15 Best Dungeon Manhwa, Ranked

Dungeon Manhwa series presents readers with an enthralling descent into fantastical worlds of unknown monsters, ruins, and intricate labyrinth explorations. Representing a popular niche of South Korean webcomics, Dungeon Manhwas presents a seamless blend of adventure, danger, and mysteries.

Dungeon Manhwas explores the boundaries of imagination and fiction, showcasing to its readers endless possibilities. It boasts the most diverse and unconventional protagonists combined with immaculate world-building and compelling narratives that lay just beneath the general tropes of a typical dungeon manhwa, making for a captivating reading experience. Below are some of the best picks for readers interested in this subgenre.

Updated on November 15, 2024, by Emedo Destiny: Among manhwa’s near-endless genres and subgenres, the dungeon manhwa subgenre has seen a massive explosion in stories since the overwhelming success of the Solo Leveling franchise, and rightly so. Captivating more their ability to mix very well fantasy and modern times, most times, Dungeon Manhwa provide a good mix of almost everything, from power systems, monsters, and worldbuilding, to well-detailed characters and enthralling narratives. However, it is not enough that fans and readers simply hear about them, personal experiences often are the best. Therefore below is an updated list of recommendations of the best Dungeon manhwa for readers and fans alike.

15 My Daughter is the Final Boss

Anime-Planet Rating: 4.3 / 5

• Creator(s): Rk Studio, Geulsseunya
• No. of Chapters: 147 (Ongoing)
• Genre: Action, Fantasy, Romance

My Daughter is the Final Boss goes down exactly as it sounds. The story’s protagonist, Lee Seojun, in his initial life, could only watch as his daughter grew darker with power and eventually became the final boss who destroyed the world, pointing to his abysmal parenting style. However, all hope is not lost, as just as his consciousness is about to fade into the void, he receives one final quest: ‘Change The Future’.

This new quest is all he remembers until he wakes up suddenly with his little daughter, Seola, standing right in front of him. With a second chance to correct his failures as a parent, Seojun must now be the parent to Seola that she never had in his previous life or watch the world burn, again.

14 The Advanced Player of the Tutorial Tower

Anime-Planet Rating: 3.8 / 5

• Creator(s): Bangguseok Kim-ssi, Omagam
• No. of Chapters: 223
• Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Action

Getting trapped in a mysterious Tower with infinitely regenerating monsters sure sounds like hell. Now imagine never going past the tutorial stage of the Tower; this is exactly the reality for Hyeonu Kim, the series’ central character. Trapped in the tutorial stage for twelve years in real-time and a lot more time within the Tower itself, Hyeonu Kim had only one goal: survival.

By any means necessary, he survived the infinite onslaught of monsters, ultimately becoming too powerful to even be contained by the Tower. After twelve years, he is finally freed from his endless nightmare. However, one thing still bothers him: who was responsible for trapping him in the Tower? Hyeonu Kim makes up his mind to find the culprit and is ready to kill as many monsters as it takes, and saving the world just happens to be a side quest along the way.

13 Dungeon Defense

Anime-Planet Rating: 3.6 / 5

• Creator(s): Arrone, Manga Shokunin Studio
• No. of Chapters: 37 (Ongoing)
• Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery

Dungeon Defense follows the unfortunate predicament of the story’s protagonist, Dantalian, the undefeated hero of the world’s hardest strategy game, Dungeon Attack. However, his accomplishments go down the drain overnight when he takes a rather fishy survey about the game.

The singular act proves to be a major turning point in his life when he suddenly wakes up within the game. Not only is he in the game now, but he has become the weakest Demon Lord. No longer the hero, but trapped in a game he has no idea of escaping from, Dantalian does what anyone would do: strive to survive. However, survival in this world means he will have to tear everything apart.

12 The Gamer

Anime-Planet Rating: 4.1 / 5

• Creator(s): Sung San-Young, Sang-Ah
• No. of Chapters: 511 (Ongoing)
• Genre: Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi

The joy of any gamer typically is to conquer as many games as possible, and Jee-Han is no different. The story’s protagonist loves games and gaming more than anything in his current life.

