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I'm the Hardcore leveling Warrior. I'm the best
 ― Hardcore Leveling Warrior[source]

"Hardcore Leveling Warrior" redirects here. For other uses of this name, see Hardcore Leveling Warrior (Disambiguation).

Gong Won-Ho,[16] known as Hardcore Leveling Warrior in Lucid Adventure,[1] and Earth, is the protagonist and the title character of the Hardcore Leveling Warrior and Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 3: Earth Game webtoons. He is the former no.1 ranked player under Giga's Ranking System,[1] and is one of the winners of the last ever Combat Tournament in Lucid Adventure.[17]

Early in his life, Gong Won-Ho lost both his parents in a fatal car accident and became an orphan.[18] After being bullied constantly for being an orphan,[18] he dropped out of school and acted as a ROR booster for a time under the player ID "School Dropout".[13] He spent his early 20s on gambling and falling into a lot of debt with the Miso Faction. His accumulation of large debt led to him being forced to work in Chairman Kim's workshop to slowly repay his debt.[16]

In the early days of Lucid Adventure, Hardcore Leveling Warrior used his bet skill to quickly become a ranker.[19] He soon rose to become the "No.88 Ranked Player".[2] He joined the Zara Guild, where he eventually became its "First Battalion Commander".[20][21]After the dissolution of Zara Guild, Hardcore Leveling Warrior defeated the then Ranked No.3 The Best Swordsman and took The Best Swordsman's Moonlight Flash skill as a reward.[22][23]

At some point during The First War, Hardcore Leveling Warrior became the "No.3 Ranked Player" under Giga's Ranking System.[8] He took part in the subjugation of Nightmare and even saved Sora from Nightmare during one of his quests.[8] At some point after The Very First War, Hardcore Leveling Warrior became an All-Stat and the "No.1 Ranked Player". As the first ranked player, Hardcore Leveling Warrior was by far the strongest player in Lucid Adventure. Due to the machinations of Zero, Hardcore Leveling Warrior lost his items and had both his level and stats reset back to 1.[1] His main goals became to regain his No.1 Rank and free himself from Chairman Kim's grasp in the real world by earning enough money to repay his debt.

He teamed up with Dark and Sora to level up and to compete in The Combat Tournament. After going through many trials and tribulations and against all the odds, he won the last ever Combat Tournament alongside his team.[17] Unfortunately, Hardcore Leveling Warrior was forcefully logged out of Lucid Adventure after suffering mortal injuries in The Real World as he attempted to escape Chairman Kim's grasp.[24] He did not log in to Lucid Adventure for over two years.[24][25]

After the death of God of Combat, a ranking system based on Lucid Balls was created with the limit set by Hardcore Leveling Warrior, who had reached the humanly limit when he was the Rank No.1 Player.[26]

After the news of the 'Miso Corporation stabbing Incident' was made public, it was generally believed that he had died, although, Dark still believed he was still alive and did not give up on finding him.[27] On her return to Dark Land, Sora confirmed that Hardcore Leveling Warrior is still alive;[28] she later reveals that she met up with Lila, who confirmed that Hardcore Leveling Warrior is alive and that he saved her in the real world.[29]

It was revealed that he was held hostage in the real world by Han Gun-Ho and was one of the subjects used for Han Gun-Ho's The Chimera Project.[15] In Lucid Adventure, his character avatar was in a comatose state in the Demon Realm as his mind was repeatedly broken and split apart by drugs in the real world.[30][31][15] As the strongest player, Hardcore Leveling Warrior was chosen as the test subject to combine with the Demon King karma to create the Ultimate Entity. After the process was successfully completed, Hardcore Leveling Warrior woke up as a "Demon King",[5] with the memories of his old life suppressed by Han Gun-Ho, whose own goal was to clear Lucid Adventure using Hardcore Leveling Warrior's power.[15]

Eventually, the Demon King Hardcore Leveling Warrior engaged his former comrades and had his memories temporarily restored by Dark.[32] Han Gun-Ho switched off his personality and turned him into a mindless being that responded to only Han Gun-Ho's commands.[15] Hardcore Leveling Warrior dealt severe damage to his former comrades and deleted Lu Bu, Werewolf, Chota and Cave from the game.[33] The Best Swordsman fought Hardcore Leveling Warrior alone in order to to buy time for the Primordial Dragons to be summoned to the Demon Realm to confront the rampaging Demon King Hardcore Leveling Warrior.[23] Hardcore Leveling Warrior deleted The Best Swordsman from the game and confronted the Primordial Dragons and Stone.[34] His personality was retuned to him by Han Gun-Ho, which led to Hardcore Leveling Warrior defeating Stone.[35] The Dragon of Evil summoned Ancient Dragons to stop Hardcore Leveling Warrior,[36] but they were all cut down one by one by the unrivalled power of the Demon King Hardcore Leveling Warrior. The Dragon of Evil sacrificed himself to give Dark and Sora a chance to enter Hardcore Leveling Warrior's mind.[37]

