Updated Jun 27, 2026, 11:55 PM EDT
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Warning: MASSIVE spoilers for Solo Leveling ahead!
The prolonged absence of Solo Leveling's anime may finally be showing signs of ending with the latest exciting news, but that hasn't stopped its audiences from craving similarly engaging manhwa adventures in its absence. This comes in addition to the ongoing Solo Leveling: Ragnarok series. But in the spirit of divergent recommendations, it's more interesting to look into manhwa capturing similarly apocalyptic vibes to Solo Leveling, or its various genre hooks. Sometimes, however, readers may discover something wholly different in the process.
There are plenty of experiences one may crave after watching or reading Solo Leveling. Perhaps it's more power fantasy and leveling mechanics like Sung Jinwoo's, or perhaps it's more specifically about the rush of survival against insurmountable odds in a crumbling world. Whatever the case, the manhwa medium has apocalypse-related series across the spectrum, whether playing it similarly straight like Solo Leveling, injecting humor, or doubling down on the horrors of an end-of-world scenario, with new additions coming out every year to chew on. But below is a selection of the greats across the years.
My Very Own Tower Strategy Guide (2024)
Original Story By goodluck, Adapted By Sado. Of Redice Studio And Illustrated By X-NAME
Mixing a broken leveling system unique to its protagonist like Solo Leveling and the particularly saturated tower apocalypse subgenre, My Very Own Tower Strategy Guide could have easily risked becoming slop upon its release. However, its self-awareness and personal main character, Lee Hoyeong, shine through in this particular manhwa. Rather than his gift awakening following a harrowing incident like Jinwoo's Double Dungeon moment, though, Hoyeong is given advance warning for the impending apocalypse, taking the chance to train up to the second it arrives, with towers predictably emerging around the world.
Hoyeong's journey starts like any other, but it's in how he carries himself that the series sets itself apart. The tower Hoyeong ascends, alongside a group of fellow survivors, enables their powers similarly to a typical action RPG with the usual blue game UI screens found in the genre. But the series also mixes in death games intended to pit its survivors against each other like in Tower of God, but with brutal consequences. Hoyeong, though, has a secret weapon: before everything happened, he spared the life of an innocent goblin, who gave him a medicine, unlocking his own OP ability: the Strategy Guide for Survival.
Hoyeong is thus given enemy weakness and progression hints at the price known as the Weight of Knowledge, seemingly the ultimate nerf which subtracts after any EXP gains he gets. The upside, though? It seems to be a glitch in the system, as Hoyeong retains the attribute and skill points, allowing him to rapidly outpace the growth of others around him. The result is a surprisingly darkly comedic take, with Hoyeong often winning over allies with immense displays of strength. But don't get attached: characters can die just as gruesomely, either at the mercy of the tower's games, or once other survivors show their true colors.
Mosquito Wars (2017)
Written And Illustrated By JH
Coming from the creator of all-timers like The Horizon and The Boxer, Mosquito Wars launched between the runs of these two legends as a bizarre apocalyptic tale. Pitting humanity's last 5,000 survivors against the might of the world's true ultimate apex predator 100 years into their new reign, they must find the weakness of their most underestimated enemy, the mosquito.
Mosquitoes in this manhwa have evolved far past their current state, resembling quasi-humanoid beasts with twisted eyes straight out of a psychological horror anime. Featuring JH's heavily stylized art, this series boasts immense world-building, but don't get attached. It features an endearing cast of characters who, true to apocalyptic tales, are too tragically likable to possibly survive.
Zombie X Slasher (2023)
Written By NARACK & Illustrated By Hong Jun Ki
In this apocalyptic manhwa, the tangible consequences of a zombie outbreak cause, among other things, a housing crisis with massive inflation. Suppose that topic isn't enough to hit home. In that case, Zombie X Slasher stars a protagonist, Kim Cheolsu, who wishes to buy a home of his own, and, thanks to a Busan city initiative, he can amass a fortune in exchange for a mountain of zombie corpses. Nearly eight thousand zombies later, Cheolsu emerges with a glimpse at freedom, only for the real story to begin.
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Cheolsu's stint as a one-man zombie cleanup mercenary leaves him with some new enemies, though, as he quickly learns, he's afflicted with the same condition. He resists zombification through sheer force of will in the face of being subdued by the authorities, a testament to his enormous willpower, and an interesting series hook. In his darkest hour, he is recruited by other "slashers," a zombie-themed fighting force similar to the hunters in other apocalyptic manhwa like Solo Leveling, in a violent, edgy, glorious action-horror romp which ran a satisfying-yet-concise 92 chapters.
The World After The Fall (2022)
Written By singNsong & Illustrated By Undead Gamja
From the same author as Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, The World After the Fall also features a plot that grows just as complex and vibrant as the world-building that fans of Solo Leveling will be able to appreciate.
