abilities: Ge Des's physical abilities are enhanced in this form.
- Enhanced Agility: Gangrim dodged a point blank blow from a hornless Ge Des.[8]
Scythe Proficiency: Gangrim is able to wield Death Side as a result of this form and he can wield the scythe with tremendous dexterity and skill, accurately and precisely slicing through his enemies without being hindered by the scythe's weight.[8]
- Machine Gun Proficiency: Gangrim is able to change his Scythe into a machine gun that fires multiple bullets that cast instant death on the target and cause huge explosions on impact.[8] The bullet limit appears to be more than the 6 of the Death Revolver but the exact number was not revealed
Horse Riders Aptitude: Due to the true awakening, Gangrim is able to ride the Horse of the Otherworld. Gangrim is able to ride the horse with great skill and is capable of fighting with his scythe in his hand.[8]
- Enhanced Movement Speed: Gangrim's movement speed goes up by 500% when he rides the horse.[8]
Target HP Detection: Gangrim has a skill that allows him to observe his target's HP.[8]
Coffin Manipulation: Gangrim can use his conceptual magic to create and shape a giant Korean styled coffin.[8]
- Sealing: Gangrim is able to seal his targets in the coffin.[8]
- Eternal Death: The target in the coffin are sent into a black chasm of death.[8]
Combo Skills: Gangrim is capable of combining the skills of the God of Death.[8]
Hades[]
- Main Article: Hades
A personal attribute based on the god of the underworld in Greek mythology. It is currently unknown how Gangrim acquired the personal attribute. With it, Gangrim is able to use conceptual magic based on the Hades myth and is able to wear exclusive items for the Hades personal attribute.[8]
Ethereal Attacks: Gangrim is able to deliver slashes with his scythe that cut through the very nature of the target and permanently reduce the stats of the target by a random figure.[8]
Kynee: Due to this attribute, Gangrim is able to equip the mask, Kynee.
- Invisibility: The mask makes the user invisible.[8]
- Intangibility: Gangrim cannot be touched in this form as hornless Ge Des was unable to harm him when the former passed through him.
- Instant Death Immunity: The user is immune to instant death.[8]
Combat Style[]
Gangrim is a multi-range fighter. He can attack from long distances using his mechanised totem poles and he can use his sword to fight at close range. His usual strategy to end fights is to sent blasts at the target from his totem poles which will distract the target while he sneaks behind to stabs them and bind their souls. If this strategy does not work, he resorts to using his revolver to fight again from distance.
When low on mana, Gangrim decides to fight close range using Four Tiger Sword. If Gangrim is overwhelmed in numbers, he can release souls from his book to even up the numbers. If the opponent is too strong for Gangrim's base form, Gangrim will activate his true awakening in order to even the balance.
Skill Tree[]
Grim Reaper Skills[]
- Summons: The totem poles summoned by Gangrim
- Great General of All Under Heaven & Female General of the Underworld: Gangrim summons two large totem poles from the earth. Underneath their wood-like exterior of each totem pole are multiple-barrelled cannon-shaped mechas that blast multiple holy-attribute imbued destructive beams.
- Dirge of the Otherworld: The two large totem poles launch multiple holy-attribute imbued beams at the target.
- Dirge of the Otherworld x5: Gangrim summons 5 totem poles that each blast Dirge of the Otherworld beams at the target.
- Great General of All Under Heaven & Female General of the Underworld: Gangrim summons two large totem poles from the earth. Underneath their wood-like exterior of each totem pole are multiple-barrelled cannon-shaped mechas that blast multiple holy-attribute imbued destructive beams.
- Four Tiger Sword: a black sword used by Gangrim. It is used to seal the souls of Gangrim's targets in the Grim Reaper's Book.
- Grim Reaper's Book: Gangrim's passive skill which is a prison for souls that Gangrim captured. Contains 10 spaces for 10 souls.
- Little Dukchun: A sentient apparition and the physical embodiment of the Grim Reaper's book that binds the souls. Immediately Gangrim seals a soul in the book, Dukchun informs Gangrim of the number of spaces left and asks Gangrim if he wasnt to delete the souls he has just acquired.
- Soul Binding: The souls captured by Gangrim are locked up inside the book. Gangrim has to repeat the name of the target 3 times after stabbing them with the Four Tiger Sword in order to successfully seal them.
- Death Revolver: A gun that binds the Soul. It is the secret weapon of the Grim Reaper, a hidden class. With it, Gangrim can shoot six bullets after meeting strict conditions. It has 3 known abilities:
- First Ability: The bullet curses the target with Instant Death. Whether the bullet grazes the target's hands or hits them right in the head, the God of Death descends upon the target and takes the their soul away. Neither physical or magic attacks work on the God of Death. The Instant Death curse can be countered if the target has Instant Death immunity.
- Second ability: The caster can shoot any souls trapped in Gangrim's book and make them follow his orders. But there must be a reward for the commands.
- Third ability If the caster shoots a bullet into their own heart, the God of Death can descend on the caster. But there is a 44% chance of the caster falling into a coma. If successful, Gangrim activates his True Awakening, God of Death.
