Solo Leveling (Light Novel/Webtoon)

나 혼자만 레벨업 (Na Honjaman Lebel-eob), also known as Solo Leveling is a light novel created by Chu-Gong which was later adapted by Jang Su-rak of Redice Studio and Gi So-Ryeong to then release a web comic version of the story.

10 years ago, after “The Gate” that connected the real world to a world filled with monsters, ordinary people started receiving mysterious powers to hunt these monsters within these gates. They are known as “Hunters.”

However, not all hunters are powerful. Sung Jinwoo is an E-rank hunter, and he is considered to be the weakest of them all.

Synopsis

Sung Jinwoo is the weakest E-rank hunter. He tends to get hurt frequently and he can barely make a living by fighting in the low-level dungeons.

It wasn’t until he found himself in a hidden dungeon with the hardest difficulty within a D-rank dungeon. As a vast majority of the other stronger hunters were picked off one by one and the very few survivors leaving him behind, Sung found himself accepting death. However, a mysterious quest log appeared before him and the next thing he knew, he gained the right to become a “Player” and received an ability to level up.

After a series of going into dungeons and leveling up, he gains new abilities and even a new character class – a job or profession – as a Shadow Lord: A Player with the ability to call those who wander the valley of death, and the army of the dead who follows their command shall create a path that would make their thread be the last and they would never need another’s help again.

Review

I enjoy reading web comics a lot so when I came across Solo leveling, I immediately adored it. The art style is just stunning and the story line is just amazing.

Every single character plays a role in the story, even if they are supports or minors. They help with Sung Jinwoo’s character development. He seriously goes through a big glow up from his initial appearance to the present.

What I noticed from this story compared to others, I don’t normally see the characters acknowledgement to what they lose in return to what they gain. For example, there are many other stories where the main protagonist is some helpless person but eventually become all powerful, and that’s usually it. In this story, Sung is the most weakest hunter but even after gaining the ability to become even stronger, he does acknowledges that in return for what he desires most to become strong, he slowly loses his human emotions such as sadness and mercy.

Other than character development, there is just so much to the story. For example, in the beginning, it shows how Sung Jinwoo obtains this player system that helps him level up and become strong, however there is not much background to what is this player system to begin with. This is what I find interesting, throughout the story, it does drops small hints to what it possibly is and what would possibly occur later in the story.

As of now, the light novel is completed but the web comic itself recently finished season 1 with 103 chapters. The end of the season now seems to focus more onto the player system which I am really excited to see.

For those who are into action and fantasy but aren’t too much of a big fan of literate reading, I do recommend reading Solo Leveling’s light novel as it is really easy to read and follow. If you like comics and art, reading the web comic is definitely recommended!