Webtoon Spotlight

Spotlight#58: Hardcore Leveling Warrior

Have you ever been an epic gamer? If you haven't noticed, I repeated that line your officially cool enough to check out Hardcore Leveling Warrior by Sehoon Kim. So let's make the spotlights return with an absolute banger.

Summary

In a world where reality is often so disappointing, I don't think anyone would ever refuse to play the hit new game that you can experience in your sleep: Lucid Adventure. In this game of literal thousands, one man has taken the top spot: Ethan Gong, a.k.a. The Hardcore Leveling Warrior! 

From day one, Ethan's tragic real life has gotten entirely offset by the fantastical life he now plays in the game. Unfortunately for everyone else, though, he is also a massive jerk that got exactly what's coming to him. Now completely racked with debt and back at level 1, Ethan is going to have to make the ultimate gamble along his Lucid Adventure!

Characters

Hardcore Leveling Warrior: Our titular mc Hclw is one of my favorite characters in all of Webtoon. While to many, he can get seen as a money-hungry, rude, ruthless snob. However, this persona gets mainly caused by his background. Ethan grew up in the real world with no friends and family and in crippling debt. 

And when his worldview was looking up in Lucid Adventure, circumstances had led him to become a spiteful and arrogant man while in the game. However, to regain his former glory, he has taken the good with the bad. Hardcore is charismatic, caring, nurturing, and wildly protective to his allies but is still every bit as ruthless, calculating, and smarmy to his enemies. Overall, Hardcore is a gambler through and through. Which means he always has a chance to improve and win as long as he has a chance.

Dark: Carter Han is the grandson of Roy Han, who created Lucid Adventure and one of the former chairmen of the super corporation Giga. While Carter is always seen as the runt of the uncaring family, he still goes into Lucid, trying to find his grandfather's avatar before his life in the real world goes out. He and Hclw developed a special bond due to their similar personalities and temperaments.

Sora: Hclw's biggest fan Sora is a young woman who wants to be as strong as him. She is the hardest worker of the three and is a supreme glutton. All while keeping a fun, happy, and inspiring attitude. 

Heart Heater: Dark's loyal servant, Hear Heater, is a dragon knight who serves as an NPC. He is usually a composed businessman who aims for money but can be very aggressive when Dark is involved.

Overview

HCLW has a loooottt going for it. Even when Hardcore Leveling Warrior is not on the screen, we see how the characters are constantly affected by his influence, making him an actual main character. The art is also freaking amazing; every character has a bold style that makes them stand out with the quality and gets extra crispy in certain scenes. Despite the emphasis on Hardcore, the other characters get phenomenal development that improves and deconstructs their characters. Thanks to Hclw, they become stronger people and more powerful as time goes on.

Lucid adventure is also one of the most expansive fantasy worlds I've ever seen. Since there are no fast and hard rules in the series, characters can switch from mechanical monstrosities to mystical summoning at the drop of a hat, which adds to the characterization of the series. Lucid also has NPCs that serve as complete characters in it of themselves. This also adds a lot to the world's mythology and makes Lucid more than a simple game. 

These moves create lots of unexpected fights that rely on a mix of chance strategy and guts. Just because Hardcore has an op skill doesn't mean he never tries. It's quite the opposite, as his incredible resourcefulness and unpredictability is the main reason why he's managed to get so many wins under his belt in the first place despite his limitations. And even then, plenty of overpowered characters already infest lucid as it is, so the successes feel better. More character focus gets pushed to the second season as well. 

If there was a theme for this series, I think it's that of second chances. There is always a chance to improve oneself, a chance to make it big, and a chance to rebuild yourself. As long there is a chance, then it is one worth taking.

Epilogue

Overall, Hclw is a godsend of a story that tears me up. It has compelling characters, a compelling world, and plenty of awesome fights. The series is only going to get better as time goes on, and I can't wait to see just how crazy this game gets. But with that spotlight out of the way, though, let's log in to a different one and see where the light takes us next.