“When you go from level 99 to level 1 and start all over again.”
Hardcore Leveling Warrior, also known by the HCLW acronym, is a manhwa and webtoon series written and illustrated by Kim Sehoon and produced via Studio Hohoee. The series is set in the world of Lucid Adventure, a place that is accessed through dreams. It follows Hardcore Leveling Warrior and his colleagues on their full fledged RPG adventure.
The firs season, Hardcore Leveling Warrior: Lucid Adventure was published on January 24, 2016, through NAVER Webtoon (NAVER 만화) in author's native language - Korean. It was updated every Sunday. The second season of the series, Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2: Sleepwalker, was published on the 27th of July 2019 on Naver Webtoon. The series concluded on March 12th, 2022. The Hardcore Leveling Warrior webtoon is officially translated in several languages that include English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, Spanish, Thai and Japanese.
On the 21st of September, 2023, Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 3, was published on Naver Webtoon. It is serialized as Hardcore Leveling Warrior: Earth Game on WEBTOON.
A prequel series to Hardcore Leveling Warrior called X Ash is also published on Naver webtoon and WEBTOON. On the 30th of October 2021, the backstory connecting X Ash to the main Hardcore Leveling Warrior webtoon was added as a 'Special Edition' to Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 119. The 'Special Edition' was not included in the English and Taiwanese versions published on WEBTOON, and can only be found in the original Korean version. The English translation for the 'Special Edition' can be found here.
Premise[]
- Main Article: Story Arcs and Episodes
“If you clear the quest, you will get everything”
- Reality outside of reality, Lucid Adventure a full-fledged RPG adventure between the strongest warrior, 'Hardcore Leveling Warrior' and colleagues.
Hardcore Leveling Warrior was the No.1 Ranked player in Lucid Adventure and the only player on the server with The Golden Armor and max stats. He is a dirty player and is criticised for his antics such as stealing quests, blocking other users from completing quests and stealing MOBs that others had almost finished and is dirty.
During an SS-Class Quest, he is beaten by a mysterious assassin and his Golden Armor and items are stolen from him before his level and stats are Level 1. He must go on a long journey of redemption to recover his stats and power as well as earn enough money to repay the money he owes to loan sharks in The Real World.
Characters[]
- Main Articles: Characters
Main Characters[]
Hardcore Leveling Warrior (Gong Won-Ho)
In the real world, Gong Won-Ho's gambling addiction leads to him becoming a prisoner of a games workshop run by a gangster and loan shark known as Chairman Kim. Gun Won-Ho is forced to play Lucid Adventure in order to repay his debt or lose his life. In Lucid Adventure, Gong Won-Ho becomes Hardcore Leveling Warrior and eventually becomes the No.1 Ranked player in the game. He is the only player that has the Legendary Golden Armour and max stats in every category.
Due to his dirty nature, he slighted many players and made a lot of enemies. On one of his quests, he is ambushed by many players but quickly defeats them. In the midst of all the chaos he is attacked by a mysterious assassin who strips him off his Golden Items and leaves him for dead. Hardcore Leveling Warrior is killed and his level and stats are all reset back to level 1. Hardcore Leveling Warrior begins a journey of to recover his lost level, stats and items and to earn enough money to pay back Chairman Kim. He parties up with Dark and Sora as they go on an whirlwind of an adventure.
Sora (Ko Sora)
A year ago during the war against Nightmare, Sora was saved by the then rank no.3 Hardcore Leveling Warrior. He motivated Sora to get stronger. A year later, Sora saves Hardcore Leveling Warrior and joins his party as they go on many adventures within the game. She wants to prove to herself and Hardcore Leveling Warrior that she has become stronger.
Dark (Han Gun-Woo)
Han Gun-Woo is the grandson of Han Gun-Jae, the Chairman of Giga. After falling into a coma, Gun-Woo's grandfather still appeared online in Lucid Adventure. Han Gun-Woo began playing Lucid Adventure in order to see his grandfather once again. He is constantly assassinated by Giga until he goes under the protection of Heart Heater. Gun-Woo hires and teams up with Hardcore Leveling Warrior in order to get stronger and to meet his grandfather once again.
