Solo Leveling Has Officially Lost Its Throne As The World's Biggest Manhwa To An All-Time Great

7 hours ago 10

Published Jun 8, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT

Merlyn De Souza is a freelance writer and anime enthusiast based in Goa, India, with a Bachelor's in English Literature. When she isn't writing, she can be found exploring various realms of entertainment, including, but not limited to, K-dramas, novels, and even the occasional manhwa. She also enjoys all things creative, like sewing and makeup.

Even though Solo Leveling's manhwa itself has long wrapped up, until a few months ago, fans of the series had found pleasant company in its sequel, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok. Set in the same familiar universe with a fresh, compelling protagonist in Jinwoo's son, Suho, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok's manhwa was an instant success.

The series' manhwa debut garnered millions of views overnight, and most recently, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok even took home the Picomma Award 2026, proving the sequel is going to be just as unstoppable as the original series. That said, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok was recently forced to go on an indefinite hiatus, and in its absence, one new series has come for its throne, even breaking one of its biggest records.

Solo Leveling's Sequel Has Been Dethroned As Kakao's #1 Series

Jinwoo from solo leveling looking shocked with suho and igris in the background

One of KakaoPage's most popular webnovels, Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work, recently dropped a manhwa adaptation. Produced by Carrotoon Studio and illustrated by syunnyun, the series made its debut on KakaoPage on June 6 with twenty chapters. And, within the first day of its release, the manhwa rose to #1 on KakaoPage's rankings.

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In fact, within only 24 hours of its release, Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work's manhwa garnered nearly 7 million views. In doing so, the series also completely smashed a record previously held by Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, which back during its manhwa debut in August 2024, famously made headlines for garnering 2 million views on KakaoPage on the first day of its release.

These numbers only make sense given the popularity of Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work's webnovel, which is almost as popular as Solo Leveling's webnovel itself. Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story's webnovel has accumulated 370 million views on KakaoPage, putting the series only 100 million behind Solo Leveling, though it's possible the series will soon bridge that gap, as with the manhwa's release both Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story's webtoon and web novel have risen to #1 on KakaoPage.

Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story Still Gotta Work Is Deliciously Spooky

Kim soleum sitting in a train in Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story Still Gotta Work

All that said, Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story is an absolute must-read for fans of manhwa like Solo Leveling and Omniscent Reader, and it could very well grow into one of these series' biggest rivals in the years to come. Even twenty chapters in, the series starts out incredibly strong, and its appeal is quite apparent.

The series essentially sees its protagonist, Kim Soleum, thrust into a world full of haunted items, urban legends, and ghost stories where he is tasked with exploring these paranormal phenomena as part of the Field Exploration Team of a major corporation. Having scoured through this ghost story wiki extensively before his transmigration, Kim Soleum is quite familiar with most of its contents, though that certainly doesn't prevent him from feeling afraid, and when things take a turn for the unexpected, all Soleum is left with is his own wits, logic, and deduction to ensure his survival.

Kim Soleum getting scared in Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story Still Gotta Work

Soleum himself is a very unique and compelling protagonist — unfazed and confident on the outside, and hilariously cowardly on the inside. His desire to avoid terrifying situations and death quickly sees him become a prodigy of sorts among the new recruits. As such, the thrill of following Soleum along his adventures is comparable to that of a typical power fantasy series. Though at the same time, Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story can be much more satisfying in its delivery given how every ghost story and exploration is structured like a little puzzle that Soleum must solve to survive.

Most importantly, Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story, much like Carrotoon's other titles, features stunning, clean, and expressive artwork that can also completely flip the switch when things get spooky — and things do get spooky very quickly. It can be very challenging to set up jump scares in comic form like with manhwa, but Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story manages to use the vertical scroll format to its advantage quite well. The series makes use of gore, body horror, classic violence, and generally unnerving imagery to thoroughly unsettle its readers, truly living up to its horror tag claims.

All that said, both the webnovel and webtoon have yet to be officially localized, though there's no doubt that Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work will reach even greater heights with its official release.