Dark and Sora eventually restored Hardcore Leveling Warrior's memories, and the awakened Hardcore Leveling Warrior gained divine power and became a God. He saved Dark and Sora's party from the Undead Dragon of Light and Stone and eventually defeated the pair. Hardcore Leveling Warrior then confronted Han Gun-Ho, and the two engaged in a fierce battle that shook Lucid Adventure to its very core.[38] Hardcore Leveling Warrior, with the aid of his comrades, eventually defeated Han Gun-Ho and stopped Lucid Adventure from merging with the real world.[39] Before Hardcore Levling Warrior could close off the crack connecting both worlds, Zero appeared. Zero absorbed Lucid Adventure before tricking Hardcore Leveling Warrior into destroying the barrier between the real world and the game.[40] Hardcore Leveling Warrior used his divine power to recreate another world, but he was eventually convinced by Dark, Sora and Heart Heater to save the real world.[41] He absorbed Dark, Sora and Heart Heater which gave him the power to transcend the game and step into the real world.[41][12]

Hardcore Leveling Warrior stepped into the real world to confront Zero who was trying to rebuild earth in her own image. The two transcendent beings fought fierce battle that eventually ended when Hardcore Leveling Warrior reversed time and sent earth back five years in the past where the players have no memory of Lucid Adventure.[12]

In the reset timeline, Gong-Won Ho is a famous esports player with the player ID "Hardcore Leveling Warrior"(HCLW). He is a three times ROR World Champion and is the head coach of Knights Games.[12] Due to one of his team members fainting, Gong Won-Ho took up the mantle of an ROR player once again.[42] He aided his team in the finals against Giga Games and won his fourth ROR World Championship.[43] Gong Won-Ho met up with the President of Quest House, Han Gun-Woo, who offered to co-create a game titled "Hardcore Leveling Warrior" with him.[43] Gong Won-Ho joins Quest House and Quest House's name is changed to Hardcore Leveling Warrior Inc.. 9 months later, Gong Won-Ho is acting as the "Planner of Hardcore Leveling Warrior Inc." After working sleepless nights with his team, YLZS SAGA was successfully launched.[44]

Appearance

Main article: Hardcore Leveling Warrior Gallery

Real World

Won-ho has scruffy black hair, a look which he has had since his childhood[18] as well as black eyes. He often looks tired, with bags under his eyes. Won-ho mostly wears black long sleeve shirts and dark turquoise cargo pants.[1]

After playing Lucid Adventure continuously day and night, Won-ho developed a stubble that made him look even more unkempt. He eventually shaved it off.[45]

Lucid Adventure

The 1st Ranked Hardcore Leveling Warrior demanding a quest from Heart Heater (Episode 1)

Rank No.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior

His character in Lucid Adventure looks about the same as his real life appearance with scruffy mid-length red hair that seems to stand on end, giving it a rising, flame-like appearance and red eyes. During his early years in the game, his hair was mid length and grew a bit longer just before he became the ranked no.1 player.[46]

When he became the ranked no.1 player, his hair became even longer and more fiery, reaching as far down as his mid back.[1] He retained this look even after his level got reset.[16]

Scallion Head used a sword attack that resulted in Hardcore Leveling Warrior getting a bald patch on the top of his head.[19] This lead to people referring to him as 'baldy', which greatly frustrated him. He hid his bald patch with a grey-colored beanie hat[47] and applies ointment regularly to make his grow back.[48]

After losing his beanie hat during his duel with Akira, he is currently sporting a shorter albeit unkempt hairstyle.[49]

He was pretty skinny when he first created his character in Lucid Adventure[19] but became sturdier as his strength stat increased. After his level got reset back to 1,[16] he reverted to looking skinny once again. Since he raised his strength stat to 900+, he has regained the sturdy look he had at the start of the series.[50]

After his body was combined with both Nightmare and the karma of the Demon King, his left eye is now completely black and with a bright coloured demon king insignia as his iris.[5] His current attire is the typical black Nightmare appendage wrapped around his whole body save his head.[51]

Earth Game

Gamer IDs

  • Hardcore Leveling Warrior in Lucid Adventure
  • School Drop Out in ROR
  • Hardcore Leveling Warrior (HCLW) in ROR
  • Hurk in Mabinogi Heroes

Major Battles

Media Appearances

Webtoons

Video Games

Social Media

Translation Notes

WEBTOON Translation

Main Article: Hardcore Leveling Warrior WEBTOON Translation Changes

Real Name

The characters real name, '공원호', means Gong Won-Ho (or Kong Won-Ho). WEBTOON changed the character's original name to 'Ethan Gong'.

