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(CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS)

So I've binged this in 2 days. I thought this was reeeeeally good and then I took a moment to think about it... I heard many good things and have seen it everywhere, so I decided to read it. The name popped in my head, and I'm like, "Yeah let's read that. I'm bored." I'd say the only reason I've made it as far in as I did was bc I binged it.

This is my first review so my apologies for bad formatting, etc.

Story 3/10: We follow Sung Jin-Woo, basic main character, in a fantasy world of dungeon conquering, loot-gaining MMORP goodness. ... Pretty basic. Kinda like SAO but better in... no it's actually very similar to SAO. The beginning is really good. The arc where they're in that dungeon is awesome (more on that in the next paragraph). It seems every arc is the same formula, with NO differences (more on that later).

Prologue 8/10: In a similar way to SAO, the first arc is actually pretty good in many ways. Not ground-breaking or fantastic, but actually not bad. They get trapped in a super dangerous room, there's rules they have to follow, lest certain death fall upon them. Stakes are reasonably high. Things are chaotic, and the read is intriguing. There's this mystery and dread behind it that drew me in. The creepy smile from the king statue brought back memories of the fish king dude from One Punch Man. That's a good thing. Again, the rules in this double room thing were awesome. Then, the useless MC was actually reliable and used his experience with near-death situations to be useful. I enjoyed it. The set up to the MC and to what I thought was the main female character were good. I'll go more into that later.

However, the prologue and the impact it has are scarcely developed. Early on after that, the fear he felt during the prologue cause him to not have fear during the other dungeons. Compared to what he felt during that, nothing is bad in comparison. But. that's it.

The rest of the stories are so repetitive. you know the formula. He goes into a gate, something unexpected happens, for instance the gate was more dangerous than it seemed. He handles it with ease despite the difficulty change. And then rinse and repeat. That's it.

Art 10/10: The art is really good. It's outstanding. I have no idea how they are able to draw this amazing stuff AND COLOR IT in time. Anyone who's read it knows.

Character 1/10: Oh boy here we go. MC is a Mary Sue. Basic self insert character for the insecure weebs who are unhappy with their life and want an escapist fantasy to delve into. I say this from personal experience. MC is edgy, bland, emotionless. There is nothing to say bc there is no character. There was a sub plot with his mom that was never developed.

He was fighting so help pay for his mom's medical bills (she's comatose) and pay for his sister's way thru highschool and college. So that's about as much detail into those two things as we're given. There's no development or relation shown between him and his mom, no flashbacks. I could sufficiently describe his mother as this: his mom. There's no character there. She has a scar on her neck that he caused due to trying to... wash her hair with really hot water I think..? It wasn't exactly clear, but that's the closest to development we've seen there and that was about 70-80 chapters in at least. I have no reason to care for this woman because the author hasn't given me one. The sister is bland to. Thankfully, I don't recall any incest implications with the sister falling for MC, but maybe I'd prefer that to the pure nothingness we got. We get clue that she was smart and thought to be a nerd at school, but nope she's just a regular relatable girl at home. She's doing something medical, which is cool ig. Probably related to the comatose mother, but again, no development into that.

One thing I thought would be super cool that was briefly touched on was him losing his emotions. It seemed like when he used the full status recovery when he was in a bind, that he'd lose more of his emotion. Or it was as he grew in level. I think they mentioned anger was one he couldn't feel anymore. I thought that was cool, but it was never mentioned again and he's shown kinda having emotion later in the sense that he saves all the female characters when they're in distress... which they always are, only to be rescued by our hero.

As well, his power progression is ridiculous, he gets overpowered so quickly. I thought there'd be development and progression, watching him climb thru hard work. I thought it'd be a struggle. A couple of the first arcs were a struggle, but of course he overcame it after a sudden boost (status recovery reward).