Other Characters[]
Heart Heater is a loan shark and a high-level NPC in Lucid Adventure. He acts as a quest intermediary and is an underling of Dark. He hates idiots that can pay back the money they borrows. Heart Heater has a habit of cutting off the fingers of those who do not pay their debts and nailing it on the wall of his Quest House.
Heart Heater's loyal assistant. Alongside Heart Heater, he serves Dark as an underling.
The chairman of Miso Corporation. He is a loan shark and gangster that runs a famous Lucid Adventure workshop in South Korea where his debtors are forced to play Lucid Adventure constantly till they can pay back their debts. He uses Miso Corporation as a front to his illegal operations.
Yopy (Doo-Yeop)
The King of Yopy Land and leader of the Eastern Alliance. He is a mysterious player that has been a thorn in Giga's side. For an unknown reason, He supports Dark's party which has put him at odds with Giga and threatens the fragile armistice that was enacted due to the war on Nightmare. The character's real name and game name are based on the author of the webtoons Taoist Land and Link Boy, Lee Doo-Yeop.
Taek is the Grand General of Yopy Land and one of Yopy's closest friends. He is known throughout Lucid Adventure for his brash attitude as well has his immense combat ability. The character's appearance and skill set carry the motif of Kim Gu, the main character of the Naver Webtoon series known as 'The Head'. The character's name is based on Jeong Jong-Taek, the author of 'The Head'.
Le. Rajie is a Great Demon that was de-powered and sealed in the Black Magic Dungeon by a mysterious woman. He is eventually defeated by Hardcore Leveling Warrior's party and becomes Dark's familiar. His personal goal is to get stronger and get revenge on the woman that sealed him the dungeon.
Light (Han Gun-Soo)
Han Gun-Soo is the vice-president of Giga and one of the grandsons of the Han Gun-Jae, the current Giga Chairman. In the game, he sends assassins to constantly kill Han Gun-Woo who is a threat to to the Giga fortune. His main goal is to win the Combat Tournament in order to gain the recognition of his father, the current acting Chairman of Giga.
Sword Master (Han Gun-Jae)
Han Gun-Jae is the Giga chairman and the grandfather of Han Gun-Woo. At some point in the past he contracted an unknown illness and was hospitalised. He gathered his family in the hospital and told them to log into Lucid Adventure as he will leave his will in there. He fell into a coma soon after. Despite being in a coma, Han Gun-Jae still appears as online on Lucid Adventure. His family are currently searching for him in the game.
Organisations[]
A South Korean multinational conglomerate that created Lucid Adventure. It is a Chaebol that is controlled by the Han family. In Lucid Adventure, Giga operates as the Giga Empire and ensure that order is kept in the game.
The capital of the Eastern Kingdom and the kingdom of King Yopy. Yopy Land was at war with the Giga Empire but they had an armistice in order to suppress the growing threat of Nightmare.
An alliance composed of the nations within the Eastern Kingdoms. It includes Yopy Land, Azi, Ran, Eidayjuu, Teto, Irugo, Woof Woof Land and Cobalt. The alliance serves as a balance to The Giga Empire in Lucid Adventure.
Terminology[]
- Main Article: Terminologies
- Lucid Adventure: A popular VMMORPG that is accessed through a person's dream. It was created by Giga. An hour in the real world is 7 hours in Lucid Adventure. The game has become so popular that it has begun impacting the real world. What you can do in the game has as much impact as what you can do in the real world.
- Personal Trait: A skill randomly given to a player during character creation.It is an attribute given regardless of the players class or tribe. There are three tiers of personal attributes:
- Tier 3 - Skill Type/Stat Type: A player with a skill Type is granted a unique skill while a player with a stat type is granted an increase in a particular stat. It is advantageous to choose a class that can utilise the enhanced stat.
- Tier 2 - Class Type: The player can acquire an additional class by satisfying a hidden condition.
- Tier 1 - Person Type: It is a type were a a particular person (or object) such as a great person, a celebrity or a hero in a myth becomes a class. This attribute allows the user to create his/her own original skill.
