The following article contains spoilers for Solo Leveling: Ragnarok.
Solo Leveling season 3 is officially in production, but while the next season of the anime is unlikely to arrive before 2027, the manhwa provides critical hints for where the story will go, especially in the sequel series, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok. From the very start, Solo Leveling has always been about the individual journey of Sung Jinwoo, and in Ragnarok, only Sung Suho could level up.
However, the series took a radical shift with Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Webtoon Chapter 62, where Sung Suho gained a new ability. This ability flipped the very concept of “solo leveling” on its head, and it proves that Solo Leveling will never be the same again.
Sung Suho’s New Ability in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Lets Other Hunters Level Up
Sung Suho’s skillset in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok is somewhat similar to Sung Jinwoo’s, but there’s a key difference. While he can extract shadows just like his dad can, his personal area of expertise isn’t in raising Shadow Soldiers as members of an army, but rather turning Shadows into new weapons and equipment using his Shadow Creation Skill. This is a skill that Sung Jinwoo used in a crude form once before, called Shadow Manipulation, as seen in his final battle against Antares in Volume 13 of the original series.
However, Suho’s Shadow Creation is a more advanced form of Shadow Manipulation — which is why Beru even reacts with surprise at how much greater Suho’s version of the skill is than Jinwoo’s. Sung Suho’s innate creativity allowed him to master Shadow Creation even faster than Jinwoo and to a greater degree than his father ever could. It’s simply a skill that fed more into Suho’s talents.
As a result, Suho can craft unique pieces of armor and weapons using Shadow Creation, and then store them for future use. These pieces of equipment vary in strength, mainly influenced by the power of the Shadow they’re created from. They thereby provide stat boosts and can even grant the wearer unique skills. Even more interesting is the fact that the equipment can level up with repeated use, growing stronger alongside Suho the more he uses them.
Suho realized by the end of Solo Leveling: Ragnarok’s first season (the season finale was Chapter 47) that he could hand over his Shadow equipment to other people, thereby allowing them to reap the benefits of the stat increases. In Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 62, it’s revealed that not only can Suho hand over the items to others, but the equipment also levels up even when it’s being used by other people.
Baek Yoonho Levels Up in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 62
In Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 62, Sung Suho tests out his Shadow Creation ability on Baek Yoonho, the Master of the White Tiger Guild. Suho gives Baek a pair of Heroic Grade gauntlets he created from a powerful Magic Beast he defeated in a recent Gate, which he aptly named “Baekgu.” Not only do the gauntlets imbue Baek with increased power and the ability to use their special skill, “Surge,” but they also level up when put into use long enough. As Baek realizes, he truly feels more powerful after the gauntlet’s stats increase.
Now that Baek can effectively level up just like Sung Suho and Jinwoo could, the entire concept of ‘leveling up solo’ that lies at the heart of Solo Leveling’s title has been rendered obsolete. The original title of Chugong’s light novel, I Alone Level Up, truly does not apply to Sung Suho’s story anymore. At the end of Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 62, Woo Jinchul, the fan-favorite chief of the Hunter’s Association, contemplates the implications of the huge moment.
Woo Jinchul is by no means a slouch in terms of power, being an A-Rank Hunter himself, but he’s no match for any S-Rank. That may finally change. Jinchul thinks to himself at the end of the chapter that he may finally be able to stand side by side with Jinwoo on the battlefield, a possibility which ignites a new fire in his heart.
Suho Doesn’t “Solo Level” Anymore, But the Series Is Still Fantastic
Of course, even though Sung Suho completely obliterated the idea of leveling up solo in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, this by no means indicates that the series is over. Sung Suho still has a long way to go before he can stand beside his father in the battle against the Itarim, so fans can look forward to plenty more from his story in the Webtoon.
While the release window for Solo Leveling season 3 has yet to be confirmed, the next season of the anime is officially in production. Catching up on the manhwa is the perfect way to pass the time while waiting for the next season to arrive, and new developments like this one prove Solo Leveling will never be the same.