The manhwa is set in a post-apocalyptic setting where, instead of gates like Solo Leveling, Towers have begun to appear on Earth. The magic beasts within are poised to annihilate humanity, and only a select few dubbed Tower Walkers can fight them.
To make things interesting, the Tower Walkers each possess a stone that allows them to go back in time to when the Towers appeared and start over with the knowledge they currently have. Only one among them, the story's protagonist, Jaehwan, refuses to regress and continues to climb the tower, fighting for the current timeline.
Level Up With The Gods (2022)
Based On The novels By Black Ajin & Illustrated By Ohyeon
With ancient evils threatening to destroy the world, Kim Yuwon, with the help of his comrades, decides to climb the tower once more with the hopes of becoming stronger to overpower his enemies. Yuwon’s knowledge helps him level up, along with his understanding of how the tower operates, including its floor managers.
His lone-wolf personality is similar to Jinwoo, yet he allows himself to cautiously guide Zeus’ son. Lovers of mythology will delight in the God of Olympus characters and their treacherous games spread throughout the tower, as well as the world of Murim, as the tower possesses different dimensions within its structure.
Kill The Dragon (2022)
Based On The Original Novel By Baeksu Noble, Adapted By J-Sun, And Illustrated By Miss Jisu
Kill the Dragon is set in a world where humanity has been plunged into a war against dragons who have invaded the planet. The Psykers are the only ones who can fight the dragons and, after countless sacrifices and endless bloodshed, the war seemed to be coming to an end until one Psyker prophesied the dragons would return in exactly fifteen years.
Thus, an organization called the Ark is established, tasked with training Psykers in anticipation of the dragons' return. Kill the Dragon's story takes place three years before the dragons are expected to return and takes off when Han Lee, an orphan with psychic abilities, is sent to Ark to receive training as a Psyker. Besides its post-apocalyptic setting, Kill the Dragon also features exceptional art and is also produced by Redice studio just like Solo Leveling.
Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (2020)
Based On The Novels By singNsong, Written By UMI, And Illustrated By Sleepy-C
Kim Dokja escapes from his mundane life as an office worker by reading the web novel 'Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse' by TLS123. When the unimaginable happens, Dokja’s world becomes the setting of the novel. In order to save the world, he will use his knowledge and wits to change the course of the story.
Besides being produced by Redice Studio, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint is similar to Solo Leveling in regard to its world-building. Dokja is now part of a system that caters to higher beings, including Constellations, Demons, and Outer-Gods. He also possesses the power to glimpse others' thoughts, which steadily levels up as he completes plot points and bonds with the main characters.
The Esper’s Game (2022)
Based On The Novels By Niccolo, Written By Two-zero, & Illustrated By Plan A
Seomun Yeop, one of the world’s seven heroes, was lost after saving the world. Now that the fate of the world is secured, the Espers no longer have a need for their powers; cue the Virtual Reality game Battle Field.
This VR recreates the dungeons of defeated monsters for a heated competition between Esper teams. Yeop finally takes an interest in the games, until he uncovers the evil force of the subterranean burrowers at play behind the scenes.
From E-Rank Hunter to Shadow Monarch · Eight Questions How Well Do You Know Solo Leveling? “Arise.”
💻The SystemQuest update
👑Shadow MonarchArise
⚔Hunter AssociationS-Rank ascension
👈Gate DungeonsDouble dungeon
👾IgrisKnight of the Shadow
ACCEPT THE QUEST →
01
Solo Leveling’s protagonist is a Korean E-Rank hunter widely mocked at the start of the series as “the world’s weakest” — before a near-death experience in a double dungeon transforms him into the Player. Name him (Korean original).
ACha Hae-In BSung Jinwoo CYoo Jinho DBaek Yoonho
✓ Correct! Sung Jinwoo — the “world’s weakest hunter” who supports his ailing mother and younger sister Jinah on D-Rank gate raids until a near-fatal raid in the Cartenon Temple double dungeon makes him the Player. The Japanese-localised anime adaptation renames him Shun Mizushino, but the original Korean novel/webtoon name is Sung Jinwoo.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Sung Jinwoo. Cha Hae-In is the South Korean Hunter Association vice-guildmaster and S-Rank swordswoman (and Jinwoo’s eventual love interest). Yoo Jinho is his loyal best-friend chaebol-heir teammate. Baek Yoonho is the White Tiger Guild’s S-Rank guildmaster. The protagonist is Sung Jinwoo.
NEXT →
02
Solo Leveling didn’t start as Japanese manga or anime. It originated in 2016 as a Korean web novel on KakaoPage, was adapted into a colourful vertical-scrolling webtoon (drawn by Jang Sung-rak / Dubu) and only later became an A-1 Pictures anime in 2024. What term describes its native Korean comic format?