- Tier 0 - Transcendental Skill Type: This attribute grants the player a skill that transcends the rules of the game. It is the rarest attribute and very few players have it.
- Class: Also known as Job. Classes are divided into combat and non-combat classes.
- Tribe: The race of the players such as humans, orcs and elves.
- All-Stat: A player that has reached the max level in Lucid Adventure and has maxed out all the stats in the game.
- Combat Tournament: A Lucid Adventure Tournament created and hosted by the God of Combat. It occurs once a year in Lucid Adventure time. The winner of the Tournament can gain great items and even an entire country as a reward.
- Nightmare: A mysterious entity in Lucid Adventure that causes a bug in the game. It initiated the large-scale war known as The Very First War in the game. Any player caught using Nightmare is arrested and deleted from the game by Giga.
- The Very First War: A year before the start of the series, a large-scale war occurred in Lucid Adventure. It was started by a red player guild known as 'Nightmare Guild'. Through the combined efforts of Giga, Yopy Land and other smaller nations, 'Nightmare' was eventually suppressed and has gone into remission.
- Rankers: They are the strongest players in Lucid Adventure. Rankers became so popular that they shoot commercials like celebrities.
- NPC of Duels: The underlings of The God of Combat. They referee duels and PvPs in Lucid Adventure and act as enforcers of the rewards.
Development[]
Kim Sehoon has stated that he came up with the basic idea of Hardcore Leveling Warrior whilst he was studying at University. He was also inspired by several MMORPG series including Vindictus, Mabinogi and Ragnarok Online.
He wanted to create a world of escapism, where people could escape their dark realities in the real world through the game world such as Hardcore Leveling Warrior. He incorporated a lot of his personal experiences into the series.
In 2013 or 2014, Kim Sehoon already had a picture of Lucid Adventure on his blog, but he scratched it. He already had a picture of Hardcore Leveling Warrior, although the overall characters design changed by the time the series came about. The idea of logging into Lucid Adventure and the House of Beginnings was already formulated in 2013 and Kim Sehoon even posted a thread about it on dcinside.com.
Kim Sehoon put the first Episode of Hardcore Leveling Warrior as a Challenge Manhwa on the 24th of August 205. After the first 6 Episodes, Hardcore Leveling Warrior became one of the Best Challenge on Naver on the 30th of October 2015. By the the 15th of November 2015, Hardcore Leveling Warrior was promoted as a Webtoon. The first Episode of the Hardcore Leveling Warrior was posted on Naver on the 23 of January 2016.
Elements[]
Main Article: Pop Culture References
Using the common isekai trope as a platform, the series pays homage to the South Korean culture in various forms that include memes, food, slang and gaming culture. It also pays homage and makes references to several popular webtoons, mangas and animes. Mythology plays a central role in the motif and abilities of character, these include East Asian, Greco-Roman Mythology and Norse Mythology.
Reception[]
Since it's inception, the series quickly rose to mid level popularity in Naver's Sunday Webtoon. Thanks to the steady and recent development it rose to become the 3rd most popular webtoon on Sunday. In the second week of April 2019, it became the No.1 webtoon on Naver's Sunday webtoon. By the time the second season the popularity declined slightly and it is currently the 5th most popular webtoon on Naver's Sunday webtoon. It is currently the seventh most popular webtoon on Naver's Sunday (Korean time) releases with an average rating of 9.94.
On LINE Webtoon (English), It currently has 1.1 Million subscribers and is rated 9.77. At 11.4 Million likes, it is the 7th most liked Webtoon on LINE Webtoon's Friday releases.
