Solo Clear

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“I am my own Lord throughout heaven and earth”
This is the story of a man whose goal is to succeed in life all alone.

Associated Names
One entry per line
나 혼자서 클리어
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Everyone Else is a Returnee (5)
Master Hunter K (3)
Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society (3)
The Tutorial Is Too Hard (3)
Emperor of Solo Play (2)
Main Character Hides His Strength (2)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Starting Point
  2. KR Novel with Game Elements
  3. Senna's List (1)
  4. Isekai, reincarnation, game elements, unnecessaril...
  5. Korean Action Novels Part 2

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18 Reviews sorted by


keklel
keklel rated it
August 31, 2017
Status: c20
The story is an unoriginal trainwreck, the writing is very amaterish (reads like it was written by a grade schooler), and all the characters are cliched, inconsistent, and lame. There is really just no reason to read this when superior works like Reincarnator and Main Character Hides His Strength abound.

First of all, the story. The game has to be one of the dumbest, most unfair games ever devised. The MC gains an advantage because he somehow ran into the game store first and bought the ONLY copy of the game... more>> instruction book. Why was there only one copy? No reason other than to give the protagonist an advantage apparently. So now the MC is the only person who actually knows how to play the game. The other people also want to know how to play, but he refused to share because he's an as*hole and they can't attack him in the waiting area. And in the 2nd round, he runs into the game area and seals off all the entrances using bombs so none of the other players could get in (obviously he knew this because the game book told him about it). This allowed him to farm all of the points because f*ck other people, why help others when you can become the strongest? Seriously, whoever designed this game is a f*cking idiot. The game itself is very boring and unoriginal. Kill monsters to get points. Spend points to buy stuff. There's nothing new here.

The characters are boring and bland. Some schoolkids turn into mu*derers because one member of their group decided to walk away. And this all happened "off screen" i.e we have no idea how it happened, only that it did. We don't know how any of the characters (except the idiot MC) think, we are just told that yep, this happened, they mu*dered this girl (Hana or whatever her name was) and that's it. The gangster group which was supposed to be intimidating does nothing throughout the story (up to where I dropped it). They just sit there and do nothing. The only thing their leader did was to ask the MC for the book. The MC being the sociopath that he was of course refused, and that was the end of that. They don't do anything else other than asking the MC for his book. Extremely pointless characters.

That girl who died? We don't know anything about her and she has nothing to do with the MC, except that she wanted to split off from her group because she wants to become a loner like the MC (why? Because the author needs an excuse to show off how awesome the MC is). The MC is a loner activist so when he found out that the girl, who wanted to be a loner, was killed by her group, he became very upset and decided to teach her mu*derers a lesson by beating them up in the waiting area. And that was the end of that. The only thing that this achieved was that all the other people now know about the MC's powers. Rather out of character for someone who supposedly doesn't care about other people. Also, the MC spent a large chunk of his money on what was essentially a lottery. No calculations were involved, he just did it for the lolz.

Pretty dumb. Not recommend for anyone. <<less
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OmegaDion
OmegaDion
June 17, 2017
Status: c3
Nothing much to say. Some might get turned off by this novel with the "Loner, Solo" MC. The story will really depend on how will the author plan out the future chapters including the balance between the loner MC and the side characters. There are some novels that focused so much on the MC that the side characters were like sticks. All in all, the character development will decide.

Shoutout to those who rated this 1 star on the get go! Wooohhh
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nubdog
nubdog rated it
September 25, 2017
Status: c28
I have no idea why everyone is bashing this series so hard but oh well.

first of all you have the usual (clear the stages>get strong>protect the world from monsters) setting

there isn't much complexity or crazy good ideas or anything, but its just a relaxing journey of getting strong while becoming badass

There are some events meant to stir you up but tbh the protagonist just doesn't give a sh*t and does what he feels like doing anyway and that is one of the charms of the novel. There is nobody to... more>> force him into an undesirable social situation, like self entitled faggot A, parroting henchman B, feminist C or burden useless shivering in her boots girl D.

It gives a nice picture of the advantages you can get by being solo, especially when others are busy backstabbing and being a burden to each other instead of a synergy effect. And at that point you understand sometimes its just better to do things alone than to get involved in needless drama.