Game Name

열렙전사 is correctly translated as Hardcore Leveling Warrior by WEBTOON.

열 is the Korean form of the hanja 熱 which means "hot; heated; having a high temperature". 렙 means "level". 전사 means "warrior".

열렙전사 roughly translates to Hardcore Leveling Warrior in English. A more literal translation would be something along the lines of Warrior Who Levels Up as if on Fire.

Nicknames

Sora calls Hardcore Leveling Warrior 열렙전사님 which means 'Hardcore Leveling Warrior-nim'. Nim (Hangul: 님) (by itself after a proper noun) is the highest form of honorifics and above ssi. nim will follow addressees' names on letters/emails and postal packages. -nim (as an affix) is used as a commonplace honorific for guests, customers, clients, and unfamiliar individuals. -nim is also used towards someone who is revered and admired for having a significant amount of skill, intellect, knowledge, etc. and is used for people who are of a higher rank than oneself. Examples include family members (eomeonim 어머님 & abeonim 아버님), teachers (seonsaengnim 선생님), clergy (e.g. pastors – moksanim 목사님), and gods (haneunim 하느님 / hananim 하나님). It shows the respect that Sora has for Hardcore Leveling Warrior. WEBTOON translates this as Mr. Hardcore Leveling Warrior (Episode 3) and Hardcore Leveling Warrior (Episode 4 to Present).

Dark calls Hardcore Leveling Warrior 돈벌레 (Romaja: donbeolle). 돈벌레 literally translates to 'Hireling' or 'Pensionary'; which can both mean a person who works solely for rewards/money. 돈벌레 (Don Bal Leh) is also the Hangul for 'Centipede'. There is Korean superstition that if you see a Centipede that money will come your way. The 돈(Don) in 돈벌레 also means money. So in literal translations centipede in Korean means 'Money Bug'. This is ironic because Hardcore Leveling Warrior is the exact opposite of this. WEBTOON incorrectly translates 돈벌레 as snob

Pooh Upooh actually calls to Hardcore Leveling Warrior as a 'Snob' (Hangul: 속물, Romaja: donbeolle) in Episode 89. A 'Snob' in Korea is a person who spends all their time pursuing power and profit, fulfilling meaningless things such as vanity, sexual pleasure, and are narrow minded.

The Best Swordsman calls Hardcore Leveling Warrior '열렙아' . 열렙 is the abbreviation of 열렙전사 and means Hardcore Leveler. The -아 (-a) suffix is a term added to end of first name. It is used to when you are directly addressing a close friend or someone who is close and younger and is has connotations of endearment and affection. It usually connotes very close personal relationship. Some call this an “affectionate” (noun), which the English language does not have. -아 does not denote respect/honor or indicate a social heirachry, only the relationship or level of affection you have with the person. The interlocutor can be either a man or woman. WEBTOON incorrectly translates this as Hardcore, Hardcore Bro or Hardcore Leveling Warrior.

Choco Flavoured Potato Soup called him 'Gosu-nim' (고수님) (Romaja: gosu-nim). Gosu refers to or describes someone who is highly skilled, used especially in video and computer gaming. Nim (님) is also a title of respect. Nim (님) is usually attached to professions. nim (Hangul: 님) is the highest form of honorifics and above -ssi, but is still used as a commonplace honorific for guests, customers, clients, and unfamiliar individuals. -nim is also used towards someone who is revered and admired for having a significant amount of skill, intellect, knowledge, etc. and is used for people who are of a higher rank than oneself. Examples include family members (eomeo-nim 어머님 & abeo-nim 아버님), teachers (seonsaeng-nim 선생님), holy men (e.g. pastors – moksa-nim 목사님), and a God (haneu-nim 하느님 / hana-nim 하나님). -nim will follow addressees' names on letters/emails and postal packages.

