The Tutorial Is Too Hard Reading Guide: 230+ Chapters

The Tutorial Is Too Hard reading guide: the tower manhwa where Ho-Jae Lee is the only person in the tutorial to choose Hell difficulty, and the system was not designed to handle someone who would actually do that.

TL;DR: The Tutorial Is Too Hard reading guide -- 230+ chapters on Tapas since January 2021. Ho-Jae Lee, former pro-gamer, selects Hell difficulty in a tutorial tower. Hell mode explains the pacing and the series' entire logic. Read on Tapas. Give it through chapter 20 before deciding.

Key Takeaways

• Platform: Tapas (English), Kakao Page (Korean original); not on WEBTOON
• Status: Ongoing since January 31, 2021; 230+ chapters as of mid-2026
• Authors: Original story by Gandara; art and adaptation by Imae Daiki
• Genre: Tower/dungeon system manhwa with dark comedy and character focus
• No skipping: Start at chapter 1; the premise depends on experiencing Ho-Jae's entry into Hell mode cold
• Pacing commitment: Deliberately slow by design; that's the point, not a flaw

Overview: What The Tutorial Is Too Hard is Doing

The premise is simple enough: a system appears and people enter a tutorial tower to gain basic stats before encountering a world of dungeons and threats. The tutorial has difficulty levels. Normal is survivable. Hard is challenging. Hell exists.

Ho-Jae Lee, 26, former competitive gamer, picks Hell.

He's the only person who picks Hell. The system places him on a floor designed for this difficulty and finds it wasn't really built for someone to get this far. Ho-Jae survives anyway, because his background isn't power -- it's problem-solving. Competitive gaming means treating difficulty as data rather than an obstacle. When the system presents Hell mode, someone like Ho-Jae sees the version worth playing.

This setup shapes the pacing, the dark comedy, and most of the tension from the first chapter forward. Understanding it early changes how you read everything else.

The Tutorial Is Too Hard by Gandara and Imae Daiki -- available in English on Tapas

For a full breakdown of the series' strengths and rating, the Tutorial Is Too Hard review covers the series at a critical distance. This guide focuses on how the structure works and how to read it without losing the thread.

How the tower structure works

The tutorial tower is built floor by floor. Each floor has its own design, logic, and threat profile. This is the series' primary structural unit: clearing floors, understanding what each one is testing, and moving upward.

In Normal and Hard modes, floors are progression gates. You face a challenge, develop stats, advance. The difficulty is calibrated for a general player population. It's designed to be finished.

In Hell mode, the calibration is different. Enemies on early floors are threats that Hard mode players encounter much later. The floor design doesn't account for someone without the power level the system would expect at this stage. Ho-Jae clears floors anyway, but not by overpowering them. He does it the way a competitive gamer does: study the system, identify the exploit, apply it under pressure.

This is why The Tutorial Is Too Hard reading guide treats floor progression differently from most tower manhwa guides. You can't summarize the series as "Ho-Jae gets stronger floor by floor." He does get stronger, but the series' actual arc is his relationship with the tower itself -- what it keeps throwing at him, what it doesn't anticipate, and what the gap between the system's design and his actual approach reveals about both of them.

For context on where Tutorial Is Too Hard sits in the system/tower genre:

Best System Fantasy Manhwa →

The companion: Kirikiri

Kirikiri shows up early. She's a guide entity attached to Ho-Jae and the one thing that provides consistent warmth in what's otherwise a fairly brutal setup.

She's not there to soften the difficulty or hand Ho-Jae a power-up when things get impossible. She's present while things are difficult, doesn't pretend otherwise, and the relationship matters because of that -- not despite it.

The Ho-Jae/Kirikiri dynamic is one of the more effective companion relationships in system manhwa precisely because it doesn't function as a romance hook or a reward mechanism. It develops under pressure and gets more interesting as the tower gets harder.

The dark comedy balance

The series carries a dark comedy tone throughout. This is the element that most surprises readers who come in expecting a straight survival thriller.

The comedy comes from the gap between Ho-Jae's analytical composure and the absolute absurdity of what the system keeps doing to him. He approaches Hell mode like a competitive problem. The system responds with escalating improbability. Ho-Jae adapts. The series finds this funny and horrifying in roughly equal measure, and managing that balance over 230+ chapters without either element overtaking the other is harder than it looks.

