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.
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.