In Warhammer Fantasy as my ERP Character

Why I hate Solo Leveling

Before I begin, I must preface that I liked Solo Leveling. Once. In the early to mid chapters. But by the end of the story, I hated it. Particularly the ending. Because the Author has reduced one of the best settings into something worse than a caricature of its own story. I will explain in detail but for those anime only watchers or those who haven’t finished reading the Manhwa, there will be plenty of spoilers so if you don’t want to get spoiled, do not read. Bear in mind that I finished reading the Manwha a long time ago so I won’t be remembering much, particularly the names as I am always bad at remembering names. I am bound to miss quite plenty of detail and this will be a biased rant.

1. The Time Rewind

Simple to say that I hate any Time Rewind mechanic, especially if it is done thoughtlessly. The world with Hunters before the time rewind ending is very interesting to me. Particularly how the world and the nations try to adapt to the existential crisis and the Hunters in general. The Guilds, the characters, everything is like a world really lived in. Sung Jinwoo made plenty of friends, made some enemies, found his love, and everything else.

But then, Sung Jinwoo rewinds the time. To the time where there was no existential crisis and no hunters. All of his friends, even his significant other, are reduced to a footnote. I don’t know if anyone else other than me shares my dislike when the usage of time travel, in this case, a time rewind, is used to do this without much further detail on how wrong this is. Everyone knows that Sung Jinwoo in the previous timeline, the friends he made, all the interesting characters that I’m sure plenty of people like. Like the S Class hunters, the American Hunters, and the rest. But in the epilogue, all of them are reduced to a footnote. That everything works well for them. All of them are reduced to caricatures of what they once were. Sure some might say they are seen as caricatures as we didn’t get further detail into their lives but for us as a reader, that is practically what they become. What is practically hateful for me is how Sung Jinwoo met his significant other in the epilogue and we all knew in a particularly thoughtless sequel (more on this later), both get married and have a kid.

There is this 2015 time travel found footage film named Project Almanac. I don’t remember much other than a group of 4 friends found a time machine belonging to the protagonist’s father. But what I remember very vividly is how the protagonist abuses the time machine to get himself hooked up to one of his female friends which is counted in one of the four. I remember in one part of the story, both went to some kind of rally or event and in the first run, it went quite badly. But then the protagonist uses the time machine alone, despite the rule the four made to not do so alone or something. He memorizes the lines she likes, even catching a ball that hit her in the previous run. In the end both hooked up and fucks. In case maybe anyone still doesn’t see the wrongness in this, the protagonist have reduced one of his own most trusted friend into a woman I want to fuck. No longer as a friend, not even as her own person. This is what I felt when Sung Jinwoo took that damned cup or artifact and rewind time. Everyone else, his friends, his lover, his enemies, even the Monarchs, are all reduced… to a thing. They are no longer a living thing by the narrative standard. Because the act has killed everyone’s involvement in the story and essentially killed the story in itself as everything is now just a hollow place. This is explicitly shown in the epilogue where the war against the Monarchs are shown as just a series of montages with swishes and swoshes. Erase it entirely and there's nothing of substance is lost. Everything is just a thing to kill, a thing to protect, a thing to fuck. A series of footnotes.

2. A World Reduced to a Playground

If I remember correctly, the God, the one that made the Rulers and the Monarchs to fight each other, did so for his amusement right? That is essentially what Sung Jinwoo has become. Either he knows it or not doesn’t matter. In a world where there’s no hunters, he alone kept his power from the previous time. This alone is not exactly a bad thing as we all know that Sung Jinwoo is a good person. But then the sequel came. I hated Solo Leveling even more after knowing this. Why? Because the Author came up with a story. Let’s do another dimensional incursion. This time with Giants! Haha! They got curb stomped by Sung Jinwoo and his shadow legion. My God, I hate such thoughtless addition, so fucking much.

Let me make myself a bit more clear, if I remember correctly, Hunters came to be because of the Monarchs invasion correct? That is the only thing I remember as I start deleting Solo Leveling from my mind due to how hateful the ending was for me. But hey, there’s no more hunters. Except his son who got Sung Jinwoo’s system or something. But hey Sung Jinwoo handled it again right? No big deal right? No, because it is now a huge problem because this one thoughtless addition practically voids Sung Jinwoo’s effort and even an unashamed insult to all the Hunters and effort they and the world have made in the previous timeline. There’s no Hunters, humans are powerless, but Sung Jinwoo? Sung Jinwoo became the God. He kept the world as his playground, his amusement is how he paraded himself or rather, how the Author paraded him as earth’s and humanity’s hidden protector. At this point, even Sung Jinwoo has been reduced to a caricature, less than a person. A thing, just a thing, less than a thing that protects the world just because.

What grinds me is that none of this point matters, if Sung Jinwoo didn’t rewind time or if the story ends and there’s no giants. That Humanity still has Hunters. Sure earth is damaged, Humanity battered, but they are alive and as long as they can rebuild, there’s always a future. A future Sung Jinwoo killed when he rewinds the time. It would be tremendously much more exciting if the humans, Sung Jinwoo included, managed to defeat the Monarchs. Rebuild. Then the Giants arrive and again Humanity fights back. This is much better than a powerless world that needed to be saved, time and time again. I want humanity to be able to stand on its own. To have meaning other than a thing that needed to be saved by the main character. The idea that humanity is just a powerless, wretched thing that can’t stand on its own and needs to be saved is very insulting to me. I am powerless, I didn’t have a job and only make do with writing degenerate fanfic, which means worthless as most people keep reminding me. But I want to be better, I want to stand on my own, to be a better version of myself. And to me, when Sung Jinwoo rewinds the time and essentially regresses the entire humanity, that is an insult to everything I hoped for. That all the efforts and sacrifices of the Hunters, the government, humanity, and the world in the previous timeline is worthless in the presence of their better. And for this, I want Sung Jinwoo dead.

3. Sung Jinwoo Save the World. Or did he?

But OP, Sung Jinwoo did save the world. Did he? Yes he did. But then the giants arrive. He did save the world again. But then? Because of this thoughtless act by the Author, we know damn sure that he must save the world again. Then again. Then again. Here be giants. What’s next? Titans? Godlings? Eldritch horrors? Eldritch Gods? He has reduced a world that has a chance to fight back, to stand on its own, into a regressed and powerless thing. He will have to win endlessly to keep the world this way. But the enemy? The enemy needs to succeed only once. But OP, he can resurrect dead humans as his shadow soldiers, great, so he’s just a ‘benevolent’ Lich King. And we know for sure that those he turned into shadow soldiers are brainwashed/compelled to be undyingly loyal to him in that chapter where he turned a support hunter into his shadow. So yay.

Because of the previous point, I have made myself clear that I prefer Sung Jinwoo to be dead in the story. Another reason is because technically, the story will be so much better if Sung Jinwoo is dead after he rewind time. Why? The man gambled everything. Put all the chips on the betting table. Even the chips that weren't supposed to be his to bet, which are the lives and efforts of everyone and the world. Yes he did save the world after rewinding time. But if he failed. If he is defeated then killed? Everything on the table just… gone. But still I prefer it this way. Because Humanity and the Hunters will still continue to fight back. Even when it ends up with a failure. I am more inclined to see an epitaph. Here were humans, they fought, they lived, and they are no more. Better that than a world reduced to a footnote for the glory of an individual.

Now, I know that someone will say that it is just a classic power fantasy story and yes it is. But again, there's other manhwas that gives a much better ending and resolution to the story rather than a time rewind and the erasure of all character growth and progression with all its consequences in the story.