Adding on some dressing and decorations you have the protagonist soloing stages like a badass while you have the lovely music of no incompetent f*cks screaming nonsense in your ears like they were supposed to be xianxia baddies

Well I do admit some stuff that happens may seem overly advantageous to the protagonist, but like which other game like novels ever doesn't have this kinda stuff happening to them anyway

I highly recommend if u want a fun time thrashing scrubs while not having to think too much, powerfaps are always welcome <<less
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IRainstorm
IRainstorm rated it
July 11, 2017
Status: c12
Such wonky writing style from the author... the prologue invited me to expect something elegant, concise and simple and I end up reading an instable all over the place writing that look like its from fanfiction. net (the bad side)

... more>>
Spoiler

I mean after reading the dialogues and interaction I thought to myself 'bad writing yeah but I can overlook it so I might as well do it here and I love solo stories' and the addition of intelligent monsters did improve my view but then it continued with the weak writing.

MC losing control over his emotion because a girl he didn't know prior to her dying in his arms and throwing his life to be saved by the plot armor just a few paragraph below, I thought MC was a little bit smart... TOTALLY DISAPPOINTED.

LMS could pull through the wonky dialogues at some chapters because of the imaginative system of the first chapters and a good world building (virtual world lol) and also because they were funny but in "solo clear" case it just frustrate the reader, even if the story is really good, transmitting it though a 12 years old style of writing will just annoy some readers away.

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<<less
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prograMAnimus
prograMAnimus rated it
August 27, 2017
Status: c23
So after reading to the most current chapter (as of writing this review, C23), I felt compelled to write a review.

Short Version

This story is a fragmented, hazy feverdream of the author. It's apparent that he got inspired by other works from this genre, but made a real shitty job plastering them together. The self-insertment is especially apparent, as the MC always seems to miraculously cope with everything he gets thrown into.

If you value a good writing style, coherent story telling and believable characters: stay clear this lest you want... more>> some headaches. This is only good for filling the "queue" waiting for the real stories to get published; best consumed as a filler.

In depth Version

I want to try and compartementalize all my grimes with this work into two general points. The following text could contain spoilers to the story (which you really wouldn't be mad of getting spoilered tbh)...

Storytelling & Worldbuilding

I don't want to start discussing what is good storytelling and what's not - I wouldn't even be qualified as a non-writer. But as an avid reader who consumes hours of hours of stories upon a day, I can clearly tell apart a good aproach to building up a world in which the story resides in from a generic cardboard cutout.

The story begins more or less with a near cataclysmic event which alters the reality of the world in which the MC lives in and introduces a game-like environment. So far this coincides with a lot of other korean novels and is a default staple of the genre.

The MC is thrown into an unkown environment with rules he doesn't know, social constructs he's clearly not comfortable with but tries to keep his cool and trumps everbody else to better his situation. The places he has to fight in and the enemies he has to kill are just explained in a roundabout and incomplete way, the reader needs to fill the "gaps" as to why the combination of a specific kind of monster lives in a specific kind of place and compare it to former knowledge one has. The author assumes that the reader has enough knowledge about, let's say, Orcs and Goblins to automatically understand why those act in the way the author depicts.

So to speak: lazy story telling. Let the reader do the hard work of building up a story around everything else.

Not later than the first fight you again get reminded that the MC has RPG-like stats, skills and a numerical HP which serves as his life-bar. So you'd actually expect the worldbuilding to follow a coherent game-like system, but as the story progresses, the MC miraculously obtains skills whenever the current plot calls for it (I think he buys it from some shop?) without any regard for balancing or the actual hardship to get them.

In one scene he gets to fight an especially hard enemy and the author reminds himself to actually write down the HP the MC has left so the tension can build up. After that particular enemy is killed though, the author completely forgets the existence of such plot-device and doesn't meantion it in subsequent fights - regardless of the urgency of his wounds which he collects plenty of. It's as if every fight he does isn't even worth meantioning his HP status.

All in all the world the author tries to build is a composite of different ideas other authors had, but glued together asymmetrically, without any regards of filling the gaps and what it entails for his "original" story.

Character Development (or the lack thereof)

Characters are the most important entities in a story - apart from the MC. The thing is: this story really does a great job at stereotyping every single person it tells about.

The MC is your solo guy, never trying to mingle with others but moping that others wouldn't understand him anyway. He relates it to his character, that he was born with it - the cringe is real.

So you have your MC which states he is a loner because... he's a loner. There is no real backstory why he would feel that way, no plot opening that would foreshadow a later back-flash or something of that sort.

Normally you wouldn't harp on such a lack of backstory - if it wasn't the sole motivation and original concept of this work!

Other stories mad a whole lot better attempt at this, like "Everyone else is a Returnee", where the MC is a [Pancosmic Loner] not because he chose to, but certain events lead to it (which is really explained further waaaay later in the story).

For our MC here, we can't identify with him, nor try to understand why he acts so contradictional to his core drive of wanting to be alone. Now you could hower make a point that his contradictory behavior is a story plot in itself and that he himself doesn't see his hypocrisy so the author can later use that to develop the MC.

