Summary
Jinwoo learns the fate of Earth in the final Solo Leveling chapters and fights the Monarch to save humanity. Jinwoo defeated Antares, the King of Destruction, and reversed time with the Cup of Rebirth. The ending wraps up loose threads as Jinwoo sacrifices himself to save the world, leaving fans satisfied.
Warning: Major spoilers for Solo Leveling’s ending.
Level up alone easily the most popular manhwa series today with many intriguing mysteries that are only explained in its ending. The widespread success of the anime adaptation alone speaks volumes for Solo Leveling’s simple yet engaging story. That said, despite its popularity and loyal fan base, the series’ ending took an unexpected path that left many fans shocked and even dissatisfied.
In the ending of Solo Leveling, Jinwoo learns the truth about why magical beasts and portals began appearing on Earth as well as about the existence of primitive beings called Rulers. and the Monarch, the latter intent on destroying the planet. After nearly dying fighting the three kings, Jinwoo inherited the full power of the Dark King and decided to fight the King. Jinwoo then prepared to fight the strongest King named Antares, the King of Destruction who had an army of ten million Dragons.
Jinwoo defeated Antares and the remaining Monarchs with help from the Rulers, but chooses to use a divine tool known as the Cup of Rebirth to reverse time caused by the destruction caused and the lives lost. Thus, Jinwoo returned the world to the time before portals began appearing when he defeated the Monarch in another dimension, becoming the silent hero who secretly saved the world.
Jinwoo learns the truth about the world and his powers
Solo Leveling by Chu Gong, chapter #163
In the final chapters of the series, Jinwoo discovered that Earth has been chosen as the battlefield for an apocalyptic battle between the Ruler and the Monarch, are creatures made of light and darkness, respectively. Both were created by an entity called the Absolute Entity and the two groups have been at war with each other since the dawn of time.
Wanting to end the conflict, seven of the eight Rulers serving the Absolute Entity decided to rebel after discovering that the long war was only for the Absolute Entity’s entertainment. They succeeded in destroying the Absolute Entity and defeating Ashborn, the only remaining Ruler still loyal to the Absolute Entity. Then Ashborn discovered a hidden power within himself and transformed into Shadow Monarch.
A battle between the Ruler and the Monarch on Earth would surely destroy the planet.
The Rulers used a tool created by the Absolute known as the Cup of Rebirth to go back in time and try to prevent the tragedy. However, no matter how many times they try, humanity is still destroyed in every timeline. With no other choice, the Rulers decide to use the Cup once more to go back in time ten years before the current storyline. This time, The rulers began to fortify the Earth with mana by opening the gates and made humans stronger by turning them into hunters.
Jinwoo later discovered that he himself had been chosen by the former Dark King Ashborn to be his vessel and that his ability to level up was simply a way for his body to adapt to Ashborn’s power. However, when Jinwoo returned to the Double Dungeon, Instead, Ashborn chose to pass on his power, making Jinwoo the new Shadow King.
Ashborn sided with the Monarchs to help maintain the balance of power after the Rulers killed the Absolute and vowed to end the war by destroying the Monarchs once and for all. Ashborn was eventually betrayed by two of the Monarchs but did not rejoin the Rulers even though they asked for his forgiveness.
After much contemplation, Jinwoo decided he had to defeat the Monarchs because they existed only to destroy and kill creatures created from darkness. So, he reunites with the Shadow Monarch’s official army and prepares to fight AntaresThe King of Destruction is also known as the Dragon King and is the strongest of all the Monarchs.
Jinwoo fought Antares, the King of Destruction
Solo Leveling, chapters #171 to #177
Jinwoo’s battle against Antares in the final arc began when he finally entered the battlefield in Canada, where Antares devastated the landscape with his ten million-strong army while waiting for Jinwoo to appear. It didn’t take long for Antares to surround Jinwoo with his army, at which point Jinwoo summons his shadow soldiers and uses Dragon’s Fear (a skill he acquired from Kamish’s runestone) to temporarily disable Antares’ army.
Antares was also taken aback, which gave Jinwoo an opportunity Use Shadow Exchange to teleport Antares and himself to a remote island all around the world. Here, the two continued their fight passionately. The King of Destruction tried to trick Jinwoo by claiming that he would leave the planet alone if Jinwoo joined him in defeating the Dominators but Jinwoo recognized the bloodlust in Antares’ eyes and did not fall into the trap.
Jinwoo then used his father’s blade to slice Antares in half down the middle, just then a crack appeared in the sky and the army of the Rulers appeared. Antares then realized that Jinwoo planned to use their battle to distort space and send the Dominators to Earth all this time, that’s why he teleported them to the remote island. The rulers’ army spared no time in finishing off Antares as Jinwoo simply declared that they would meet again soon, hinting at the rest of his plan.
Jinwoo reversed time with the cup of reincarnation
Solo Leveling, chapter #177
As the Rulers thanked Jinwoo for his help, Jinwoo asked to use the Reincarnation Cup one last time claiming that he had lost too many people in battle and wished to bring them back. Jinwoo’s desire to turn back time reflects his desire to save not only his loved ones like Go Gunhee and his father but also the many lives that have been lost around the world not only since the beginning of the war against back to the Monarchy from which gates began to appear.
The Rulers warned Jinwoo that the Monarchs would be resurrected with their memories of this life intact and that the Cup was depleted and could not be used again if Jinwoo failed. Jinwoo remained steadfast in his decision and the Rulers used the Rebirth Cup one last time. Jinwoo then found himself back in his youthful body and enjoyed a little taste of peace like a normal schoolboy before heading to the dimensional space to fight the Monarch. Jinwoo spent 27 years fighting the Monarch, leave Antares for the last time.
Jinwoo lost two of his shadow soldiers, Iron and Greed, after using the Goblet because they should not have existed in the past and would have come into conflict with the new timeline.
With all the Monarchs defeated in the void of space, the crisis on Earth was quietly avoided and Jinwoo returned to a normal world that no longer needed gates, beasts, or hunters.
Meanwhile, two years have passed in the real world. Jinwoo returned and continued to live a normal life, although gradually changes his appearance to look like he is aging. As the story ends, Jinwoo gradually meets characters from the old timeline such as Go Gunhee, Jinho, Juhee, Jinchul and most importantly Cha Haein. Many characters would have died if they had become hunters, living long, fulfilling lives with only the Ruler’s vessel knowing about Jinwoo’s sacrifice.
Overall, although the anticlimactic nature of the final battle with Antares left many fans unsatisfied, Level up alone‘send still surprisingly manages to wrap up all its loose threads with a happy ending to Jinwoo’s story. It’s true that the series also doesn’t show much of Jinwoo’s fighting in space, but these are simply pacing issues that Solo Leveling’s anime adaptation can hopefully improve.
Level up alone available to read from Pocket Comics, Tapas and Tappytoon.