Solo Leveling: Hardest Dungeons, Ranked

The Solo Leveling series has hunters face monsters in dungeons to prevent the monsters from spilling out into the human world while making a living. To better protect humans and clear the dungeons, hunters are usually assigned to dungeons of a similar rank.

Despite this system in Solo Leveling, some dungeons are beyond understanding, as the monsters that inhabit them could destroy the human world. Whether it be top-tier A-ranked dungeons or S-ranked dungeons, the monsters and requirements to clear such dungeons are mostly beyond reasoning. Oftentimes, even among A-S rank dungeons, there exist outliers whose difficulty to clear is the hardest there is.

6 Busan A-Rank Dungeon

Without An S-Rank Hunter Leading The Charge, Victory Wasn’t Certain

The Busan Gate was a tough dungeon; however, it wasn’t so tough for the likes of Sung Jin-Woo. As a top-tier gate, the Korean Hunters Association was hesitant to give the Knights Guild clearance for attempting to clear the gate, even though they typically attended to all gates that appeared in Busan. Due to the lack of an S-rank hunter among them, their survival was not guaranteed.

After much deliberation, Sung Jin-Woo decided to join them for the raid. However, shortly after the raid started, Sung Jin-Woo had to leave the dungeon in an emergency, but he left his top shadow soldier Beru to attend to the dungeon. As Beru was a menace who killed many top-tier S-ranked hunters during the Jeju island raid, his powers were sufficient to clear the dungeon.

5 Job Quest Dungeon

Surviving A Continuous Onslaught Of Knights And Necromancers Is No Easy Feat

This dungeon is one of the few in which Sung Jin-Woo nearly lost his life. At this point, Sung Jin-Woo was taking on a class change quest, and he had to face the blood-red commander, Igris. Facing Igris was a herculean task for Sung Jin-Woo, as even his daggers could not penetrate Igris’ armor. Nevertheless, after a hard-pressed battle, Sung Jin-Woo finally won through a stroke of luck.

However, the battle wasn’t over, as he now had to face various necromancers who summoned armored knights. Luckily for Sung Jin-Woo, he managed to get a moment of reprieve by getting teleported to another dimension and accruing power before coming back to strike down his adversaries.

4 Red Gate Dungeon

The Survival Rate Of A Red Gate Is Drastically Low

Red gates are unlike most gates, as their entrances are sealed off when anyone walks through them. This then cuts off hunters' communication with the outside world, meaning that the hunters inside are on their own. Red gates are often B-rank, at least, and Sung Jin-Woo accidentally entered one.

Despite already rating his strength as barely an S-rank hunter at the time, Sung Jin-Woo struggled against Baruka, the red gate’s boss. Moreover, the world in the Red Gate was a freezy, snowy field, and Sung Jin-Woo was only able to survive the environment thanks to the equipment he had access to in his inventory due to his status as a player. Of the 14 hunters to enter the red gate, only five of them survived, and even an A-ranked hunter was killed.

3 Hunters Guild Dungeon

A Legion of High Orcs Would Trample Many

Sung Jin-Woo initially entered the Hunters Guild's top-tier A-rank gate to observe the process of the Hunters Guild’s second team clearing the dungeon. However, the raid team from the Hunters Guild became unable to clear the dungeon as even the first monsters they faced were high orcs. The team struggled to face the high orcs, and Sung Jin-Woo had to give them a helping hand. In the depths of the dungeon lay the bigger threat—Kagalgan, a high orc shaman.

As a powerful shaman, Kargalgan possessed various powers, from gravitation magic to curses and even size manipulation. Moreover, he wasn’t alone, as he was surrounded by a whole army of high orcs. The raid team sent from the Hunters Guild was helpless in the face of such a force, and Sung Jin-Woo ended up clearing the dungeon alone, thanks to his shadow soldiers.

2 Demon Castle

100 Floors Of Continuous Battles Is A Daunting Task

The demon castle was an S-rank instant dungeon available to only Sung Jin-Woon. The dungeon was created by the Architect to train Sung Jin-Woo and allow him to build up his power. This dungeon had 100 floors, with each floor being a world of its own.

In this dungeon, Sung Jin-Woo faced many notable S-rank bosses. From Cerberus, the gatekeeper of the demon's castle, to Vulcan, Metus, and Baran, each boss came with overwhelming power. Baran, the 100th and final boss, was a magical copy of the Monarch of White Flames, one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Despite already being able to face S-rank hunters at the time, Sung Jin-Woo struggled against Baran before he could clear the dungeon.

1 Double Dungeon

The Statue Of God And The Architect Were Formidable Adversaries

This dungeon was one of the scariest events in Sung Jin-Woo’s life. Despite being an E-rank hunter at the time, Sung Jin-Woo came into contact with a double dungeon rivaling A-rank or even S-rank dungeons. Unlike most dungeons, Sung Jin-Woo had to face the Cartenon Temple twice. The first time, he was a spineless E-rank hunter who cowered in the face of overwhelming terror.

The main source of Sung Jin-Woo’s terror was the Statue of God, a giant humanoid statue with laser beams from its eyes. Sung Jin-Woo only survived his first encounter with the dungeon, simply because the Architect had other uses for his body, not because he had the power to survive. The second time Sung Jin-Woo faced the double dungeon, he confronted the Architect, the orchestrator behind the scenes. While Sung Jin-Woo was powerful enough at the time to face the Statue of God, the Architect was on a whole other level.