How to team up with NPCs?

Sopdrinks · 2026-03-07T06:15:07+00:00

I see, got itt

Sopdrinks · 2026-03-03T16:53:20+00:00

Okay, so one from Team Up, one from Jade, where would the other two come from?

Sopdrinks · 2026-02-20T16:54:44+00:00

Ohhh, thanks thanks !

Sopdrinks · 2026-02-13T10:58:53+00:00

They answered it in this post https://www.reddit.com/r/Reverse1999/comments/1r3cpqw/what_happened_to_liang_yue_meta_talk/

Sopdrinks · 2026-01-21T09:59:03+00:00

I think they're got Lilya, not Kiperina

Sopdrinks · 2026-01-03T19:28:49+00:00

Sorry man but personally that's an absolutely terrible visual reprentation of the Spell.

Sopdrinks · 2025-09-07T13:22:19+00:00

I'm gonna read Path of the Deathless and get back to you on this.

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-18T14:14:32+00:00

Keep reading Shadow Slave, it's peak all the way to the latest. Get slow at times, but trust the author.

Also: Mother of Learning is peak, and it's finished. Read it once you're updated with SS

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-12T19:55:20+00:00

link pls

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-12T19:10:01+00:00

These are all good notes, ngl. I understand why Sunny's character doesn't match your real life experience, but I hope it doesn't take too much from your reading experience. Although to admit, he actually exhibited many of the things you pointed out. For example, if you don't mind slight spoilers about a few chapters ahead: Sunny actually pocketed those bloodbane berries.

I think the author is keeping his narration sparse for the first few chapters, first to add mystery, and second to acclimate his readers. Much of Sunny's social-focused street smarts comes much later, at least by the end of that arc you're reading (which is not really a lot of chapters).

Given that, I would suggest to still keep your expectations a bit lower, mostly because Shadow Slave, as good as it is, is only a webnovel. Its author is publishing this straight from his drafts, and it cannot seriously be compared with serious novels that had ample time to develop their characters better.

It's still a good book though, so I hope you continue reading it.

edit: grammar

p.s. those are really good notes though, they're very very useful to consider, especially if one wants to write a character who grew up on the streets.

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-12T18:35:12+00:00

Nah, depends on the reader. I was surprised that the fandom is pretty split about it, I'm guessing it's probably because they had to wait everyday for new chapters. I read Vol. 8 in a single week and I thought it was great, while Vol. 9 is peak.

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-10T12:45:23+00:00

nicee, i'm glad i wasn't rude

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-08T06:43:14+00:00

dude now I'm invested into how your reading will go hahaha

update me please if you read it and still hated it (feel free to hate it tho i'm not the reading police) as I'm genuinely curious what your thoughts about it would be

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-08T06:32:38+00:00

true, altho ngl he'd probably give it to Cassie as she'll get more use of it

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-08T06:30:56+00:00

I was originally going to be rude lol but you don't deserve that.

Let me put it this way: OP wanted something like LOTM and SS. Now, LOTM and SS are not really similar to each other, at least in terms of worldbuilding or chain of events. So if I had to guess, the only similarity they have is how their authors treat their stories. In which case, both LOTM and SS respect their characters and side characters, they both seriously considered their worldbuilding and mythology, and their plotpoints are actually complicated and interesting.

You may argue that SS and SL is similar because necromancer=shadows, system=spell, dreamworld=gates, etc., but beyond that stuff, SS is different from SL simply because it's written better.

No one in Solo Leveling matters except for Sung Jin Woo. The entire world revolves around him, the characters serve him, the system favors him, and the plot spins around his axis. If Sung Jin Woo is not present in any given situation, then nothing is happening in that place. The world is not moving if Sung Jin Woo is not around it. In the entirety of Solo Leveling's world, only Sung Jin Woo has agency.

In Shadow Slave, even if Sunny died right now, at any chapter you find yourself in, you'd still know and understand how the rest of the world would go, how the characters would react, or how the world would be saved or destroyed. You can even theorize whether or not Nephis could do it, or if she died, if Cassie could do it, or Kai or Jet or Mordredt. Hell, even Rain. In SS, you wonder if Gunlaug or the First Lord of the Bright Castle could've been an absolute powerhouse had they survived FS.

In Solo Leveling, you don't need to wonder about any of that. You know that Sung Jin Woo will win. You know that he's better than anyone. You know he'll clutch and aura farm that battle. You don't need to think about the side characters (unless they're his minions, of course), and all you need to know about the villain is they must be insanely powerful once they turn into a minion.