Then probably my favorite character was the B rank healer girl. She had an interesting character set up at the beginning. She was a B rank, but only went on E and D rank missions due to the fear she got from seeing those monsters, the deaths, etc. THAT WAS INTRIGUING. I was interested in how she'd struggle thru it, overcome it, and how the MC would help her. Things were looking good. Oh wait where'd she go? After the prologue she was just gone for awhile. It was mentioned she had worse trauma after the prologue and the events that transpired there, but no development. The MC never came to her to talk, help, anything. Never do we see her struggle. SHE GETS NO DEVELOPMENT. That made me sad. Instead, everything gets pushed aside to put the focus on MC getting stronger That's a common theme.

Then we see her again, alongside one-armed dude. He was also kinda cool, but I could tell he'd get no development, so I didn't bother getting invested. If only I did that for every character. Then she doesn't face her trauma. She retires... Then there's a little exchange with her and MC, and he says he'll ask her on a date next time he visits her, which he never does.

Then there's the little sister's friend. I thought there'd be development there. She was a highschooler who stopped going, bc she wanted to be a hunter. She was an E rank. The principal called MC in, bc he was a hunter and everyone loves him, to ask for advice and stuff. He then didn't talk to her much, but brought her to a dungeon with the White Tiger guild. She was gonna get some experience, but then nope. We don't see any interaction with her after they enter the dungeon. There's no conclusion to that sub plot they started. We don't see what she decided. Is she a hunter now? Is she gonna finish highschool at least like the teacher advised her to? No idea. Everything gets pushed aside to focus on MC getting stronger.

Then there's the rich kid. He was kinda cool ig. Wish there was more development with him. Again, a common theme. Near the end of when I last saw him (idk if he's mentioned again after chapter 107) his father kicked him out, bc the kid wanted to be independent and join MC's guild (thought MC would make a guild. So far he hasn't). So he goes to MC asking to stay, MC says no, and we find out the kid slept in a hotel. He drops MC at the demon tower dungeon, and we never see him again. Did he find a home? Did he progress with the guild thing? What happened to him? No idea. All got pushed aside to focus on the MC getting stronger.

Then there's that one s rank who could smell a difference in him. She fell for him bc: he's strong, he's the Mary Sue MC, and he was different. He has never had a legitimate conversation with her. I think there was brief interaction between the two in a group setting. That's about it. She was a damsel in distress that seemed cool but did nothing.

Then there's the demon girl. Again, she had no character. I had my last hope for development in a female MC in her, even tho it was already like 90 chapters in. Course there wasn't any. It got pushed aside to focus on the MC getting stronger. She was just there to be another character for weebs to lust after.

All females are cute, clumsy, damsels in distress. They all seem strong at first, but are brought to their knees in helpless powerlessness before our MC once the two of them interact.

Men in the story are usually so unappealing for various reasons. I mean duh. We don't want there to be any potential that MC isn't the BC (best character).

Enjoyment 6/10: This will probably get lowered the further I go on in my life. I enjoyed it kinda. It is NOTHING groundbreaking. It's a bad self insert shounen. Like a really bad one. But it looked AMAZING. Fights were REALLY cool. Seeing just how strong he got to be was cool. Just simply seeing the army come out and go ham on the enemy was REALLY fun to read. Usually the focus is ONLY on the one guy, but it slightly dispersed to the shadows when they were brought into action. Course only slightly tho. Don't want to distract from the MC. That'd be preposterous...

Overall 3/10: This manga is bad. If you want something pretty to look at, and something INCREDIBLY HYPE and only that, then this is FANTASTIC at that. I heard ppl being like "Yeah ToG had a bad anime adaptation, yeah GoH had a bad anime adaptation, but wait until Solo Leveling gets an adaptation. It'll be WAY better." I don't see it happening at all. It's gonna be rushed. It's gonna be bad, too. In this case, third time will not be the charm bc this isn't a good manga to work with.

Admittedly, the prologue is like a 7/10 imo, so if they don't at least rush that then it'll maybe be decent. But seeing the other two adaptations, I have no reason to have high hopes for it.