The Tutorial Is Too Hard reading guide: how to read without burning out

Drop before chapter 20 and you're in the majority who leave. Make it past chapter 20 and you're almost certain to continue to the end. That gap says everything about what the series asks of you going in.

The chapter 1 to 20 problem: These chapters are establishing Hell mode. They're showing you what it means that Ho-Jae chose this difficulty, not what he'll eventually be able to do. Readers who want power scaling within the first arc are reading the wrong series. The question these chapters are answering is not "how strong will Ho-Jae get" but "why did someone like Ho-Jae make this choice and what does it cost him." If that's the series you're looking for, chapter 20 is where it becomes undeniable.

On the slow progression: Hell mode means earned progress. Chapters where Ho-Jae gains a single stat point after spending several chapters working out how to survive a specific floor are accurate to the premise. This is not padding. It's the series doing what it said it would do. Readers who want fast power scaling and frequent satisfying breaks should start with something else. Readers who want progress to feel like something paid for should stay.

Reading pace: One to two chapters at a time is better than ten in a sitting. The series rewards attention. Scenes that look like setup often resolve three chapters later in ways that don't announce themselves. Power-reading to catch up and then bulk-reading weekly releases is the rhythm most readers eventually settle into.

The comparison trap: Don't read this after starting Solo Leveling. The comparison will work against you. Solo Leveling gives the protagonist overwhelming ability quickly and the series becomes about spectacle. Tutorial Is Too Hard withholds power and makes the withholding the point. They're both system manhwa but they're opposite in almost everything that matters for reading experience. If you want to understand what makes Tutorial's approach different, the Solo Leveling reading guide makes the contrast clear.

For another long-running system manhwa that's also a multi-year commitment:

The Beginning After the End Reading Guide →

The Tutorial Is Too Hard reading guide: where to read

English: Tapas at The Tutorial Is Too Tough on Tapas. The English title on the platform is "The Tutorial Is Too Tough!" -- it's the same series. Tapas uses a coin system for newer chapters; older chapters become free over time.

Korean original: Kakao Page. The original Korean run by Gandara is where the adaptation sources its story.

Not on WEBTOON: This series is not available on LINE Webtoon. If you're looking for it there, you won't find it. Tapas is the official English platform.

Related Reading

• The Tutorial Is Too Hard Review: full rating and critical breakdown of the series at 8.0/10
• Best System Fantasy Manhwa: where Tutorial ranks among the best in the genre
• Solo Leveling Reading Guide: the genre comparison point that makes Tutorial's approach clearest
• The Beginning After the End Reading Guide: another long-running system manhwa for committed readers
• Manhwa Like The Tutorial Is Too Hard: 8 System Picks

Frequently Asked Questions

Is The Tutorial Is Too Hard completed? No. The series has been ongoing since January 2021 and continues to publish new chapters as of mid-2026. No completion date has been announced.

How many chapters does The Tutorial Is Too Hard have? 230+ chapters as of early 2025, with additional chapters through mid-2026. AniList does not track the exact chapter count; the current total is higher than 230.

Where can I read The Tutorial Is Too Hard in English? Tapas at tapas.io/series/the-tutorial-is-too-tough. The English title on the platform is "The Tutorial Is Too Tough!" -- it's the same series. Not available on WEBTOON.

What is Hell mode? The highest difficulty setting in the tutorial tower. Designed as a theoretical maximum, not an actual path. Ho-Jae Lee is the only person who selects it. The early floors put enemies in front of him that Hard mode players encounter much later.

Should I push through the slow start? If you're within the first 20 chapters: yes. The series establishes its premise in those chapters, not a hook. Readers who drop before chapter 20 are leaving before the series shows its hand. If you're past chapter 20 and still not engaged, the pacing is probably not what you're looking for.

Who is Kirikiri? A guide entity attached to Ho-Jae in the tower. She provides the series' emotional warmth without softening the difficulty. The dynamic between them develops under pressure and is one of the better companion relationships in system manhwa.

How does it compare to Solo Leveling? Same genre, opposite execution. Solo Leveling gives the protagonist overwhelming power quickly. Tutorial Is Too Hard withholds power and makes the withholding the point. Both work; they're doing different things.

References

• The Tutorial Is Too Tough on Tapas: official English platform, full chapter access
• The Tutorial Is Too Hard on AniList: series metadata, staff credits, publication status