Sung Jinwoo levels up quickly after he begins using The System developed by Ashborn. He unlocks a new power, ability, every time he levels up. One of them is the ability to raise the dead and add them to his shadow army using the command Arise. However, as his shadow army continues to grow, there are questions around morality of using the dead to do his bidding that remains unanswered and ignored in the show.
One of the most hyped instances in the series is when the word Arise is uttered and a shadow extraction takes place. While this is bewitching to watch, most tend to ignore the aspect of Sung Jinwoo’s morals as he keeps using people who were killed or died as his henchmen against future adversaries. An army of immortal and powerful beings is fascinating.
Jinwoo’s Army of Immortals – Morality and Afterlife
Sung Jinwoo has unrivalled popularity. Manhwa fans were already head over heels for him, but now they are joined by the anime fans. The craze of Solo Leveling and Sung Jin Woo is off the charts, as every episode of the series is trending within a few hours of release.
Despite his overwhelming powers and rapid ascension to monarch status, Sung Jinwoo began as a low E-Rank hunter with strong values and morals. But when he transforms souls into his shadow army, we don’t see him in any moral conflict with himself about it, which might come off as surprising considering his initial personality.
Throughout the series, there is never a moment where Sung Jinwoo pauses to reflect on the morality raising dead souls to do his bidding. He doesn’t stop and ask himself whether bringing dead people back from eternal sleep, afterlife, and turning them into his shadow soldiers is right or wrong. There is no deeper struggle nor any internal debate.
Jinwoo’s transformation from a weak, always needing help and saving E-Rank hunter who was willing to die to protect his team to a cold-hearted Monarch who extracts shadows to use them in his army is quite something. In one of the scenes, Jinwoo realizes something important about using the system to level up.
Everytime he levels up, he feels like a part of him is gone forever. He is becoming less and less human by the day. Fighting monsters in dark and dangerous dungeouns, doing whatever it needs to kill them, and constant leveling up has made him less and less human.
Shadow soldiers are nothing but dead monsters and even fellow human hunters resurrectecd from the dead to fight for Jinwoo at his command. While they are used in battles, over and over again, they don’t have any essence of individuality or humanity. They are just summoned to fight and follow orders like a slave. Not only that, shadow soldiers can die during battles in gruesome ways and can be resurrected using mana as many times as needed. It seems they are stuck in a dimension where death is no longer final.
But there is a ray of hope. Jinwoo still seems to have retained some of his morality and humanity it seems. Both the manga and anime has some subtle hints and important scenes where this is shown.
Jinwoo Has a Code While Extracting Shadows
While his actions may not reflect his morality, he holds his ethics and morals to a standard. There are a couple of important scenes where we see that Jinwoo doesn’t uses shadow extraction even though it would have benefitted him to do so.
Despite his constant recruitment into the shadow army, Jinwoo maintains a strict criterion for who is worthy of being converted into a shadow soldier. A clear example of this would be the Japanese S-rank hunters, who were in pursuit of eliminating the South Korean hunters. After they were defeated by Beru, Jinwoo didn’t bother adding them to his shadow army, as he didn’t know about their evil plans.
Byung-Gyu also serves as a notable example. Jinwoo resurrects the S-Rank healer so he can heal his love interest. After Cha Hae-in is no longer in mortal danger, Sung Jinwoo allows him to pass away peacefully. Despite his exceptional healing abilities, the Shadow Monarch respected his wishes and avoids using him further. He lets him rest in peace.
The Price of Power and Leveling Up Solo
Converting someone into a shadow isn’t as simple as it seems; some powerful souls can refuse the process. Particularly, beings like monarchs, as they are made up of astral bodies, and their mana is extremely pure. Additionally, characters like Kamish couldn’t be resurrected due to the significant time that has passed since his death.
As the story progresses, Sung Jinwoo gets more and more goal-oriented, paying less and less attention to his morality and actions. His thoughts constantly rush between the gates, the monarch’s and war. With his once soft nature, slowly fading away, turning him into more cold-blooded for his enemies.
However, when it comes to individuals with an unintelligent mindset, such as Hwang Dong-suk, Jinwoo shows no mercy. If you have been a very ill-hearted individual, you’ll be fighting in his army as long as he wants.
Maybe that’s the price you pay to become the strongest hunter in the world. Maybe you must lose a part of yourself, your humanity, to become the Shadow Monarch. The price of power and success must be paid.
