Solo Leveling (Volume 1) – The Weakest Hunter of All Mankind
Hunters, chosen from humanity at random, appeared not long after the gates. Jinwoo is widely regarded as the weakest Hunter, but he continues to enter the dungeons to pay for his mother’s healthcare and his sister’s education!
Solo Leveling (Volume 1) – The Weakest Hunter of All Mankind
What happened?
All the money he makes in the dungeons goes to taking care of his family which means Jinwoo can’t afford to buy equipment or weapons. He’s such a low level that the weapons would break every time anyhow. So, he goes in barehanded and does what he can to survive and come back with an Essence Stone which he can sell for money. Everyone is pleased to see Jinwoo as it means the dungeon will be easy… well, for everyone but Jinwoo.
The gates started to appear ten years ago and with them, people began to awaken as hunters, developing powers beyond normal humans. If the gates are not closed within seven days, the monsters within can enter our world. The hunters are sent in to make sure that doesn’t happen. For some, it’s become a lucrative career, but for Jinwoo it’s a matter of survival.
After clearing their latest dungeon, they spot another gate. A gate within a gate and decide to investigate. That way, they will split the loot between them and not include other hunters. However, this new dungeon is unlike anything they’ve encountered before. Giant stone guardians watch over the dungeon, killing anyone who doesn’t follow the rules with a single blow. Surprisingly, Jinwoo is the one who spots the rules and tries to keep everyone alive. But, that’s easier said than done. Will anyone get out of this one alive?
What did you think?
When I finish a book, I jump over to MAL to update my records and while I’m there, I occasionally scan the reviews. I was a little surprised to see all the negativity for this series, especially as I loved this book. This was an incredible opening to the series. We were introduced to Jinwoo and the world without feeling like it was all rammed down our throats. We saw everything go horribly wrong and how Jinwoo was able to respond to it. It all made sense given all the crap he’s been through. He’s had to fight to survive, whereas the others are just fighting for money.
I loved the idea of the dungeons connecting to our world and regular-looking folks meeting up to take them on in regular clothes. There was something weirdly wonderful about the whole thing, especially as it took me a moment to work out exactly what was going on. I thought that Jinwoo was going to die and be transported to a new world, I was not expecting the world to come to him. I can only assume all the criticism of Solo Leveling comes from the snobbish views that only Japan can produce manga, similar to the arguments about dubbing and subtitles. Then, when you throw in the idea that it’s cool to bash power fantasies or isekai this series must be an easy target for those who think they’re above enjoying stories.
Volume highlights
Series Information
| English Title | Solo Leveling |
| Japanese Title | Ore dake Level Up na Ken |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Fantasy |
| Demographic | Seinen |
Manwha
| Series | Solo Leveling | ||
| Author | Chugong | ||
| Artist | Dubu | ||
| Volumes | Ongoing | Chapters | Webtoon Chapters |
| 1 | The Weakest Hunter of All Mankind | 1-3 | 1-12 |
| 2 | The Lizards | 3-5 | 13-26 |
| 3 | Job-Change Quest | 6-8 | 27-44 |
| 4 | Unless You’re An S-Rank! | 9-10 | 45-63 |
| 5 | May I Kill All of These Magic Beasts? | 11-13 | 64-81 |
| 6 | I’d Lost My Cool Too! | 14-17 | 82-97 |
| 7 | Everything Will Be Fine! | 18-21 | 98-110 |
| 8 | One-Man Guild! | 22-24 | 111-122 |
| 9 | It Was War! | 25-27 | 123-134 |
| 10 | The Deal is Off! | 28-30 | 135-146 |
| 11 | I Have No Regrets! | 31-33 | 147-158 |
Anime
Season One
It still surprises me that I was reading the earliest chapters randomly online back around 2020. I’ve no clue what it’s about, but you could say I was intrigued with the premise being executed like this. It’s odd how I wasn’t inspired to write my own LitRPG series after reading them back then. Probably there were other elements missing that have become the main reasons why I write mine the way it is.
This is a very far-fetched dream of mine, but I hope my ongoing series will get so popular someday that a famous publishing Korean company would reach out to me if I wanna have a webtoon adaptation. I would say ‘yes’ if I can find the artist(s) who can draw these great quality panels like what SoLev had and whose artstyle suits the overall tone of my series.
That is a good dream, and something you can work towards. I hope you make it. Mine has always been to see a manga and anime adaptation of one of my stories.
Well, all we can do is keeping working at it. The only way to guarantee we won’t get there is to stop writing. Best of luck.