The Fall 2023 Manga Guide

The World's Fastest Level Up

What's It About? 

Years have passed since dungeons popped up all around the world. When dedicated adventurer Amane Rin awakens to a unique skill called Dungeon Teleporting, he finds he no longer needs to abide by the rules of dungeon diving like everyone else. Follow Rin's journey to become the strongest adventurer in the world—at the fastest speed possible!

The World's Fastest Level Up has a story by Nagato Yamata and art by Atsushi Suzumi, with original character designs by FAME. The English translation is by M. Jean with lettering by Ochie Caraan. Published by Seven Seas Entertainment (September 26, 2023).

Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

Mysterious appearance of “dungeons” that turn the real world into a video game? Check. Stultifying stats? Check. Hero with misunderstood power that's actually super strong, but no one believes it? Check. Yes, I believe we have here a perfect example of a light novel-based, RPG-inspired fantasy, and if you expect it to be much more than that, you're likely to be disappointed. The World's Fastest Level Up is a textbook example of the genre, and while there's nothing wrong with adhering to genre norms, it also has limited appeal if said genre isn't one you're already devoted to. And hey, I can read Regency romances until the cows come home and be perfectly happy with all of them, provided they're decently written, so there's no judgment from me – especially since this one does fit that last criteria, at least to a point.

Certainly, it gets major props for not having its protagonist, Rin, be either a sad sack or a bitter human being. Rin knows that his initial party ill-used him, one built entirely of people with unique skills. When Kazami, the party leader, realized that Rin's “dungeon teleport” skill could not benefit the party as a whole, he quietly made it uncomfortable enough for Rin to resign. Although Rin is justifiably angry about that, he's not embittered by it. And the truth is, his skill is better suited to soloing dungeons – it only teleports the user and functions best when used to circumvent the basic systems in place to keep people from repeating dungeons ad nauseam. In other words, it's a skill perfectly tailored to Rin, who uses his dungeon dives to support his younger sister, Hana. It's not much good for glory hounds like Kazami and his ilk.

There's also a definite effort to make the world's mechanics slightly more interesting than the norm. This shows up the most clearly in the idea of a forced break between clearing dungeons. People with Rin's skill have to wait a week between finishing one and starting another, which seems engineered to keep adventurers alive by forcing them to take a break. That's not something I've seen in many (if any) similar stories, and it does indicate that the author put some thought into both how dungeon delving would work in real life and the “work till you drop” ethos of the Japanese workplace – or at least into making their world a little unique. The stats are the absolute worst part of the story because there's no way to make that enjoyable, and I wish authors would stop trying. But on the whole, this is a decent take on the exhausted genre, with the caveat that if you're thoroughly sick of it, this isn't going to do anything to change your mind.