- Soul Release: Through Gangrim's command, Little Dukchun releases the souls from inside the Grim Reaper's book.
True Awakening - God of Death Skills[]
- Summon Weapon - Death Side: Gangrim summons a massive scythe.
- Form Change: Gangrim changes his Death Side from a scythe to a powerful machine gun.
- Summon - Horse of the Otherworld: Gangrim summons a skeletal horse shrouded in the blue flames of his True Awakening. Movement speed goes up by 500% whenever the God of Death is on its back.
- God of Death's Eyes: Gangrim is able to see the remaining HP of his targets.
- Bier Litter: Gangrim's ultimate conceptual magic where he summons a massive coffin with multiple skeletons carrying it. The coffin opens and drags the opponent inside of it. Once inside, the target dies an eternal death. Can only be used whenever the target's health is in the single digits.
Hades Skills[]
- Bident: Hades' conceptual magic that cuts off the nature of the target. Each slash deals damage and randomly decreases the stats of the target permanently.
Combo Skill[]
- Dance of Death: Whilst riding on his horse and circling the target at a fast pace, Gangrim delivers multiple large and powerful bidents in quick succession, forming a gigantic tornado of blue ethereal energy.
Items[]
Grim Reaper Items[]
- Four Tiger Sword: a black sword used by Gangrim. It is used to seal the souls of Gangrim's targets in the Grim Reaper's Book.
- Death Revolver: A gun that binds the Soul. It is the secret weapon of the Grim Reaper class.
- Death Side: Exclusive to the God of Death class. A giant scythe that is a combination of Gangrim's Death Revolver and Four Tiger Sword.
- Death Machine Gun: The gun form of Death Side. Fires off a powerful shots from his scythe that explodes upon impact with the target. Each bullet causes instant death.
Hades Exclusive Items[]
- Kynee: Exclusive Item of the Personal Attribute, Hades. Makes the user invisible and grants immunity to instant death.
History[]
Season 2[]
The Great War Begins Arc[]
Gangrim is introduced killing off a Named Monster whilst Zhao Yun joins in and tells him that the next Named Monster is hers.[1]
Advent of the Demon King Arc[]
Gangrim set his return point to Charming Castle and arrives just as Charming Castle is being raided by Nightmares led by Combo Combo. Gangrim summons his totem poles and wipes out the invading Nightmares before sealing Combo Combo in his book. Gangrim reports the invasion to Gangrim and requests for back up. Kongming jokes about Zhao Yun not getting off work to catch up to Gangrim's latest accomplishment which elicits no response from Gangrim. After getting off the call with Kongming, Gangrim is worried that he and Zhao Yun haven't seen each other both in the game and the real world due to work. Gangrim uses his mana to support the Giga soldiers in opening up a portal that brings support from the main castle, which included the no.21 ranker Dr. Park. Dr. Park is shot in the head by an arrow and falls by the invading Ge Des and his demon army. Gangrim summons his totem poles and sends blasts which are easily blocked by Ge Des. Gangrim tries to stab Ge Des in the back but he is easily batted away. Gangrim then pulls out his Death Revolver.[2]
Gangrim shoots a bullet from the Death Revolver which Ge Des catches. The Instant Death curse is activated and Gangrim is confident that the God of Death will take Ge Des's soul. The God of Death perishes as Ge Des is immune to instant death curse due to being the successor of the Demon King. Gangrim is blown into a mountain by Ge Des's Hand of the Demon King. Ge Des's 3 General join the frontline and Tije launches The Flame of the Demon World at Giga's soldiers. Worried about the soldiers with low magic resistance, Gangrim uses up his renaming mana to summon 5 totem pole units that neutralise The Flame of the Demon World with Dirge of the Otherworld x5.
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Gangrim contacts Kongming and requests back up in the form of elite rankers but Kongming tells Gangrim that all the rankers have been dispatched to different places which prompts Gangrim to suggest Koingming issue a quest. Gangrim gets Tije's name from Dukchun and stabs him with the Four Tiger Sword in order to seal his soul in the Grim Reaper's book, but the process is interrupted by both Kepin and Gorgota. Gangrim releases the souls of Combo Combo and Staff Nightmare Player in order to get some help. He shoots both in the forehead with bullets and offers them a contract which states that they will be released from the book and brought them back to life if they take down the Demon King's army, to which both obliged. While the two Nightmares occupying the Demon King's Army Generals, Gangrim shoots himself in the heart with Death Revolver and Dr. Park uses Moprhine on Gangrim, all which leads to Gangrim activated his true awakening, God of Death.[7]
Gangrim immediately summons his Death Side and slashes through Ge Des's essence, which causes the Demon King to bleed from the mouth. Gangrim then equips Kynee and changes his Death Side to a machine gun. He then fires multiple shots at Ge Des but Ge Des instantly counter attacks with a blow which Gagrim dodges. Gangrim summons his horse and uses his combo skill Dance of Death which reduces Ge Des's health to below 9%. Gangrim then uses his ultimate conceptual magic, Bier Litter to trap Ge Des and just as Ge Des is about to be sent into the eternal abyss, Ge Des activates his Royal Horns and breaks out of the coffin. Ge Des's passive skill, Demon King's Presence causes all the Giga soldiers and Gangrim to enter the fear state and they are all forced to kneel under the command of Ge Des. While on his knees and in a state of fear, Gangrim is kicked by Ge Des and Kynee is destroyed, Ge Des instantly appears above Gangrim and launches a powerful blast at Gangrim.[8]
Quotes[]
Major Battles[]
- Gangrim vs. Named Nightmare
- Gangrim vs. Combo Combo and Nightmare Soldiers
- Gangrim vs. Ge Des
Translation Issues[]
- Main Article: LINE Webtoon Translation Issues
Real Name[]
The character's real name, 강승임 literally means Kang Seung-Im. The name is completely left out of LINE Webtoons translation of Season 2 Episode 74 due to a bad translation of a sentence made by Zhao Yun. English readers would not even be aware his name was actually said due to this.
