This Solo Leveling reading guide starts with the answer: read the manhwa from chapter 1 through chapter 179, then the side story, chapters 180 to 200. In English it's on Tappytoon and Tapas, not WEBTOON. Tapas shuts down on March 31, 2027, so Tappytoon or Yen Press print is the safer place to buy it. If you came from the anime, starting over at chapter 1 costs you little.
Want the verdict instead of the route? Our Solo Leveling review scores it 8.5/10. This page is only about where to start and how to get through it.
Solo Leveling reading guide: what you're signing up for
Solo Leveling, Korean volume 1 (D&C WEBTOON). Cover via AniList.
Tappytoon's synopsis sets it up: in a world where "Hunters" fight monsters, Sung Jinwoo is "the weakest hunter of all mankind," until "a mysterious System chooses him as its sole player." From there it's a level-up story.
It's finished. Per Wikipedia, the webtoon launched on KakaoPage on March 4, 2018 and ended its main story on December 29, 2021 "with its 179th chapter." It came out in two Korean runs: the first season ended on March 19, 2020, and the second ran from August 1, 2020 to the finale. That split is a release break, not a story break, so read it as one numbered run.
The art changes hands at the end. Wikipedia says the artist, Jang Sung-rak (DUBU), "died on July 23, 2022, after suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage." AniList credits him with the art for chapters 1 to 179 and DISCIPLES for chapters 180 to 200, and Tapas labels the side story "Special Episodes." A side story ran "between January and May 2023, with Chugong returning as writer and featuring a new art team."
Step-by-Step
1. Pick an app you can keep. Tappytoon tags the series "[Epilogue now available]." Tapas lists 202 episodes as a "Completed series," but its last day to access content is March 31, 2027 at 23:59 PT, and its FAQ says content unlocked on Tapas "cannot be transferred to another Kakao service or platform."
2. Start at chapter 1. The setup is short, and the most upvoted anime viewer in the thread below says to start there anyway.
3. Read straight through chapter 179. The two Korean seasons don't need a pause between them.
4. Then read chapters 180 to 200. It's a different art team, and it's the epilogue Tappytoon advertises on the series page.
5. Then decide on the extras. The novel, the Ragnarok sequel, and the anime are all optional after that.
Where to read Solo Leveling in English
Tappytoon credits the main run to "DUBU(REDICE), Chugong, h-goon" and the "Solo Leveling Epilogue" to "DISCIPLES(REDICE)." It's our pick for a long-term digital copy.
Tapas has the same main and special episodes, 202 in total. Read there only if you'll finish before March 31, 2027. Our Tapas shutdown explainer covers what happens to purchases.
Yen Press prints the comic in English. Its series page lists 15 volumes.
Not WEBTOON. An earlier version of this guide said WEBTOON carried the full run for free. That was wrong: the WEBTOON link we used now redirects to an unrelated series, Realta, and WEBTOON's English search turns up only fan-made comics using the name, no official listing.
More finished system-fantasy series for after the side story:
Best System Fantasy Manhwa →
Coming from the anime: where to start
A-1 Pictures made two seasons. Season 1 ran 12 episodes, from January 7 to March 31, 2024. Season 2, Arise from the Shadow, ran 13 episodes, from January 5 to March 30, 2025. Crunchyroll streams both, and a sequel film, Beyond the System, "has been announced."
Crunchyroll's official Season 1 trailer.
We didn't find an official chapter map from Crunchyroll or Aniplex, and fans don't agree on one. When an April 2024 r/sololeveling poster asked "Where to start in the Manhwa after Episode 12?", one reply said "Chapter 46." The top reply said "from chapter 1, cause you'll read it from there anyway."
We'd take the top reply's advice. The early chapters are quick, and the art is the reason to read the manhwa over watching the show. If you only want new story after Season 2, skim back a few chapters from the last fight you watched rather than trusting a chapter number from a forum.
Solo Leveling Season 2: Arise from the Shadow (A-1 Pictures, 2025). Cover via AniList.
Manhwa or novel first?
The novel came first. Wikipedia lists Chugong's web novel on KakaoPage from July 25, 2016 to March 13, 2018, and Yen Press publishes it in English in eight volumes.
Readers split on order. In a January 2023 r/sololeveling thread, "Where to start: Novel or Manhwa?", one reader argued the novel is the more complete version, but that "sometimes its easier to like something if you have the visual input." Another summed up the manhwa route: "You first read 10 chapters of the manhwa, then accidentally read the whole thing in one go."
Start with the manhwa. Pick up the novel afterward if you want more of Jin-Woo's head.
Manhwa, novel and anime in one sequence, with the release dates:
Solo Leveling Reading Order →
After the ending: Ragnarok and what's next
Solo Leveling: Ragnarok. Cover via AniList.
Per Wikipedia, a spin-off webtoon, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, "premiered in July 2024," and Jin-Woo's son Suho is "the protagonist of the sequel series." Read it only after chapter 200, because its premise spoils the side story. Our Solo Leveling: Ragnarok reading guide covers it. For the screen side, see Solo Leveling Season 3 release date and the live-action series, with "Byeon Woo-seok playing the role of Sung Jin-woo," per Wikipedia.
Our take: one sitting is not the goal, finishing is
You don't need a plan for Solo Leveling's pace. You need one for the ending. Read past chapter 179, expect the art to look different from chapter 180, and get it from an app that will still exist in 2027. Do those three things and you'll get the whole story.
How We Checked This
We checked 24 facts on October 13, 2026 against Wikipedia, AniList, Tappytoon, Tapas, Yen Press, WEBTOON, YouTube and r/sololeveling, with a quoted line for each in our sources table. This pass fixed a wrong platform claim: Solo Leveling is not on WEBTOON in English. It also removed things we couldn't source: the five arc chapter ranges, the anime's chapter coverage, the claim that Season 2 is subtitled "Monarch of Shadow" (it's Arise from the Shadow), reading-time estimates, specific chapter callouts, and comparisons with three other series.
Last reviewed: October 13, 2026
Related Reading
- Solo Leveling Review: our 8.5/10 verdict on the full run.
- Solo Leveling Reading Order: manhwa, novel and anime, in order.
- Solo Leveling Power System Explained: hunter ranks and the System.
- Manhwa Like Solo Leveling: what to read next.
- Completed Manhwa Like Solo Leveling: finished picks only.
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