AManhwa / Webtoon BManhua CDoujinshi DManga
✓ Correct! Manhwa — Korean comics — specifically a webtoon, the vertical-scroll, full-colour mobile-first format dominated by KakaoPage and Naver. Solo Leveling’s webtoon adaptation began in 2018 and concluded in 2021; its breakout success internationally helped establish the broader “Korean tower-climber/hunter LitRPG” pipeline that now feeds shows like Tower of God, The Beginning After the End and Eleceed.
✗ Wrong. The answer is manhwa (webtoon). Manhua is the Chinese equivalent. Doujinshi is Japanese fan-comic self-publishing. Manga is the Japanese term. Solo Leveling is Korean — manhwa, specifically a vertical-scroll webtoon adaptation of a 2016 web novel.
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03
The original Solo Leveling web novel ran from 2016 to 2018 on KakaoPage and was written under a single mononymous pen name. The author is famously private, with very little known about him — but he’s widely credited with single-handedly resetting global expectations for what Korean web fiction could be. Name him.
AChugong BSIU CTurtleMe DSingshong
✓ Correct! Chugong (추공) — a deliberately mononymous Korean web novelist whose real identity has never been publicly confirmed. His original 2016–18 novel ran 270 chapters and was translated into English, Japanese, Chinese and Spanish via KakaoPage’s international expansion. The webtoon adaptation by Jang Sung-rak (better known as Dubu) was the version that broke through globally; Dubu’s death from cerebral hemorrhage in 2022 was a high-profile loss for the medium.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Chugong. SIU is the creator of Tower of God. TurtleMe is the author of The Beginning After the End. Singshong is the author of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint. The Solo Leveling novel is Chugong’s.
NEXT →
04
In Solo Leveling’s world, mysterious gates have appeared on Earth and only awakened “hunters” can enter the dungeons inside them. Hunters are evaluated by the Korean Hunter Association on a letter-grade scale from the lowest to the strongest. What rank does Sung Jinwoo start with, before becoming the Player?
AF-Rank BE-Rank CD-Rank DUnranked
✓ Correct! E-Rank — the lowest assigned tier in the Hunter Association’s grading scale (E-D-C-B-A-S, with S as the absolute peak). At E-Rank, Jinwoo barely earns more from a raid than the medical bills the raid produces, which is why he keeps going on dungeon runs despite being the “world’s weakest hunter”: he’s funding his mother’s medical care and his sister Jinah’s tuition. The Player System fast-tracks him from E-Rank to S-Rank-and-beyond over the course of the series.
✗ Wrong. The answer is E-Rank. F-Rank doesn’t exist in Solo Leveling’s scale (E is the lowest). D-Rank is one tier up — where Jinwoo’s teammate Yoo Jinho sits. “Unranked” isn’t a category. Jinwoo starts the series as an E-Rank, the bottom of the recognised ladder.
NEXT →
05
After the Cartenon Temple double-dungeon massacre, Jinwoo wakes up in a hospital and begins seeing a personal RPG-style HUD that nobody else can see — daily quests, stat windows, level-ups, Notices written in glowing blue text. The franchise calls Jinwoo’s unique designation what?
AThe Player BThe Awakened CThe Vessel DThe Heir
✓ Correct! The Player. Sung Jinwoo is the only individual in his world who has access to the System — the personal RPG-style interface offering quests, stat allocations and level-ups. Late in the series it’s revealed that the System was given to him by the Architect (a tool of the Rulers) specifically to forge him into a vessel for the dying Shadow Monarch Ashborn. Becoming the Player is the prelude to becoming the new Shadow Monarch.
✗ Wrong. The answer is the Player. “The Awakened” is the general term for any human with hunter abilities — not unique to Jinwoo. “The Vessel” and “The Heir” aren’t official labels. Jinwoo’s unique status as the System’s sole user is named the Player.
NEXT →
06
The Solo Leveling anime adaptation premiered in January 2024 to record streaming numbers on Crunchyroll — the most-watched debut in the platform’s history. The animation studio is the same Aniplex-affiliated house behind Sword Art Online, 86 and Lycoris Recoil. Name it.
AMAPPA BStudio Bind CA-1 Pictures DMadhouse
✓ Correct! A-1 Pictures — the Aniplex-owned studio behind Sword Art Online, Fairy Tail (later seasons), 86, Lycoris Recoil, KonoSuba (S1–2), Kaguya-sama and 7 Deadly Sins. Director Shunsuke Nakashige and a Hiroyuki Sawano-led score made the action centerpieces (the Cartenon Temple double dungeon, the Igris fight, the S-Rank arena duel) some of the most-discussed sequences of any 2024 anime.
