International Guild Conference Arc

Numbered eighteenth in Solo Leveling, this segment follows the Japan Crisis events and leads into the Monarchs War storyline. It covers roughly chapters 183 through 199 of the novel and chapters 140 through 149 of the webtoon. Jinwoo travels to the United States to stand for Korea at the prestigious International Guild Conference. Behind the scenes, the long-buried Monarchs reignite their war against the Rulers in the human world, opening with the murder of Christopher Reed, one of the seven who carry a Ruler's power.

The Monarchs kill Reed, sending him up against Tarnak, Rakan, and Querehsha in an unseen battle that ends his life. Suspicion over the death lands on Sung Il-Hwan. While abroad, Jinwoo's hidden depth draws notice: Lennart Niermann grasps that Jinwoo never summons his shadows from afar but keeps them stored inside his own shadow. Jinwoo manages to call up Kamish as a shadow after one failed try, though the summon fades fast because too much time had passed. Hwang Dongsoo seizes Yoo Jinho to force out the truth of his brother's death, prompting Jinwoo to confront and kill Dongsoo. A large cast figures in the events, including Adam White, Choi Jong-In, Go Gunhee, Thomas Andre, and Liu Zhigang, across locations in the USA and the Federal Bureau of Hunters.

Jinwoo's clash with Hwang Dongsoo ends in the latter's death, and a separate fight pits Jinwoo against Thomas Andre and the Scavenger Guild, which Jinwoo wins. After killing Dongsoo, Jinwoo raises him as a shadow soldier called Greed, folding yet another powerful figure into his army.