MrCrazyani of Webtoonguide.com praised the series as being a professional work "in all aspects" and praised it's story, artwork and directing. He praises the series for achieving it's purpose of pure entertainment and says "if you are looking for a literal 'interesting' webtoon, Hardcore Leveling Warrior is for you.[1]
Park Eun-Gu (박은구) of Webtoonguide.com praises the series "vast world view, three dimensional characters and appropriate foreplay and retrieval with a solid setting." He calls it a "cool work" and praises the series immiscibility and how fun it is. He does go on to say that the plot of the series could prove to be a double edged sword as readers who like "overpowered protagonists" may be frustrated by the process of Hardcore Leveling Warrior trying to regain his former power. He does state that even then, readers should respect the author's direction and give it a little more time. He does go on to say if the series suits your taste it will be very difficult to find a work that is as highly anticipated.[2]
Hwang JiHye (황지혜) of Webtoonguide.com praises the series and says that despite what seems to be a simple MMORPG setting, the story is not superficial and proclaims it is a webtoon that provides a thrill with it's storyline which is getting "bigger and bigger". He also praises Hardcore Leveling Warrior, citing that because he is not a typical protagonist, it makes the story even better.[3]
Shy Chef, a LINE Webtoon sponsored Youtube channel, called the the webtoon a "fantastic series" with great characters, amazing moments and pretty spectacular fight scenes.[4] He also praises Hardcore Leveling Warrior's character for developing througout the series and becoming more likeable in a comparable manner to other protagonists like Tony Stark from Marvel Cinematic Universe's Iron Man and Emperor Kuzco from Disney's The Emperor's New Groove.[5] He says "Ethan represents the worst in all of us...but what's so amazing about him is what he means for all of us. That all of us, no matter who we are or what we've done, are capable of becoming better people."[4]
Criticisms[]
Errors[]
Main Article: Hardcore Leveling Warrior Errors
- Spelling Errors: Spelling errors have been consistent throughout the series serialization. Comment can be seen in the Naver version with people calling out the typos. Although there a several typos, it does not seem to detract from the series as comments still praise the series.
- Setting Errors:
- Drawing Errors:
- Naming Errors:
Unfulfilled Plotlines[]
These are plotlines that were hinted at beforehand but were not delved into deeper by the author for unknown reasons.
Controversies[]
Removal of Taek[]
The popular character known as Taek was suddenly removed from the Hardcore Leveling Warrior webtoon due to a plagiarising incident involving the Naver Webtoon series known as 'The Head'. Scenes from a popular webtoon series known as Chan' were plagiarised by the 'The Head'. The discovery was made by fans and posted on the internet. The plagiarised scenes were removed from the chapter and an apology was issued by Jeong Jong-Taek, the author of 'The Head'. 'The Head' was eventually pulled from Naver's website and has been discontinued permanently.
Due to Taek having the motif of Kim Gu, the main character of the discontinued 'The Head', the author of Hardcore Leveling Warrior decided to stop using the character in his series. Naver released a statement in response to the situation, saying: "The character in question (Taek) is not a motif for Kim Gu, but rather a character that uses skills that are reminiscent of Kim Gu". Naver continued with: "It is not without the influence of 'The Head', but it is difficult to say whether the character will appear in the future. The development of the story and the appearance of the character are entirely up to the artist."[6]
[]
Lu Bu's Spear[]
For some time, Naver has been censoring webtoons across its platform. This includes excessive violence, sexual gratuity and bad language. This has affected Hardcore Leveling Warrior. Two notable censoring incidents occurred recently In Season 2 Episode 67, Lu Bu's weapon was unnecessarily censored which led to Korean fans complaining; this incident can be seen here.
Jeju Totem Pole Name Change[]
Another incident occurred in Season 2 Episode 71, where Naver controversially changed the traditional naming of a Jeju totem poles due to what saw as them bowing to pressure from feminists. This led to mass protests in the comments section, with some threatening to completely boycott Naver and switch to Naver's rival webtoon platform, Kakao. Naver censored multiple comments for the chapter due to the adverse reaction. More information on the incident can be found here. Eventually, Naver changed the name back due to fan backlash.
Themes[]
Many real world items were the primary focus on certain characters and story arcs.
- Assassination - Mainly used by Giga to get rid of their enemies or people that can potentially get in their way.
- Addiction - Portrayed mainly in the form of Gambling and gaming addiction, particularly by Hardcore Leveling Warrior.