But he won't. There are no indicators that he will because I'm sure that he weren't thinking about it in the first place.

The other characters surrounding the MC are just the standard templates of heartless korean bastards, who try to backstab the MC the first chance they get. As if every person in korea is an as*hole out for blood. Mix that up with MC's poor financial background and you have the same soup to chuck down as every second korean novel out there. <<less
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Trent
Trent rated it
July 22, 2017
Status: c14
Looked to have potential. But the MC's becoming irrational and unlikable, the story's empty, and it's increasingly difficult to understand what's going on and why. This isn't a man becoming great on his own merits, but someone becoming strong because of luck and then lording it over everyone else. Small wonder people don't like him.
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Ignus
Ignus rated it
September 29, 2017
Status: c14
The story is very disjointed. Enough to give a reader a headache. Most of the non-professional Originals are better than this travesty.

Example: ... more>>
Spoiler

It's pretty bad story when the MC asks a robot what this item is, and before getting an answer, he eats it.

Or MC gets key to ancient ruins, but since he is injured he doesn't explore it, instead he hikes back to his base and buys a shield spell to replace his missing hand.... Um, he had enough energy to make it back to the base, he could have gone exploring.

MC runs into skeleton that he fears, decides not to fight, then gets aggro on 2 at the same time. He tries to run, looses his hand, then decides to fight... There is definitely something wrong with that sequence. Oh right, he suddenly pulls out his companion, and starts using spells/magic that he didn't have before.

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All these examples are only from a single chapter, and there are other random things that just popped as well. Just shows that the author is writing what he wants when he thinks about it. No editing, no concerns over story flow. <<less
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fanobody
fanobody
July 14, 2017
Status: prologue
I could not go past chapter 3.

The character say multiple time that he is alone, an outsider and he have problem because of that and I don't care.

Do say if he change after chapter 3 but I can't read about a character that say pity me at every 3 lines.

... more>> "I prefer to be alone but no one want to understand me" (MC)

If you prefer to be alone just don't cry about it. And what do you do alone? It was never explained.

Ps: Sorry, I just don't like MC that pity themself for being themself. <<less
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Novela
Novela rated it
August 30, 2017
Status: c23
The novel is like other novels, like in...... more>>
Spoiler

arena the MC got a girlfriend and stopped being too serious about the arena things (though it was still enjoyable) but in this case the MC is just dumb. He was average (well he's a loner) in the first case and I thought I might see something like sovereign of judgement where choi hyuk has natural talent with his own ideals but no, the author makes the MC s*upid (also the start where MC about his childhood feels the same as sovereign of judgment but in his case loner) , the MC says he thinks outside the box but buys sh*t then is like oh wait I can buy this sh*t instead it's better than doing this *buys more shit*, or in everyone else is a returnee where MC was average and a loner but the author made him op, underestimate himself and smarter instead of making him think he's smart when he isn't.

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^ Talking about other novels in spoilers too and about MC in solo clear ^

Also the author had a nice idea but put other concepts together that made it worst :
Spoiler

let's add in the future if you don't complete the stages set you'll die we're saving you from your impending death, with a mysterious realm which has your daily nesscessities to buy, with dungeons in the stages

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Even though the novel is abit worst than others itd be in my pending list for later to read, who knows it might be better later as I've only read a few chapters. <<less
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KamiKira00
KamiKira00 rated it
July 20, 2017
Status: c13
Idea is good, lonely MC, does everything alone, but that it, writing is below average, barely any character growth, constant reminding that he is alone and it is only chapter 13 but it is so clear that he is lucky, if he need's something he find it.

Anyway, idea got me, so I am still reading, it's just a beginning, so I have my hope up. 4/5

Edit c21: I regret that I read it, idea is good, but that it. There are no side characters because MC is a loner, there... more>> are no balance, others gain nothing while MC gains everything, first day he goes to stage, he become cold blooded, fearless killing mashine, no explanations, nothing. To sum up, this novel is not worth to pick up. <<less
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N0r
N0r rated it
November 16, 2018
Status: c45
The prologue is an internal monologue by the main character about how he's a loner that is different from others. No one understands him because he's quiet and shy, and everyone thinks that he's weird. You'll probably like this novel if you're an edgy thirteen year old, because it feels like it was written by an edgy thirteen year old.

One of the very first interactions the main character has in the story is with some rich kid who gets hoes because he's rich. Rich kid goes, "hey there's this... more>> ugly and weird kid that goes to this school and has the same name as you. Is that ugly and weird person you?" Honestly the characters make no sense. Who the f*ck would start a conversation like that? And when the MC responds to the rich kid with "yeah that's me, " it supposedly intimidates him. Like what??????? This novel is tailor made to edgy preteens.

