All ‘Solo Leveling’ Side Stories – Explained!

Solo Leveling is a South Korean novel series written by Chugong and published online at KakaoPage, before being published by D&C Media under its Papyrus publishing imprint. The series consists of 14 volumes and 270 chapters. A webtoon adaptation, comprising 179 chapters was completed on December 29, 2021. An anime television series adaptation by A-1 Pictures was also announced, set to premiere in January 2024. But, while the original webtoon ended in 2021 after 179 chapters, the story did not, and in 2023, additional side stories were published. In this article, we are going to tell you all about these side stories.

How many chapters and volumes does Solo Leveling have?

The publication of Solo Leveling began in 2016 in the form of a web novel. That was the franchise’s debut work, and it was released until 2021, when the narrative came to an end. A total of 22 narrative arcs consisting of a total of 270 chapters have been published over this time. In terms of the collected printed versions, the Solo Leveling web novel has been gathered into 13 volumes plus one extra Side Story, for a total of 14 volumes. But this is not all that we have for you in terms of the original work.

Namely, a webtoon adaptation of the original web novel also ran for two seasons before ending its serialization in 2021. It started in 2018, two years after the debut of the original web novel. The 200 webtoon chapters—less than in the original web novel, but with more content, actually—have also been compiled into volumes; as of this writing, nine such volumes have been released. Although the webtoon’s general structure is slightly altered, its plot remains the same (save for the expanded ending, but more on that below). This explains the disparity in the quantity of volumes and chapters.

Now, if you look at the overall structure of the Solo Leveling manhwa arcs and volumes, you’ll notice that there are some significant differences. In the next section, we are going to explain why that is.

Why does the webtoon have more content than the original web novel, but fewer chapters?

The first thing you’ll notice about the overall structure of the Solo Leveling series is that the web novel (original work) and the webtoon (adaptation), have a different number of chapters. As we have said, the original web novel had a total of 270 chapters, while the webtoon initially ended with a total of 179 chapters, but 21 chapters were later added, and the series ended with 200 chapters in total. How did this happen?

Well, up to chapter 179 – the explanation is easy. A webtoon has a slightly different format than a web novel (the former is a comic, a manhwa, basically, while the latter is something akin to a light novel), so the overall difference up until Chapter 179 of the webtoon is not hard to explain. It is a completely structural thing, and it has nothing to do with the content because the content of the web novel and the webtoon is identical up to Chapter 179 of the webtoon, which adapts the final chapters of the original web novel.

So, why does the Solo Leveling webtoon have 21 additional chapters? Well, these chapters were published later, after the conclusion of the original web novel and the webtoon, and they actually are the Solo Leveling side stories we are talking about. We are now going to elaborate on that as well.

What are the Solo Leveling side stories, and how many are there?

As we have said, the Solo Leveling series ended with Chapter 270 of the web novel, which corresponds to Chapter 179 of the webtoon. But, after the web novel’s and webtoon’s completion, as well as throughout its run, several side stories have been created, and their publication was announced sometime in 2022. Namely, it was confirmed that these Solo Leveling side stories would be published, but only in webtoon format, not in the form of a web novel.

This piece of good news was mingled with the news of the death of Dubu, the series’ original illustrator, so it was a bittersweet piece of news for Solo Leveling fans, but it was better than just the sad news of the illustrator’s death. Now, these stories expanded on the epilogue and continued the story of Solo Leveling beyond that point, showing that the fighting was not over. In case you need some additional clarification, these side stories were later labeled as the Academy Arc of Solo Leveling, whose plot we are going to tell you about later in this article.

Have the Solo Leveling side stories been collected? Can you read them?

As far as the availability of these side stories is concerned, we have told you that they have been “collected” as part of the Academy Arc, which includes Chapters 180 to 200 of the webtoon. The collected editions of the webtoon are still being published, so we don’t know when the Academy Arc is going to be collected in printed format, but these chapters are available online and can be read legally via sites that generally host webtoons.

So, these chapters are available and can be read, but only in webtoon format. They have not been published as a web novel, and it is unlikely that they are going to be published in that format anytime soon. This means that the Academy Arc is not part of the original web novel, so if you want to know what happened after the Epilogue, you’ll have to read the webtoon.

What is the plot of the Academy Arc of Solo Leveling?

We will not, of course, reveal all the narrative details of the Academy Arc, but we are going to give you a short overview of what you can expect in this arc. Some spoilers will be present, but the overall story won’t be revealed in detail.

So, the Academy Arc simply continues from the Epilogue. We know that Jinwoo used the Cup of Reincarnation to turn back time once again, going back in time, defeating the Monarchs, and seemingly creating a peaceful world. He is now a different person, more self-confident than he originally was when he was in high school, and the Arc focuses a lot on the growth of his relationship with Cha Hae-in, which is now becoming more meaningful.

But Jinwoo also has to face the consequences of using the Cup: although no one should remember what he did, people start to remember things they shouldn’t, and the current Hunters begin seeing Jinwoo’s Shadow, which becomes a problem for him. And this is what the arc ultimately explores. If you want more details, we suggest you read the webtoon – it’s worth it!

Are the side stories a sequel to Solo Leveling?

If you’re wondering whether the side stories are actually a sequel to Solo Leveling, we’re more inclined to say that they are not. Sure, they continue the plot after the Epilogue, but we wouldn’t really call them a sequel in the literal sense of the word. They are part of the original Solo Leveling manhwa and form an integral part of that story, so we think that it would be better to label them as an epilogue or a post-scriptum, if we have to label them at all. But that does not mean that she series doesn’t have a sequel!

Does Solo Leveling have an official sequel?

Although the side stories collected in the Academy Arc are not a sequel to Solo Leveling, Kakao announced that a sequel web novel, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, would start publication in April 2023, with a webtoon adaptation (with a new illustrator, sadly) planned for 2024. The sequel is currently ongoing, with the side stories of Solo Leveling serving as a direct prelude to the Solo Leveling: Ragnarok sequel, which is centered around Sung Su-ho, Jinwoo’s and Hae-in’s s, son, who inherited Jinwoo’s abilities.

So, while the side stories were not actually a sequel to Solo Leveling, they served as a basis for the real sequel, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok.

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