- Corruption - Especially by the Giga Corporation, Smile Corporation and the police force. Human corruption is one of the main driving forces behind Zero's actions to destroy both Lucid Adventure and The Real World.
- Discrimination - This is shown subtly through the Players discriminating against the 'NPC', who are in fact 'real'.
- Escapism - Hardcore Leveling Warrior and many players immerse themselves in the game world to escape their horrible lives.
- Family Feuds - This is shown mainly through the Han Family. There is a feud over Roy Han's will as well as infighting within the family to get full control of Giga and Lucid Adventure.
- Mass Surveillance - This is show by Giga monitoring and tapping up communications within Lucid Adventure.
- Organ Trafficking: Chairman Kim sells the organs of men who fail to pay him back.
- Prohibition - This is shown through Giga banning the use of Nightmare by regular players while they use it freely to achieve their goals. They also banned Godcha as well.
- Propaganda - This is shown through Giga's deceit of the public. They pretend they are the Light in Lucid Adventure whilst using nefarious methods to get rid of their enemies in the shadows.
- Prostitution: Chairman Kim sells women off into prostitution if they fail to pay him back.
- Pursuing One's Dreams - Focused on throughout the series, particularly with Dark's Party. Many people are playing the game for a variety of reasons.
- Slavery - This is shown primarily through Chairman Kim enslaving people that owe him debt and forcing them to play Lucid Adventure.
- War - Focused on during The Very First War and the War between Yopy Land and Giga.
- War Profiteering - Heart Heater speaks about War being profitable.
Media[]
Webtoon[]
- Main Article: Story Arcs and Episodes
Written and illustrated by Kim Sehoon, 열렙전사 (Lit: Warrior Who Levels Up as if on Fire) has been serialised weekly every Sunday on Naver's webtoon platform since January 24, 2016. In total there are 312 chapters (called episodes). The first 176 chapters are part of Season I and constitute the first section of the Hardcore Leveling Warrior storyline. Chapters 177 to 183 include a AE (After Episode) focusing on short stories that occurred before and during the timeskip. The remaining chapters (184 to 312) belong to Season II: Sleepwalker , which continues the story after a 2-year gap in the story's real world timeline.
열렙전사 received an official Chinese (Traditional) translation on WEBTOON as 熱練戰士. It began on 1st of September, 2016 and is published weekly every Thursday.
열렙전사 received an official Chinese (Simplified) translation on Dongman Manhua as [1]热练战士. It began on 1st of September, 2016 and is published weekly every Thursday.
열렙전사 received an official English translation on WEBTOON as Hardcore Leveling Warrior. It began on 7th of November, 2017. Due to the gap between the original Korean serialization and the English translation, WEBTOON released two chapters a week on Tuesdays and Fridays. This bi-weekly release continued until the release of AE Episode 6 on July 26, 2019. Since then, it has been published weekly every Friday.
열렙전사 received an official French translation on WEBTOON as Hardcore Leveling Warrior. It began on 19th of December, 2019. Due to the gap between the original Korean serialization and the French translation, WEBTOON released the first five chapters on Thursday the 19th of December, 2020. The week after the first batch of chapters, two chapters a week were released on Mondays and Tuesdays. From Episode 80, the biweekly release changed to Mondays and Thursdays.
On the 5th of October 2020, 열렙전사 received a Japanese translation on LINE Manga and is called モーレツ戦士 (romaji: Mōretsu senshi) (Korean: 모레츠 센시) (English: a fierce warrior; a warrior with high spirits; and a warrior who is devoted to fighting). This series can only be viewed by those with a Japanese IP.
On the 4th of August 2021, 열렙전사 received a Spanish translation on WEBTOON and is called Hardcore Leveling Warrior. It is released every Wednesday in Spain. The first three episodes of the series were released on the same day.