✗ Wrong. The answer is A-1 Pictures. MAPPA does Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man. Studio Bind does Mushoku Tensei. Madhouse did the original Hunter x Hunter (1999) and One Punch Man S1. A-1 Pictures is the SAO/Lycoris-Recoil studio that adapted Solo Leveling.
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07
As Jinwoo levels up he unlocks the Shadow Extraction skill, which lets him raise the corpses of defeated foes as loyal shadow soldiers. The first major shadow soldier he raises — a red-armored knight extracted from the Job Change dungeon Knight Captain — becomes one of his signature fighters. Name him.
AIron BBeru CIgris DTank
✓ Correct! Igris (sometimes Igrit) — the Knight Captain Jinwoo defeats and raises during the Job Change quest. Igris is one of the highest-ranked named shadows in Jinwoo’s army (an Elite Knight tier) and personally serves as his bodyguard during the Jeju Island arc and the Monarchs War. Other named shadow soldiers in the army include Iron (orc warrior), Tank (steel-fanged Lycan), Tusk (Lycan mage), Beru (Ant King) and Bellion (the Grand Marshal).
✗ Wrong. The answer is Igris. Iron is the orc warrior raised from the Demon Castle quest. Beru is the Ant King raised at the end of the Jeju Island arc — one of the most powerful shadows. Tank is the Lycan from the same arc. The first major named shadow knight Jinwoo extracts is Igris.
NEXT →
08
Late in the series, the System reveals that Jinwoo isn’t merely the Player — he’s the chosen successor of the dying ninth Monarch of the Shadows, who sided with the Rulers against the other eight Monarchs. Jinwoo inherits his title and his power. Name this previous Shadow Monarch whose mantle Jinwoo takes up.
AAntares BAshborn CBellion DQuerehsha
✓ Correct! Ashborn, the Monarch of Shadows. He betrayed his fellow Monarchs of Destruction in the ancient war and aligned with the Rulers, but at the cost of being mortally crippled. Working with the Rulers’ tool the Architect, he engineered the System over centuries to find a worthy human vessel — ultimately Sung Jinwoo — to inherit his throne. By the series’ end, Jinwoo wields the full power of the Shadow Monarch and uses it to rewrite the timeline.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Ashborn. Antares is the Monarch of Destruction (the King of Dragons) and the series’ final-fight antagonist. Bellion is Ashborn’s Grand Marshal — one of Jinwoo’s strongest shadows but not a Monarch. Querehsha is the Monarch of Plagues. Jinwoo’s predecessor as Shadow Monarch is Ashborn.
REVEAL MY RATING →
System Notification · Final Tally Your Hunter Standing
👑
/ 8
Shadow Monarch — or still E-Rank?
⤴ LEVEL UP AGAIN
The Esper’s Game is a unique action manhwa with fantasy elements that alternate between the physical and virtual worlds. In a setting similar to Solo Leveling, clubs are the norm rather than guilds, and dungeons remain the same; however, the superpowers differ, and items are more commonplace.
Return Of The Disaster Class Hero (2022)
Based On The Novels By San. G, Written By HEATS, And Illustrated By BGman
The Zodiacs chose 12 Saints to combat what humanity called “calamities”, or monsters that found their way to Earth. Geon Lee was an anomaly, another chosen, and the most powerful Saint of them all. Betrayed by the Saints, Geon falls into the demon tower to a zone where calamities are known to endlessly spawn. However, 20 years later, he finds himself finally free and on the hunt for revenge.
From the studio that produced Solo Leveling: Redice Studios.
The setting is similar to Solo Leveling, in which a greater understanding of the world and its politics comes into play, as well as the continual threat of monsters attempting to take over the planet. The protagonist is also similar in that he becomes overpowered through continual training and has a set goal that he’s working toward, the same as Jinwoo in his hopes of defeating the double dungeon.
My S-Class Hunters (2022)
Based On The Novels By Geunseo, Written By Seri, And Illustrated By Biwan
When a monster outbreak occurs and gates appear, Yoojin Han finds himself at the bottom of the food chain, an F-rank, while his younger brother Yoohyun Han is awakened as an S-rank. Used to taking care of his brother, Yoojin tries various means to increase his rank, but ultimately, his attempts end in Yoohyun’s demise.
Given another opportunity, Yoojin decides to change his future by keeping a low profile. However, his new skill makes this an impossible feat, since he can see the max level-up grade potential of a hunter.
Like Jinwoo, Yoojin holds fast to his values, prioritizing his family, while also operating within an intricate political system consisting of multiple guilds. The setting also features gates and an outside influence over the system, which Yoojin tries his best to cooperate with as he surrounds himself with overpowered hunters.
English (US) ·