The Spring 2025 K-Comics Guide

The Hunter's Gonna Lay Low

What's It About? 

Life's never quiet when you've got S-Rank Rizz. Former S-Rank Hunter Uijae, a.k.a. J, saved humanity from eldritch horrors emerging from dimensional rifts, only to time-leap 8 years into a future where he's presumed dead. Now a manager at a hangover soup joint, all J wants is a quiet life. But between selling off the relics of his past and catching the obsessive attention of Korea's #1 Hunter Sayoung, peace isn't on the menu!

The Hunter's Gonna Lay Low has a story by MAGMA and art by ligong, Aurora Studio. It is based on a work by 103. English translation and lettering by Manta Comics. Published by Manta Comics (March 4, 2025). Rated T+.

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Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

A lot can change in eight years – just ask Uijae Cha. After rifts leading to dungeons opened up around the world eleven years ago, he awakened as an S-rank hunter known as J. A few years after that, he and a group of hunters went into a dungeon, and, well, the next thing Uijae knew, he was waking up in an alley. But somehow eight years had passed, and he and the rest of the group were declared legally dead. That means that Uijae has a chance to start a new life devoid of peril if he wants it – and after thinking about it, he very much does.

There are a lot of Solo Leveling knock-offs out there at this point, but alongside Welcome! to the Dungeon Hotel, The Hunter's Gonna Lay Low is one of my favorites. That's not because it does anything all that innovative with the story; a lot of the world building elements are remarkably similar to almost every other urban dungeon manhwa and novel out there. But Uijae's new life is one that I want to see him be able to keep, not just because he wants it, but because there's an argument to be made that what he's doing now is just as important as what he used to do. In the eight years he's been gone, technology has evolved, significantly decreasing the risk to the general population from rifts and dungeons. Organizations keep things moving smoothly and safely. There are other S-rank hunters. Technically, they don't need J anymore, no matter how much they might want him. But the old woman who took Uijae in does need him. She's raising her young granddaughter and she's really too old to run her hangover soup restaurant, so Uijae is her sole source of income and care. She and little Haeun are people he can see benefiting from his aid, and he can do it without risking his life or seeing the horrors he did back in that dungeon. He did his bit already.

Of course, nothing will be that smooth, and three other S-rankers already have Uijae on their radar. At least one of them will end up being a romantic interest, I think; the series claims to be BL, although there's little evidence of that in the first ten chapters. My money's on Sayoung Lee because Uijae thinks he's odious (a sure sign of true love in romance fiction), but Yesung and Jungbin shouldn't be written off yet, either. Still, the draw of this story isn't the potential romance, but the clean art, interesting story, and Manta's usual solid translation. It's a safe bet for fans of urban dungeon fiction, and I'm definitely going to be reading more.

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Lauren Orsini
Rating:

I can appreciate a story that doesn't put all of its cards on the table from the start. But even after ten chapters, there are so many missing pieces in The Hunter's Gonna Lay Low, all I got was a negative first impression of its main character. This is the story of an alternate future in which gates to monster-infested fantasy worlds regularly plague world cities. It's up to monster exterminators, aka hunters, to hold society together, but the world's first S-rank hunter has decided to opt out and sling noodle soup—leaving the citizens of Seoul in danger. I'm sure there's a good reason for his decision, but right now the MC seems like a bum, and his edgelord love interest isn't any more appealing. For all its characterization faults, I have to acknowledge that the story's gradual intrigue has potential and it might pick up the pace once the romantic leads do something other than glare daggers at one another.

S-rank hunter J, AKA Uijae, was presumed to be killed in action eight years ago. When he found himself back in Seoul with no memory of the past eight years, he dyed his hair, got a job at a noodle bar, and said “no thanks” to resuming life as Korea's greatest hero. Since it's illegal to have hunter abilities and not register with the government, Uijae is trying to keep a low profile. But it's tough to conceal skills this l33t when trouble keeps finding him—and right now that trouble's name is Sayoung Lee, a powerful and provocative hunter in a flashy gas mask who keeps darkening the door of Uijae's noodle bar. Sayoung knows there's something out of the ordinary about Uijae, and Uijae will do anything to keep his suspicions at bay. I can predict how this game of cat and mouse might turn romantic in the future, but there's not even a glimpse of that yet.

Over these initial ten chapters, it's easier to describe what I don't know than what I do. I don't know what happened to Uijae eight years ago that convinced him to hide his identity. I don't know why some hunters are stronger than others—whether it's ranked by specialty or experience playing video games or whatever. I don't know what Uijae wants out of life, or what it would take for him to go from his current status of hating Sayoung to presumably being in love with him later on. The part of the story I'm most intrigued by is the subplot in which mysterious porcupine-like zombies keep popping up around the city. With polished art and the fast-paced rhythm of an action series, this manhwa is an easy sell. But the fact that I know almost nothing after reading so much—and the fact that this is based on an ongoing web novel with more than 300 chapters so far—if I want answers to the questions this story has raised, I'll have to be committed for the long haul.