The plot is interesting enough for me to like the story overall, but the writing is abyssmal. <<less
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JonX2188
JonX2188 rated it
February 26, 2018
Status: c45
The story is good, it's just that the start is a little rough but if you continue with it you won't regret it. Once the story advances you can understand the character a little more and he becomes more likeable. I believe some people are really harsh giving one or two stars.
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oblueknighto
oblueknighto rated it
October 4, 2017
Status: c31
It's a really random novel. Quite an interesting one but there's no reason for a lot of stuff that happens so thinking about some of the stuff that happens is just a real waste of time. Just ride the wave and try to enjoy the ride.
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Alztec24
Alztec24 rated it
September 8, 2020
Status: c45
As I have seen one too many times the translator has dropped the story. Kobatochan translates fairly consistently quality wise, but they are a massive group of a**holes on donos funding their translations. To keep at least a semblance of civility in this review I will switch to story.

The novel seems fairly basic for one of its length, but reading ahead of the translations it does wrap up fairly well. I wouldn't recommend you dedicate too much interest into this novel as it will likely never be translated, nor is... more>> it really good enough for me to reccomend the translation continuing.

The author attempted to make a shy loner and stuck far too close to the archetype. There was almost no original concepts put forward in this novel overall. The only truly defining thing is that it is vary grammatically consistent (the authors writing not kobato). I personally dislike it, but would reccomend reading it anyway so I put 5/5. <<less
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worom001
worom001 rated it
June 9, 2018
Status: c45
It is as everybody says, there are superior novels such as Reincarnator that are so much better this and are worth more to read, the writing style is super wonky, feels unnatural and feels like it's written by a year 7 lol. However, it's exactly this wonky style and plot holes that keep me excited and pull me to read more. To be honest, if you binge read all in a row, or if you read just 3 or 4 chapters per couple days (as I was, waiting for the... more>> chapters to be released) then you wont realise the writing style. The story itself is mediocre, but it's fun. The fights are well described and exiting even though they so 'bad'.

In summary, this can only be read if you have the patience and can read novels with grammatical errors (even though there are pretty much non in the first place)

A good review to read is by nubdog:

"first of all you have the usual (clear the stages>get strong>protect the world from monsters) setting there isn't much complexity or crazy good ideas or anything, but its just a relaxing journey of getting strong while becoming badass There are some events meant to stir you up but tbh the protagonist just doesn't give a sh*t and does what he feels like doing anyway and that is one of the charms of the novel. There is nobody to force him into an undesirable social situation, like self entitled faggot A, parroting henchman B, feminist C or burden useless shivering in her boots girl D. It gives a nice picture of the advantages you can get by being solo, especially when others are busy backstabbing and being a burden to each other instead of a synergy effect. And at that point you understand sometimes its just better to do things alone than to get involved in needless drama. Adding on some dressing and decorations you have the protagonist soloing stages like a badass while you have the lovely music of no incompetent f**ks screaming nonsense in your ears like they were supposed to be xianxia baddies"

Read his whole review to get the full thing. <<less
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ptbptb
ptbptb rated it
October 4, 2017
Status: c22
This is a pretty mediocre story. The gods are dicks. The humans are dicks. The MC is... well, not so much actively dickish as apathetic to other people. It's a decent idea, if not that original, but you just keep hitting bits that really let it down.
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Raneday
Hibiki rated it
August 8, 2017
Status: c17
The idea for the story is good but for some 'twas not fully utilized/used. The MC's character is quite contradictory he says he wants to be alone but also says no one wants to understand him at all (well that's what surmise from the chapters I read so far).

Well still on the early stage of the story so I will still give this a chance. But if you guys like a loner MC then give this a try.
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
maria1014
maria1014 rated it
October 27, 2021
Status: c45
I dont understand why this is dropped. Its a pretty good read for me.

... more>>
Spoiler

The best thing about this is that there is no annoying romance so far.

And as of c45 the author is faithful to the premise of the story. He is clearing the stages as solo player.

The protag is not OP in the beginning. In the later chapters tho he will get much stronger but he deserves it, its the result of his efforts.

He does not have it easy either. There is one stage where he has to cut his own arm.

Anyway...

I have read a lot of novels that claims that the protagonist is soloing or something like that but ended up gathering a bunch of op allies as a result. I was looking for a novel that has a soloist protag for fvcks sake. And I found it in this novel as far as c45 but it was dropped!

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Pity it was dropped. Hope someone pick this up soon 😢 <<less
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