However, it is still as shocking when suddenly, he receives a power of some sort that superimposes the features of a game onto reality, essentially merging his reality and a game into one. Initially only curious as to what was happening, Han quickly realises that reality has indeed changed. However, if truly reality has merged with a game, Han is more than ready to play to his heart’s content.

11 Boundless Ascension

Anime-Planet Rating: 3.9 / 5

• Creator(s): Seonun, 2 Sarang
• No. of Chapters: 106 (Ongoing)
• Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Boundless Ascension follows the initially depressing life of the central character, Seongyun Han. As a child, Seongyun watched his parents get killed by monsters during the first Dungeon Break. Since their murder, Seongyun decides to become a powerful hunter who can hunt such monsters.

However, fast forward to seven years later, in the current time, Seongyun comes to find that his unrelenting efforts to become a Hunter have all been a waste; he has not an ounce of fighting talent in him, as his fighting skills and abilities have not increased at all. However, Seongyun’s hunter trajectory is flipped when he is invited to join the Tower of Trials, a separate realm where the challengers within the tower must overcome extremely difficult trials. By accepting, Seongyun sets himself on a path to endless evolution.

10 Seoul Station’s Necromancer

Anime-Planet Rating: 3.9 / 5

• Creator(s): Jin Seolwoo, Ji Sung Woong
• No. of Chapters: 150 (Ongoing)
• Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Forcefully summoned to another world called Alphen, former high school student Kang Woojin is forced to put his life on the line every time in a battle for survival against the creatures of Alphen. Slowly, Woojin climbs the natural order and soon becomes the ruler of the dead— a necromancer.

Twenty years after his summoning, Woojin can finally return to Earth, but he soon discovers that it is no longer as he remembers it. Due to the magnitude of his powers before returning, all his abilities, skills, and age get reset back to zero. It doesn’t matter anyway because if he can become the ruler of a harsh world like Alphen, nothing will stop him from doing so on Earth.

9 Return Of The Frozen Player

• Anime-Planet Rating: 4.1 / 5
• Creator(s): JerryM, Silal
• No. of Chapters: 145 (Ongoing

The entire earth suddenly becomes a dungeon floor, and monsters spawn everywhere. After five years, the final dungeon boss, the Frost Queen, appears, and the Earth is on the brink of destruction. Seo Junho, the central character, and his companions sacrifice themselves to defeat her to save the Earth and succeed. Still, their success comes at a heavy price— Seo Junho and his companions are all frozen in place.

Twenty-five years go by, and Junho finally awakens from his slumber. Unfortunately, all his companions are still frozen, and he soon discovers their sacrifice is futile as there are nine more dungeon floors to clear. He must now free his colleagues and continue their objective to free the Earth.

8 The Hero Returns

Anime-Planet Rating: 3.9 / 5

• Creator(s): Heuk Ain, Yungun
• No. of Chapters: 95 (Ongoing)
• Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Kim Sungbin’s destiny is to become the hero: the most powerful Awakened human who will protect humanity, fight against the dangers of the dungeons and the monsters that come with and prevent the ultimate destruction of all humankind. Destiny, however, is not always of one’s will.

Fighting valiantly and ultimately laying down his life, Sungbin still cannot complete his mission, and humanity ultimately falls, but fate has other plans. Given another chance, he returns twenty years into the past, possessing all the knowledge and power from his previous experience. This time, he will succeed.

7 Return To Player

Anime-Planet Rating: 4.0 / 5

• Creator(s): Index, Sehon
• No. of Chapters: 182 (Ongoing)
• Genre: Action, Sci-Fi

This manhwa features a game of the gods, but with human chess pieces. Life on Earth takes a monstrous turn when a group of gods decides to turn all humans into players of a sadistic game involving monsters and special abilities. Sehan Kim, like everyone else, is a player and partakes in this cruel game.

Humanity eventually falls, and there’s only one person left standing, Sehan. The thread of fate, however, continues to spin, even to the surprise of the gods. Sehan is given another chance, awakening in the past just at the start of the game, but fate will not be so kind to the gods this time. Armed with the knowledge of his previous playthrough, Sehan is determined to outwit even the gods themselves.

