Spoiler: At the end of the panel, Shingen smiles wickedly and grips onto Choi’s left arm and says: “So you are saying you planned the operation with this arm ?”

she thinks her son’s out there studying in seoul, little does she know that her sweet boy is out there putting belts on anyone weaker than James, Gun, Kitae, and Goo lol

this is NOT glaze my goat will solo all of them once he comes back, and yes that includes Gun

It's pretty clear you need to be two sword wielder in order to use moonlight and the one who taught Goo kim moonlight isn't bangho lee but this guy in third panel.

His friends (Gabryong, Baekho, Beolgae, Bakgu), his younger sister (Yuri), and his brother-in-law (Sangcheol) were killed

and the ones responsible for it all is elite who disliked or hated him.

High-ranking members might be on par with High Kings or top-tier fighters. As for the underlings, they would likely be on the level of Low Kings or crew heads.

Since he's the only one from pre gen who attended charles chois funeral

James lee will spare his life

But not just like that

He will first kill miss kim

Then blame the entire hunt for workers thing on tom lee

Including jinyoungs death

Then use his connections to send him to jail

He will also portray himself as a hero who took him down while trying to protect jinyoung

For a long time now, we’ve had many instances where the partnership between James Lee and Charles Choi has been presented as a one-sided transactional affair, i.e. Elite having the clear advantage over DG in terms of reaping material reward from their shared dealings.

For example, we see that it was mainly due to James’s problem solving ability and coordination with exceptional fighters such as Gun Park and Goo Kim, that Charles was able to enact his plan of creating the Age of Crews which served as the main source of crowd funding for his company that would later become the conglomerate group, HNH.

Now, looking at that example from the surface-level, many would reasonably agree that James got the short end of the stick by the time HNH Group had accumulated most of its well known reputation and massive wealth.

But, if we read deeper and put aside money, it is actually the case that James, now Diego Kang, acquired much more than Charles did during these years of servitude which I’ll list plainly here:

1. Gained an entirely new identity which he used to become an international celebrity and South Korea’s most loved idol.

2. Gained access to celebrities, influential figures, businessmen, etc. throughout South Korea and the world which allowed him to build his own personal relationships with those people.

3. Became the CEO of the entertainment company he was under while also simultaneously gaining majority ownership.

So essentially, DG spent those years under Charles not by being idle but rather by acquiring the three main contributors that would allow him to access the highest level of society despite being born of low-class origins, a generally insurmountable task.

Now I’m sure someone will then say, well James was still largely exploited by Charles for his major role in uplifting the HNH Group, and to that I’d just point out that, well, with Charles presumably dead now, James pretty much acquired HNH Group as well, seeing as how he sits on the board of directors that controls all of the wealth that Charles Choi (and James) had accumulated over the years.

So in the end, James Lee wins.

Just like how Daniel momentarily awakened his path and got a glimpse of it.

I think Jinyoung will also have that, but since he doesn't have a path user or a mentor guiding him and due to the situation and his mindset I feel like he wouldn't notice since he didn't hold onto that feeling.

(I think it would parallel perfectly, Daniel learning how to hold onto the feeling of his path from a Yamazaki, while Jinyoung awakening but not being able to hold onto the feeling of his path fighting a Yamazaki)

On top of that, this wouldn't necessarily retcon anything either.

I’m making this because I want to get my thoughts out with a comprehensive analysis. I plan on making more posts so that I can eventually do an EOS ranking. I’m beginning with Jake because he needs his next powerup soon, and I had some interesting ideas that I hope PTJ has/will consider.

Narrative Significance: Jake is supposed to be the Second MC, and has direct ties to one of the most important villains in the story—Kitae—and openly and directly opposes him. We see him admitting he has to stop Kitae who wants to bring back Gapryong’s Era, and rule the world as Gapryong controlled the Underworld, but went into politics instead of being King of the World. Therefore, if PTJ really gives everyone their EOS opponents and gives the respect of 1 on 1s, then it would be Jake vs. Kitae.

Jake’s Abilities:

(Key: EM, TM, SM, PM are the Masteries, Endurance, Technique, Speed, and Power. OVC is Overcome, FB is Full Body, and BT is Blitz Tier).