Game Name[]
강림 is translated as Kang Lim by LINE Webtoon.
The character's name is usually spelt as Gangrim, Ganglim, Gangnim or Gang-Rim. Some translations do use Kang-Lim or Kanglim but this is not the norm.
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character has the motif of Gangrim Doryeong (강림도령, ganglimdolyeong), the Grim Reaper (Death God) of Korean mythology. More info on Gangrim can be seen in the Mythology sub-section below.
- Gangrim's in-game name and appearance were revealed in Season 2 Episode 45. His real name was revealed by Zhao Yun in Season 2 Episode 74; this is omitted in the LINE Webtoon translation.
- Gangrim's use of a revolver carries the motif of Freischütz. In German folklore, the figure of the Freischütz is a marksman who, by a contract with the devil, has obtained a certain number of bullets destined to hit without fail whatever object he wishes. As the legend is usually told, six of the magic bullets (German: Freikugeln), are thus subservient to the marksman's will, but the seventh is at the absolute disposal of the devil himself.
- 'Gangrim' (강림) also means 'Advent', as in when a god descends from heaven into the world.
- The trees on either side of Gangrim in Season 2 Episode 45 are "jangseung" . A jangseung or village guardian is a Korean totem pole usually made of wood. Jangseungs were traditionally placed at the edges of villages to mark for village boundaries and frighten away demons. They were also worshipped as village tutelary deities.
Mythology[]
Gangrim Doryeong (강림도령, ganglimdolyeong) is the Grim Reaper (Death God) of Korean mythology. In Korean mythology, Gangrim is depicted with a pale face, black lips, sharp eyes and is dressed in black coat, black gat (갓)and a carries a black scroll.
Gangrim Doryeong is the main hero of Chasa Bonpuri (Hangul: 차사본풀이, Hanja: 差使本--), an underworld myth from Jeju Island. It is a myth that tells how Gangrim, the death god, came to be. As one of the best-known myths in the Korean peninsula, the Chasa Bonpuri is a characteristic hero epic. In Chasa Bonpuri, the hero Gangrim Doryeong is ordered to capture Yeomra, King of the Underworld, by his king (Kimchiwonnim) in order to discover the reason for the mysterious deaths of the three sons of Gwayanggaxi. With help from Munsin, the door god, and Jowangsin, the kitchen god, Gangrim Doryeong captures Yeomra. After testing Gangrim Doryeong's wisdom, Yeomra tells Kimchiwonnim that the mysterious deaths are because the three sons are actually the three princes of Beomul, who were murdered by Gwayanggaxi. They chose to be reborn as Gwayanggaxi's sons to take revenge on their killers. Gangrim Doryeong became the death god, who reaps dead souls and brings them to the underworld.
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Gangrim also appears in Jangja Puli. In Jangja Puli, the three death gods, Gangrim Doryeong, Hae Wonmaek, and Yi Deokchun, are aided by Jowangshin as they attempt to send the evil Samajangja to the underworld. In here, she appears as a crone wearing a crown made of seven treasures. The goddess tells the death gods that Samajangja is sleeping in the visitors' quarters, or Haenglangchae, to avoid death.
According to the legend in Jeju Island, Gangrim is said to first earn permission from the village god for him to reap the dead. He always carries Jeokpaeji (적패지), the list with the names of the dead written on a red cloth and white ink. When he reads the name of the reaped from the Jeokpaeji three times, the soul leaves the body and follows him inevitably. He then guides the soul of the dead to the Underworld.
In Popular Culture[]
.jpg "Gangrim (Ghost Messanger).jpg (138 KB)")
_in_Along_with_the_Gods_webtoon.jpg "Gangrim (centre) in Along with the Gods webtoon.jpg (85 KB)")
.jpg "Choi Gangrim (Mystery Apartment Series).jpg (37 KB)")
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Season 2 Episode 45
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 Season 2 Episode 71
- ↑ Season 2 Episode 74
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Season 2 Episode 35
- ↑ Season 2 Episode 75
- ↑ Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 132
- ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 Season 2 Episode 72
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18 8.19 8.20 Season 2 Episode 73