Solo Leveling’s mysterious ‘System’ is the perplexing benefactor that grants Sung Jinwoo his incredible ability to level up after the statue almost kills him in the first double dungeon. As Jinwoo’s story progresses, the System is peppered throughout nearly all of his interactions, feeding him information, providing new abilities to craft items, and directing his growth through skill trees. But what is this mysterious matrix, and why isn’t it accessible to all who want to get stronger?
While Solo Leveling Season 2 focused its attention on Jinwoo’s accumulation of shadow soldiers as he fully explores his new job type, his discovery as an S Rank hunter, and the insane finale fight with the Ant King, Season 3 is in prime position to really zero in on these hard-asked questions about the System and what Sung Jinwoo’s leveling up really means. Perhaps, in the covetous corridors of Season 3, we will finally have the answer to the Ant King’s question: ‘Is this human?’
Season 3 Will Level Things Up!
The content lined up for Season 3 to potentially cover takes everything you’ve experienced in Season 2 and amps it up to eleven. With the introduction of the Guild Conference Arc coinciding with a very special meeting, not only is the cast of Solo Leveling’s high-powered individuals expanding, but we finally get to see who, or what, is running Sung Jinwoo’s show.
The question has been a driving cornerstone of this story since Sung Jinwoo gained his powers in Season 1. With the way that Jinwoo’s behaviour fluctuates as he saves groups of people and cuts others down, as per the hunters in Solo Leveling Season 1 Episode 6, it is easy to question this faceless deity and how much it is altering Sung Jinwoo from the inside every time he miraculously levels up.
Loose Threads
Upon meeting the system’s curator, Jinwoo will finally be able to ask some of the questions that have been plaguing our minds, about the nature of the Eternal Sleep, about why Jinwoo himself is the only person to be a ‘player’ and what game he is involved in that transcends the bounds of modern hunting. We do get a small taste of just how many questions Sung Jinwoo is harbouring when he meets Esil, the demon girl. As he asks his questions, Esil’s tone of voice changes, her eyes begin to pixel-glitch, and she tells him that his allotted information has been exceeded.
Our protagonist is building those questions up, though, and it’s nice to see that he’s not just going to be a blind sheep following power to corruption. But what will Sung Jinwoo do with the information he learns from the System’s curator? Will he be able to obtain the title of Shadow Monarch through these upcoming interactions?
Making Something Memorable
Solo Leveling Season 2 was recently announced as a nominee for the Astra Awards 2025. The show won Best Anime in 2024, and this year, Aleks Le (Sung Jinwoo’s English voice actor) and Justin Briner (Yoo Jinho’s English voice actor) have also been nominated for Best Voice Over Performance and Best Supporting Voice Over Performance, respectively. It’s safe to say that the pressure is on to really cook with the next Season, and perhaps this is why the developers have been hinting at a 2028 winter Olympic adjacent release rather than a release in January 2026 as per the patterning of the previous release for Season 2. Thank goodness, the material for Season 3 practically screams over-arching climax.
Are Sung Jinwoo’s Abilities Dark?
With a name like the Shadow Monarch, it certainly wouldn’t be too out there to assume that Sung Jinwoo’s abilities are steeped in darkness. Solo Leveling is an intelligent anime, though, and it has expertly explored the topic of morality and what keeps someone human since the very first episode, so of course, the answer is ambiguous.
Technically, Jinwoo’s abilities are rooted in necromancy. He pulls dead souls out of corpses and uses them as his own personal tools in a make-believe army. He is pursuing the job title Shadow Monarch, with all the traditional connotations that come along with a title like that, and has actively used his superior skills to murder people who cannot defend themselves after being given the quest by the system to annihilate a threat in a dungeon he’s dragged into.
The Good, The Bad, The Morally Corrupt
Do these things make Sung Jinwoo’s abilities dark? Or is it his moral choices and the way he uses his powers that make him a monster? Solo Leveling is constantly drawing on this conundrum to make the viewer think while toying with Sung Jinwoo’s humanity like a cat with a ball of yarn. It makes for a fascinating view of what’s happening to the altruistic E ranker that was introduced in Episode 1 as one minute, he’s seen breaking down as his mother is revived, the next, he is decimating the Ant King with some of the best trash-talking burns I’ve seen since Goku told Freiza he was bored at the end of their legendary clash.
What is consistently apparent is that Jinwoo’s humanity and those steadfast morals that he had in those first crucial episodes that actually engaged the System enough to grant him player status in the first place are being constantly tested. Anyone else would surely have cracked under the strain of so much power obtained so quickly, or the demanding nature of the System’s directives. Sung Jinwoo has been perfectly made for this role, and these powers, and for the System to choose so wisely, show a level of ominous intelligence that will make for either an interesting antagonist or another powerful ally.
Why Is Solo Leveling So Popular?
Solo Leveling practically exploded with global popularity overnight following its initial release as part of the Winter 2024 anime drop. The webtoon now boasts over 14 billion views, and the anime has received phenomenal scores on Rotten Tomatoes for both of its released Seasons, coming in at 89% and 94% respectively. Its popularity can be attributed to a number of things, including the genius inclusion of isekai elements, the delicate and articulate portrayal of the OP protagonist and his internal struggles, as exacerbated and toyed with by this mysterious ‘System’, the stunning artwork including the expertly choreographed fight scenes and the fantastic sound design.
With such a global sensation, it’s hard to think that the executives over at A-1 Pictures aren’t frantically trying to maximise their time on the hype train by pumping out content as fast as their little hands can draw. Instead, a Season 3 has been hinted at, at best, though you can be sure that we will be on that like Jinwoo on a level-up opportunity as soon as we get even the faintest whiff of more release information.