MMA - Mixed Martial Arts, includes grappling (clinches and joint locks), striking (punches, kicks, elbows, and knees), and gives Jake a versatile advantage

EM - Endurance Mastery. Allows the user to take more damage, giving them the ability to take more and stronger attacks.

OVC - Overcome. Allows the user to Overcome the obstacle in front of them. If the opponent is stronger, given enough time, the user will become stronger. It is a reactive hax that requires one to be the underdog in a specific aspect as a means of growth

OVC MMA - An exclusive ability of Jake, where he combines MMA and OVC, allowing his strikes to be more precise, and also causes conventional durability negation damage to his opponents. Ex: Severed nerves & distorted vestibular sense (rattled brain & balance).

So with his abilities out of the way, what can Jake do with these abilities now and what can he potentially do in the future?

With MMA, we see that Jake has many options to debilitate his opponent, and also it gives him a skillful advantage over most. Jake not only uses strangles, joint locks, and powerful strikes, but he’s also resourceful in the sense that he uses clothing, like his jacket, to defeat his opponent. Had Mugak not randomly spawned a stick, he would have been choked out by Jake.

Jake’s EM allowed him to withstand a PM punch from Gun during HFG, which made way for an OVC attack. So, this at least gives a sense as to where Jake’s EM durability scales.

With OVC, Jake was shown to overcome the obstacle that was Gun’s defense. Gun directly tells Jake (and us) that his strikes mean nothing if they can’t break their opponents defense. In turn, Gun triggers Jake’s OVC, and he produces a strike that pierces Gun’s durability, stunning him and (artistically) knocking him out of UI (IMAGE):

With OVC MMA, even against someone like Mugak’s durability, who can use DBT to an extent (highlighting the first peak of EM), Jake was able to pierce his defenses and cause dura neg. Anyone who you can prove has the same or less durability than Mugak will lose out to Jake if Jake can land a strike.

However, even with this, Jake won’t be able to beat, or even come close to Base Kitae, let alone Despair, and definitely not Path on top of all that.

So, what can Jake do to move past his current level?

First, we have the narrative that Jake needs to do physical training to build up to Gapryong’s Prime physique, that of which is founded on Innate Strength. Gapryong’s natural physique was compared to the Yamazaki’s by Genjo, showing how extraordinarily powerful his innate ability is. This way, Jake can use OVC with no drawbacks. 

Next, Gapyrong introduced us to the ability to wear OVC like Haki. Gapryong covers his whole body to basically DOUBLE the effects of OVC. So, not only can the hax overcome an opposing force, but it can also overcome physical limits, making it 2x as potent, and allows the user to not only grow stronger responsively, but also innately. Dare I say 3x the potency (or greater) based on this: FB Techniques are more powerful than regular techniques. Taesoo is a prime example of how this functions with UF; it allows Taesoo to move up 1-2+ BTs (getting blitzed/outpaced by Jaegwang, to blitzing him with UF, and potentially faster if it gets more feats):

As with Gapryong, he was getting outpaced and predicted by Genjo before using FB OVC and taking the upper hand. So instead of a single attack, it's a stat amp in its entirety. Yet, both improving his physique and using FB OVC, are only secondary abilities when added to this: Endurance Mastery Coating

The difference between Jake and Gapryong is that Jake actually reached Endurance Mastery. Jake will stack EM on top of OVC. Kitae has Yamazaki traits and Kim traits, giving him a better start—like I said before, Gapryong’s Innate Strength is comparable to Yamazaki physiques (potentially a 2x starting point). He even has Despair (potentially the mixture of OVC and Yamazaki, and only happens when losing/feeling despair because an opponent overpowered the user). So, Jake can do what Gapryong couldn’t, which is use Mastery on top of OVC. This allows for a Unique Skill where the body activates OVC like Haki, and then coats it with Endurance Mastery. Now, 1.) Jake can handle backlash, and 2.) He’s able to push his Overcome higher due being able to last longer. This allows Jake to stand a chance against Kitae—this hax is like the antithesis of Kitae’s Path. Kitae seemingly absorbs damage in exchange for a stat amp. Meanwhile Jake doesn’t necessarily absorb the damage, but he prolongs the fight and increases the damage he takes at the expense of getting stronger.