On the 11th of March 2022, 열렙전사 received a Japanese translation on WEBTOON and is called Hardcore Leveling Warrior. It is released every Saturday in Thailand. The first three episodes of the series were released on the same day.
| International Releases | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | Title | Platform | Release Date |
| Korean | 열렙전사 | NAVER WEBTOON | January 24, 2016 |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 熱練戰士 | WEBTOON | September 1, 2016 |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 热练战士 | Dongman Manhua | September 1, 2016 |
| English | Hardcore Leveling Warrior | WEBTOON | November 7, 2017 |
| French | Hardcore Leveling Warrior | WEBTOON | December 19, 2019 |
| Japanese | モーレツ戦士 | LINE Manga | October 5, 2020 |
| Spanish | Hardcore Leveling Warrior | WEBTOON | August 4, 2021 |
| Thai | Hardcore Leveling Warrior | WEBTOON | March 11, 2022 |
Comic Book[]
Main Article: Hardcore Leveling Warrior (Comic Book)
On July 27, 2022 the trade paperback version consisting of episodes 1-9 of the webtoon were published as Hardcore Leveling Warrior Volume One by 지식오름. The book not only features the first 9 episodes from the webtoon, it also includes an exclusive bonus episode that was not included in the webtoon. Two trading cards were included exclusively in the limited first edition of Volume One. Those that purchased the first 100 copies of the book got an extra exclusive trading card that was numbered and signed by Kim Sehoon himself as well as an envelope containing a message from Kim Sehoon with his custom artwork.
Spin-Offs[]
On March 02, 2019, Hardcore Leveling Warrior appeared as the 20th and final chapter in the Naver webtoon series, 2019 Military Diary. It was a series where each chapter focused on different Naver Webtoon characters doing the Korean Military service. This was not illustrated by Kim Sehoon.
On 03, March 2020, <Hardcore Leveling Warrior> Author Kim Sehoon Cheers for You> appeared as the 72nd chapter in the Naver webtoon series, Let's Overcome this Together. The series was created as a way for Naver webtoon creators to encourage its readers after the mass outbreak of the corona virus in South Korea. In each episode, various authors of famous Naver webtoon series give words of encouragement, with some even telling the readers how to stop the spread of the virus. The are 60 episodes which include famous Naver webtoon series such Hardcore Leveling Warrior, Tower of God, Gosu, Descent of a Goddess (True Beauty), Windbreaker and Hellper. The series was published from 28th of February 2020 to 4th of March 2020.
On March 23, 2020 The English translation of of <Hardcore Leveling Warrior> Author Kim Sehoon Cheers for You was translated on Naver's LINE Webtoon platform and appeared as the 17th chapter of Staying Healthy Together, The English version of Let's Overcome this Together. The Korean Webtoons already on LINE Webtoon were translated to English such as Hardcore Leveling Warrior, Tower of God, Descent of a Goddess (True Beauty), Gosu as well as LINE Webtoon exclusive webtoons such as Unordinary, Rebirth and SubZero. It was published from 20 March 2020 to 4 April 2020 and has 54 episodes.
On October 29, 2021, X Ash began serialisation on Naver's Webtoon platform. It is written by Kim Sehoon and illustrated by Lee Kwang-Soo. The story is set 1000 years before the main series and follows X and Ash on their journey to becoming knights.
On February 04, 2022, <Hardcore Leveling Warrior> The Best Swordsman is Ranked No.1?! appeared as the 26th episode in the Naver Webtoon series, 2022 I've Got the Sub-Protagonist Disease!. The series was created to celebrate the side characters of various webtoon IPS on Naver Webtoon.
Crossovers[]
In 2017, Kim Sehoon wrote and illustrated a 5 part webtoon series for the release of Mabinogi: Heroes (known as "Vindictus" in the Non-Asian releases), Mabinogi Heroes: For the First Time in My Life. In the series, the main protagonist of the Hardcore Leveling Warrior, Gong Won-Ho, is forcefully transported to the world of Mabinogi Heroes and his character avatar is that of Hurk (허크).He is joined by 6 other protagonists who specialise in various games to save the world.
Kim Sehoon wrote and illustrated Hardcore Leveling Tank - World of Tanks series. It was published weekly on Naver Webtoon and is a brand webtoon created to promote The World of Tanks IP. The series had a total of 8 chapters and ran from the 30 August 2020 and 18th of October 2020.