International Translations

Hardcore Leveling Warrior Hardcore Leveling Warrior 3: Earth Game X Ash Platform Language
Lucid Adventure Real World Hidden Nickname Real World Lucid Adventure Real World
열렙전사 공원호 열렙전사 공원호 NAVER WEBTOON Korean
热练战士 孔元浩 Dongman Manhua Simplified Chinese
熱練戰士 孔元浩 WEBTOON Traditional Chinese
Hardcore Leveling Warrior Ethan Gong Hardcore Leveling Warrior Ethan Gong WEBTOON English (U.S.A)
Hardcore Leveling Warrior Kong Won-Ho WEBTOON French
モーレツ戦士 LINE MANGA Japanese
Hardcore Leveling Warrior Ethan Gong WEBTOON Spanish
นักสู้เลือดร้อน WEBTOON Thai
WEBTOON German

Notes & Trivia

  • His character name, Hardcore Leveling Warrior, was first revealed in Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 1. His birth name, Gong Won-Ho, was revealed by Chairman Kim in Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 4.
  • Hardcore Leveling Warrior is sometimes called 'The Hardcore Leveling Warrior' (열렙전사야, yeollebjeonsaya) by himself and other characters. This has annoyed some English speaking fans who insist he be simply called 'Hardcore Leveling Warrior'.
  • He appears to be right-handed as he signed Heart Heater's contract in Episode 1. He fights predominantly with his left hand but is equally capable of fighting with his right hand as seen in Episode 24, where he changed his attack pattern.
  • Hardcore Leveling Warrior has been single all his life and this is apparently known by everybody. It is a very sensitive subject to him.[69]
  • After he became a Ranker, the players who lost something to Hardcore Leveling Warrior shared his information on the Internet forum and no one wanted to make a bet any more. He considered getting plastic surgery to change his appearance and even switching his character's gender to female, but in the end he chose to 'bait' players into accepting bets.[19]
  • Hardcore Leveling Warrior has a unique walking style where he folds his arm behind his head whilst walking.[70][71][72]
  • In Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 167, WEBTOON's translation made it seem like Hardcore Leveling Warrior's two favourite items where Treasured Sword of the Knights - The 7 Truths and +16 Treasured Sword of the Brave. This was incorrect. Hardcore Leveling Warrior referred to them his "cuties", which he always does with his Golden Items and Weapons.
  • Hardcore Leveling Warrior managed to escape his barrel and save Lila but it is possible he had the assistance of The Witch.
  • Given that the character avatars only appear in the game when the player is logged while asleep, it is possible that Hardcore leveling warrior is in a comatose state in the real world
  • The author revealed that Hardcore Leveling Warrior's birthday is January 24th.[14] This is one day after the date that the Hardcore Leveling Warrior webtoon debuted on Naver's webtoon platform.

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 1
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 51
  3. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 107
  4. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 110
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 78
  6. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 35
  7. Hardcore Leveling Warrior AE 4
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 3
  9. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 53
  10. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 24
  11. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 94
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 131
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 117
  14. 14.0 14.1 HCLW_Official Instagram Post: Armes', Hardcore Leveling Warrior, The Best Swordsman and Constant's Birthday
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 99
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 4
  17. 17.0 17.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 168
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 49
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Episode 94
  20. 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 52
  21. 21.0 21.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 53
  22. 22.0 22.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 91
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 104
  24. 24.0 24.1 Episode 171
  25. Episode 176
  26. AE 3
  27. Season 2 Episode 3
  28. Season 2 Episode 4
  29. Season 2 Episode 8
  30. Season 2 Episode 41
  31. Season 2 Episode 70
  32. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 98
  33. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 100
  34. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 107
  35. 35.0 35.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 110
  36. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 111
  37. 37.0 37.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 112
  38. 38.0 38.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 124
  39. 39.0 39.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 125
  40. 40.0 40.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 127
  41. 41.0 41.1 41.2 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 128
  42. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 133
  43. 43.0 43.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 134
  44. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 3 Teaser
  45. Episode 109
  46. 46.0 46.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 22
  47. Episode 99
  48. Episode 102
  49. 49.0 49.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 114
  50. Episode 67
  51. 51.0 51.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 79
  52. Hardcore Leveling Warrior AE 4
  53. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named :6
  54. 54.0 54.1 Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 54
  55. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 55
  56. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 148
  57. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 107
  58. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 113 [
  59. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 154
  60. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 155
  61. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 156
  62. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 157
  63. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 164
  64. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 165
  65. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 1 Episode 166
  66. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 108
  67. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 109
  68. Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 123
  69. Episode 88
  70. Episode 11
  71. Episode 61
  72. Episode 92
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