Solo Leveling Volumes 9 and 10 Review

After showing his abilities to the public during the raid in the Jeju Island and at his sister’s school, Jinwoo is becoming a household name—and Japan as well has taken notice of him since he disrupted the Japanese’s plans during the Jeju raid.

However, they can’t deny how strong he is, and when an S-rank gate appears in the middle of Tokyo, Jinwoo is the one they turn to for help. Unfortunately for them, it’s time for Jinwoo to go back to Cartenon Temple—the double dungeon where everything started. Here, he faces the same opponents who lead to his second awakening and ‘the Architect’ behind the system and the re-awakening. The architect is a monster that created the system used by Jinwoo for levelling up with the goal of bringing back the king: the Shadow Monarch.

Jinwoo faces a battle to the death against the Architect to find out the truth behind his power and the Shadow Monarch…but there are still many gaps that he has to fill. The gate in Japan surprisingly turns out to be a source of information for Jinwoo, who finally finds out the Rulers’ plan for Earth, and where the Monarchs stand against them, but more surprisingly, the news that the Rulers are backing some powerful hunters. Now Jinwoo has to figure out who those hunters are. The International Guild Conference in the USA might give him the chance to investigate other hunters, as Ahjin Guild has been selected as South Korea’s representative.

In America though, not everyone is happy to see Jinwoo, especially S-rank hunter Dongsoo Hwang, the younger brother of a Korean hunter who was killed in a raid with Jinwoo, and so Dongsoo wants to avenge his brother’s death. Dongsoo won’t hesitate to attack Ahjin guild members, as he knows that when Jinwoo comes for him, Dongsoo’s guild leader, national-rank hunter Thomas Andre will fight to protect his hunters. And can Jinwoo really win against Thomas, the number one hunter in the world? The odds might not be in his favour.

As usual, these two volumes are full of action from start to end. Jinwoo has grown incredibly, and his power is unmeasurable. He was only able to get back to Cartenon Temple once he reached level 100, but before he enters it, the enemy he kills allow him to gain more levels, which gives him the extra skill boost to fight against the Architect without his magic power. While the Architect shows Jinwoo the history of the Shadow Monarch, not everything is clear, especially who the Rulers and Monarchs are and what they want, but specially how Jinwoo fits in all of this. It’s only the dungeon boss in Tokyo who can give Jinwoo a better understanding of what’s going on.

From the beginning of the series, the readers have learned about what’s going on at the same time as Jinwoo. However, the more the story progresses, the readers are shown more than Jinwoo knows, which doesn’t give us an omniscient point of view, but it tends toward it. Readers jump from Korea to Tokyo and even to America and witness what’s going on with the hunters in those countries and how that will lead to Jinwoo’s story progressing.

It has happened that with comics, even if the characters travel to different countries, they are always able to understand each other, no matter the language barrier. I appreciate how the author made it realistic in this series, as it’s clearly understandable when they speak in a foreign language. Foreign speech is between angle brackets, and we also see Jinwoo struggling when he tries to speak a different language, even making mistakes.

The more the story progresses, the more questions arise. Once we, and Jinwoo, think we are getting closer to answers, something else happens. We don’t know yet what the creatures were that killed a national-level hunter nor why some Rulers are backing hunters. And how does Jinwoo’s father fit into all of this? Is he really an enemy? We’ll just have to keep reading to find out.

The series continues to be gory, so if you’re squeamish, it might not be for you—there is no censorship on blood, cut limbs and even death. Illustrations are quite detailed, and the artist pays attention especially to the facial expressions.

Solo Leveling is written by Chugong, illustrated by DUBU (Redice Studio) and adapted by h-goon. The print edition is released by Ize Press, with the English translation is by Hye Young Im. Volume 11 released in February 2025.

Our review copies from Ize Press were supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.