Video Games[]
| International Releases | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Platform | Release Date | Info |
| Hardcore Leveling Warrior: Idle RPG | Android, iOS | December 2018 | |
| Hero Cantare | Android, iOS | January 22, 2019 | Crossover between multiple Naver IPs such as Tower of God, God of Highschool and Noblesse. |
| Android, iOS | July 2, 2019 | Re-released as Awakening: Hardcore Leveling Warrior with NAVER WEBTOON | |
| Awakening: Hardcore Leveling Warrior with NAVER WEBTOON | Android, iOS | December 5, 2019 | Initially released as Hardcore Leveling Warrior with NAVER WEBTOON. |
| Noblesse: Zero with NAVER WEBTOON | Android, iOS | October 15, 2019 | Temporary collaboration with Noblesse from 28 August 2020 to 25 September 2020. |
| Thundersky2 | Android | 2018 | Temporary collaboration with Thundersky2 from 01 August 2021 to 31 August 2021 |
| YEOLLEB Warrior | Microsoft Windows | January 13, 2022 | Can be downloaded from the Steam App for Microsoft Windows. |
Advertisments[]
Advertisements[]
- Main Article: Hardcore Leveling Warrior in Advertisements
Merchandise[]
- Main Article: Hardcore Leveling Warrior Merchandise
English Translations[]
- Main Article: LINE Webtoon Name Changes
The Series was originally translated by Game of Scanlation from February 2016 to June 2016. The series was then picked up by Hartigram then picked up the series from Episode 22. They translated it until Naver released official English translations through it's LINE Webtoon platform.
There has been a lot of continued criticism of the translation quality done by LINE Webtoon, as a lot of errors can be regularly seen in the translations as well as LINE Webtoon unnecessarily changing the original names of characters such as changing 'Lu Bu' name to 'Fengxian' for no apparent reason and not naming skills correctly. A lot of context is lost and plot development due to the poor translations. Almost all the episodes translated by LINE is riddled with mistranslations. The webtoon is riddled with Korean cultural references, none of which are explained and most of the time they are mistranslated by LINE.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Official[]
.jpg "Hardcore Leveling Warrior Webtoon (Korean).jpg (197 KB)")
.jpg "Hardcore Leveling Warrior Naver mobile background (Somewhere between June and August 2020).jpg (65 KB)")
_as_of_Jan_2021.jpg "Current Background on LINE WEBTOON (Taiwan) as of Jan 2021.jpg (124 KB)")
.jpg "Gong Won-Ho looking at a message from Heart Heater (Episode 1).jpg (39 KB)")
.jpg "Hardcore Leveling Warrior LINE Webtoon mobile promo poster December 2020 (edited).jpg (257 KB)")
_Desktop_Icon_April_2021.jpg "LINE Webtoon (English) Desktop Icon April 2021.jpg (12 KB)"){kind=icon}
_Mobile_Icon_April_2021.jpg "LINE Webtoon (English) Mobile Icon April 2021.jpg (45 KB)"){kind=icon}
.jpg "Hardcore Leveling Warrior LINE Webtoon App promo (April 2021).jpg (156 KB)")
.png "Hardcore Leveling Warrior icon on Trick or Treat Halloween promo (18.10.21).png (207 KB)"){kind=icon}
.png "Hardcore Leveling Warrior icon on Trick or Treat Halloween promo (19.10.21).png (252 KB)"){kind=icon}
.png "Hardcore Leveling Warrior icon on Trick or Treat Halloween promo (20.10.21).png (253 KB)"){kind=icon}
Unofficial[]
.jpg "Hardcore Leveling Warrior Webtoon (English).jpg (308 KB)")
Videos[]
Notes & Trivia[]
- Curiously, the acronym used by the fans of the series is HCLW rather than HLW. 'Hardcore' is one word but the acronym refers to it as 'Hard Core'. Despite the protest of some fans online, citing the HLW being the 'proper' short form, the use of HCLW has persisted.
- The series uses 'Episodes', rather than 'Chapters'.