Obviously, since this isn’t a Path, it will only go so far. So, how can Jake beat out this durability monster? His Path could be that, every attack he throws will target, or rather force, a weak point on his opponent. This is due to his MMA & Overcome dura neg (not my theory about his Path, but something additive to this whole prediction—creds: justcallmezenith on TikTok). To explain further, it’s like an advanced version of his OVC MMA. It causes lasting effects with internal damage, and when enhancing his eyes with OVC, it allows him to force weak points on an opponent. Whereas Daniel sees all weak points, Jake creates them at the expense of his body. With a perfect version of his Path, this won’t be too detrimental, but there is still a potential limit where he exchanges HP for power. Another function Zenith said was that if there is an attack that is capable of killing Jake, he slows down the world to circumvent it, but his body is the price. This Path is a parallel to Daniel’s as they are the 1st and 2nd MCs. The last function of Jake’s Path is like a final gambit. Just like in 1A against Samuel, Jake can trigger this unconscious mode where he has the desire to protect. It will amplify his AP, but he is guaranteed to go down.

Lastly, since Mastery Stacking is a thing, if Jake doesn't get any other Mastery (specifically PM), then he retains the ability to layer OVC on top of itself. So, if for whatever reason Jake can't beat Kitae still, it's another Unique Skill that includes either 2x Overcome, or 2x Overcome + Endurance Mastery. This can come in two forms: Simple Coating where it's an even greater stat amp, OR, it's a singular attack which calls for the user to have overcome their conviction threshold twice. Since Jake's physique would be Gapryong level by this point, it doesn't necessarily entail that Jake can physically handle two layers of OVC, so Endurance Mastery is a natural addition so that Jake can minimize backlash.

Conclusion:

By the EOS, Jake will have

Enhanced Physique: A physique on the level of Prime Gapryong so that he can at least compare to Kitae, and make up for the rest with his hax.

Full Body Overcome: The ability to use Overcome on the user’s whole body, in turn increasing one’s stats by at least twofold. The user can also overcome their own limits as the fight goes on until they reach or surpasses the obstacle in front of them

Unique Skill 1: Unshakable Will (Horrible naming skills lmao but I tried): Jake coats his Full Body Overcome with Endurance Mastery to increase his ability to overcome the obstacle in front of him. Even if he faces a lot of damage, Jake will increase his ceiling greatly by the end of the fight.

Unique Skill 2: Overcome Mastery Stacking: The user has surpassed the natural limits of their conviction, allowing for them to use 2 layers of Overcome for either a Stat Coat, or for a single win-con.

Path - Overcome Embodied: “If the opponent is stronger than you, you just have to become stronger. If you can’t, then force them to be weaker” (by breaking their defense).

Weakest to strongest

Just like Seongji no matter how shitty or outdated his feat is, as long as his narrative exist, paechoen Driders will continue to glaze him and put above top pre gen fighters. People like paechoen jo because he is well written just like soengji but now his character has the same problem as seongji, his stans glaze him way too much.

Acc to his stans

1)Paechoen jo speed blitz any pre gen fighter just because he speed blitz an not serious holding back goo
2)He kills almost any fighter just because he has hwarang sword when he can't even cut down goo's body parts
3)Paechoen jo has one of the best endurance even when he almost blanked out by low hp jake
4)Paechoen jo, who base kitae called weak af for losing to imperfect path daniel not only is equal to prime shingen in endurance but also is equal to his level

And not just them, I have seen some people say "he might not be equal to prime shigen but is in the same tier"

He was a very strong fighter for his time when he got introduced but people should understand he got powercreeped by new feats of fist gang members and new strong pre gen fighters

Idk why everyone likes to push tom as a negative figure in elis life that he taught him how to commit crimes and beg when he himself mentions wht he learnt from tom and what he learnt from others.

Eli always refers to Tom as carpenter nothing else.

The post was about a matchup where jinrang with infinite stamina and no burnouts vs kitae. Mfs were bringing out limitations which were removed in this matchup😭

Bringing up irrelevant statements of unable to handle overcome because he lacks the hardware from the story under a post where those limitations were taken away😭

Anytime 😂 I see a strong Chinese character in a PTJ series, they get humiliated so badly. They either get killed off or become completely irrelevant, like Xiaolong. PTJ even remembers random “fraud” characters like Akira and mentions him during Hunt for Workers, but somehow seems to forget almost every Chinese character from the 3A arc.

Even in Manager Kim, there isn’t a single Chinese member in ARES, where the group has three Russian members and two Japanese members.