6 SSS-Class Suicide Hunter

Anime-Planet Rating: 4.4 / 5

• Creator(s): Bill K, Sinnoa
• No. of Chapters: 115 (Ongoing)
• Genre: Fantasy, Action, Supernatural

In a world where supernatural abilities, skills, monsters, and dungeons are the norm, Kim Dong-ja lives an unsatisfactory life. He spends his time thinking about how unfair life is and how he is essentially an average person with the lowest rank ability.

His luck takes a turn for the better when he receives a high-tier skill that allows him to copy the skills of other hunters, but as with all good things, it comes with a very steep price. In exchange for using his copy skill, he must first die.

5 Player That Can’t Level Up

Anime-Planet Rating: 4.0 / 5

• Creator(s): Gavinge, Parrot Kim, Park Jungjae, Studio Khit
• No. of Chapters: 166 (Ongoing)
• Genre: Action, Fantasy, Mystery

In a world of supernatural abilities, monsters, and Towers, becoming awakened is the smoothest path to success. This is the same thought Kim Gigyu had when he first awakened at 18. Entering the tower, clearing the tutorial stage, and killing a goblin daily, he remains at level 1. Even after doing so for five years, his level remains the same.

In a seemingly hopeless situation, things take a sudden turn when he encounters an ‘Ego’ and gains the ability to link with egos. With his new ability, Kim Gigyu quickly becomes a logic-defying hunter.

4 Dungeon Reset

Anime-Planet Rating: 4.0 / 5

• Creator(s): Ant Studio, Daul
• No. of Chapters: 219 (Ongoing)
• Genre: Action, Comedy, Fantasy

Forcefully summoned to an unknown world called The Dungeon, the central character, Dawoon, has his life turned upside down as he must now survive against dangerous monsters and creatures. Unfortunately, he has no combat abilities or skills, as he only gains crafting skills from his summoning.

With no offensive ability to protect himself, Dawoon must devise creative ways to survive and see through this dungeon. He’s, however, able to survive a glitched reset in the game, after which he realizes he has become a glitch to the system itself and gains odd but helpful skills. No longer bound by the rules of the dungeon system, Dawoon can now hope to stay alive in this hellish reality.

3 Tomb Raider King

Anime-Planet Rating: 4.0 / 5

• Creator(s): Yoonz, REDICE Studio
• No. of Chapters: 411
• Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

The tombs started appearing out of nowhere, all around the world, one after the other. In these historical tombs and ancient ruins lie relics that grant unimaginable power, and alongside the presence of these relics are the people who throw themselves in the face of incredible danger to obtain these relics, either for personal use or on behalf of someone else.

Joo-Heon Suh is one of such people. Also, a tomb explorer working for a big company, Joo-Heon, after a long time of exploration and relic discovery, dies a dog’s death after being betrayed by his employer. He suddenly awakens fifteen years into the past before the relic tombs start appearing. Armed with all the knowledge and experience from his previous life, he will become the best tomb raider the world has seen and have his revenge.

2 Solo Max Level Newbie

Anime-Planet Rating: 4.1 / 5

• Creator(s): WAN.Z, Maslow
• No. of Chapters: 175 (Ongoing)
• Genre: Action, Fantasy, Adventure

A gaming streamer, Kang Jinhyuk spends eleven years trying to complete the impossible game called the Tower of Trials. Playing and streaming for hours, even days, he questions the sanity behind playing such a game with no benefits and decides to quit.

Just as he is about to quit, the Tower of Trials appears in reality, threatening the existence of humanity. As a player who has once cleared the game, Jinhyuk sets out to do so one more time, but this time, he will have to put his line on the line.

1 Solo Leveling

Anime-Planet Rating: 4.7 / 5

• Creator(s): Jang Sung-Rak
• No. of Chapters: 200
• Genre: Adventure, Action, Fantasy

In an interconnected world of monsters and humans, some regular people receive abilities to hunt these monsters and are called Hunters. Following Sung Jinwoo, the central character, a lowly E-rank hunter who, to make a living, takes on odd and menial jobs during dungeon raids to provide for his family.

During one of these raids, his life changes forever. A raid that is supposed to be easier than usual becomes a horror show when every party member is slaughtered before Jinwoo’s eyes. Although on the brink of death, Jinwoo miraculously survives and awakens with a mysterious system power-up only he can use. Jinwoo soon discovers that even the weakest can become strong with this new power.