- It uses a lot of the basic MMORPG terminology.
- Due to the Korean version being released almost 2 years earlier than the English version, Line Webtoon have been releasing 2 Episodes per week in English. Line Webtoon 'fast pass' caught up to the 'regular' Naver releases with 'AE 2' on May 21st 2019. Line Webtoon's 'fast pass' caught up to the Naver's 'fast pass' on the 5th of July 2019. After this, Line Webtoon released a note underneath AE 6 saying "Updated Every Friday". This is because the Naver version is only released once a week. However, at this point, the normal release was still behind the Korean version so is still continued to be updated every Tuesday and Friday. Since the 26th of July 2019, the series has been updated only on Fridays.
- The author has spoken about the completion rate of the series at various points. It should not be taken as complete gospel as the author has admitted that the stroy developed in a different way than he had planned at the beginning.
- In February 2017, after Episode 56, Kim Sehoon said that the story was 25% of the way through.[7]
- In January 2019, after Episode 155, Kim Sehoon said that the Webtoon was only 20% completed.
- If this estimation is accurate, the series could have 620+ more episodes, making 700+ episodes in total. This would take another decade for it to conclude.
- Kim Sehoon has said the series will have 3 parts.
- Season 1 concludes The Combat Tournament Arc which ended on Episode 176. The 176th Episode was released on May 11th 2019 through Naver's 'fast pass'.
- AE (After Episodes) are the short stories after Season 1. Kim Sehoon has said that people complained that the story moved too fast, so he is using the AEs to reinforce the story before starting Season 2. He wants to include a small but important stories in the AE.[8]
- Season 2 will be a story two years after the Combat Tournament and there will be a lot of new rules and settings.
- He got the idea of the AE from the Naver Webtoon and Line Webtoon series, Denma. The author of Denma, Youngsoon Yang, is a big inspiration of his.
- On April 2nd 2019, Hardcore Leveling Warrior reached the top spot of Naver Webtoons Sunday comics.
- LINE Webtoon's 'fast pass' caught up to the Naver's 'fast pass' on the 5th of July 2019. After this, Line Webtoon released a note underneath AE 6 saying "Updated Every Friday". This is because the Naver version is only released once a week. However, at this point, the normal release was still behind the Korean version so is still continued to be updated every Tuesday and Friday. On the 26th of July 2019, the series has been updated only on Fridays.
- Since the series began in 2016, the author has only taken one break so far. He serialised the series for 305 consecutive weeks before taking his first break from 2021.11.13 (Korean fast pass release) to 2022.01.08.
Related Pages[]
- Kim Sehoon
- List of Story Arcs and Episodes
- AE: After Episode
External Links[]
Official Links[]
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior at Naver Webtoon (Korean)
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior at LINE Webtoon (Traditional Chinese)
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior at LINE Webtoon (English)
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior at LINE Webtoon (French)
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior at LINE Manga (Japanese)
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior at LINE Webtoon (Thai)
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior at Instagram (Korean)
Unofficial Links[]
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior at Wikipedia (Korean)
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior at Namuwiki (Korean)
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior at DC Inside (Korean)
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior at Korean Webtoons Wiki (English)
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior at Animanga Wiki (English)
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior at LINE Webtoon Wiki (English)
- Hardcore Leveling Warrior Wiki at Twitter (English)
References[]
- ↑ Webtoonguide.com: <<Hardcore Leveling Warrior>> Professional Pure Entertainment>>
- ↑ Webtoonguide: Elaborately Epic Woven Fantasy, 'Hardcore Leveling Warrior'
- ↑ Webtoonguide.com: Because he's bad the protagonist is more attractive, 'Hardcore Leveling Warrior'
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Shy Chef Youtube: THE Hardcore Leveling Warrior
- ↑ Shy Chef: Why Hardcore Leveling Warrior's Protagonist Works
- ↑ Top Daily Korea: Naver Webtoon's The Boss Plaigarism, Fire Sparks on Hardcore Leveling Warrior
- ↑ http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=172638&site=heroes
- ↑ AE 1