It was serialized in Kakao's digital comic and fiction platform KakaoPage beginning on July 25, 2016, and was later published by D&C Media under their Papyrus label since November 4, 2016.

One day, after narrowly surviving an overwhelmingly powerful double dungeon that nearly wipes out his entire party, a mysterious program called the System chooses him as its sole player and in turn, gives him the unique ability to level up in strength.

Jinwoo then sets out on a journey as he fights against all kinds of enemies, both man and monster, to discover the secrets of the dungeons and the true source of his powers.

He soon discovers that he has been chosen to inherit the position of Shadow Monarch, essentially turning him into an immortal necromancer who has absolute rule over the dead.

Unlike summons from other hunters, they are capable of growth, speech, and have the highest amount of warriors, to the point that their sheer numbers and overwhelming might surpassed all the top guilds.

It was illustrated by Jang Sung-rak (aka Dubu), the CEO of Redice Studio, who died on July 23, 2022, after suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage.

[4] A side story was published between January and May 2023, with Chugong returning as writer and featuring a new art team following the death of Dubu.

It is produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Shunsuke Nakashige, with Noboru Kimura writing the scripts, and Tomoko Sudo designing the characters.

[80][81] Crunchyroll had acquired the North American and select international rights for the compilation film, screening it in the United States and Canada on December 6, 2024.

Felix of Stray Kids),[88] while the ending theme song is "Un-Apex", performed by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure.

[78] In January 2022, Netmarble announced that they are developing Solo Leveling: Arise, a role-playing video game based on the series.

[89] Otherworld, a Cube Entertainment subsidiary, developed Solo Leveling: Unlimited, a blockchain-based Web3 digital collectible project.

Chugong revealed he decided to support Daul, saying he still experienced the same emotions he felt when he first began serializing the original web novel.

"[99] Rafael Motamayor of IGN gave the first season a score of 8/10, praising its animation, action sequences, visuals, choreography, soundtrack, and world-building, while criticizing the tedious mechanics and the lack of "nuance" in writing.