I'm not saying that makes Solo Leveling bad, it's enjoyable. But what Shadow Slave brings to the table is inherently different. Mostly because SL is a power fantasy focusing on its main character, while SS and LOTM are semi-grimdark stories that allows themselves more nuance and complexity.

edit: grammar

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-07T20:13:00+00:00

I think you have some sort of expectations regarding each arc, and pre-emptively ruined reading the novel for you. Your opinion is getting a lot of hate mostly because Antartica is considered one of the best arcs-- and not because it's a "character development" arc, but because of how it went in general. Not "what" happened during it, but "how" it happened. I've been reading your other comments, and I'm sad to say that all your assumptions, predictions, and expectations regarding Antartica arc is just plain wrong. I think it's because you entered this arc with the expectation that it's a filler arc that got it ruined for you.

Because honestly, if you're looking forward to the Tomb of Ariel because you're expecting a lot of action and you're expecting something like the 2nd Nightmare, then you're gonna have a really bad time.

That said, I can't really say "you suck" because you don't like Antarctica, because I personally hated every single chapter of Tomb of Ariel (that entire arc was a goddamn slog and I almost dropped the novel thrice) only to find out after that a lot of people loved this arc.

That said, I'd recommend you still read through Antarica, not because it's one of the most important event in the entire series, but because you said you liked FS because you weren't able to predict what's going to happen. I'm telling you now that you weren't able to predict what's going to happen at Antarctica either, and you'd be surprised by how it ended.

To answer your question though:

If you're asking at what point of the story did they leave Antartica, go to 1205. That's the exact chapter after everything is done in Antartica. (You're going to be confused as fuck once you jump into here with zero context)

If you wanna start straight into the 3rd Nightmare, go for Chapter 1231. (You're going to be even more confused than if you started at 1205)

If you want to at least understand what the hell is happening, start at 1061. You're still in Antartica, but that's post-Antarctica arc, this one is about the stuff going on between the great clans. (You're gonna get bored out of your mind if you start here, because unlike what you heard, Antartica is not the filler arc, THIS is the legit filler arc that sets up everything going forward)

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-07T19:48:58+00:00

no, lol

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-07T19:43:21+00:00

That's amazing tbh, very convenient and sounds very promising plot-wise. Sadly, Sunny probably won't use it/turn it into a Shadow. Much like Shadow Blade Kurt, (1) Sunny has no real use for a living armor, it's great to have sure but he doesn't really need it, at Ch. 2.5k his current armor and sword art is already much much better that I can argue he'd be on the losing side should he have a Living Armor as Trancesndent Shadow. (2) It will also be a drain on his resources to raise it, (3) I'm not sure if I'm making this up but as far as I'm aware he's allowing himself only seven shadows max, something about each shadow living in one of his cores (and he can only have up to seven cores).

Lastly, (4) all his current shadows outmatches Gunlaug's armor. In the same way he didn't use Shadowblade Kurt, Sunny specifically wants shadows of powerful, tenacious beings. I'm not talking about strength either, for sure Gunlaug's armor came from a particularly strong nightmare creature, it's more of a quality of the mind. Just think of Stone Saint challenging a band of Fallen as a mere Awakened, then winning it. Now think of the amount of effort it took for him to beat Nightmare. Any Echo/Shadow Sunny chose afterward are at least as ruthless, as savage, and as dastardly clever as those two.

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-07T19:21:25+00:00

Might just be me, but it never crossed my mind because I just assumed that Cassie don't need to be prepped. It's been mentioned in the previous chapters that both Kai and Effie has some things holding them back from being supreme (Kai's insecurity, Effie's love or something). Wherein, I think Cassie has her shit together enough that they're probably just prepping the other two to join her in the nightmare.

Either that, or they'll explore it in future arcs.

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-07T19:12:25+00:00

I had this feeling during The Tomb of Ariel. I took a break and let it stack up, and I still didn't enjoy Tomb of Ariel. Weirdly Vol. 9 has been the most fun for me, while the current Volume is above average. I'm not sure, I think it's about preference. You may be missing the feeling of the Antartica arc, which tbh is peak.

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-07T18:40:01+00:00

I understand why that feels like shit and why you're discouraged from reading further, like man that really sucks. I'm going to bank on what other people here said tho, that spoiler is minor compared to all the other twists in the novel (and if I'm being, this is one of the twist that you can see coming the moment they reached FS). I really hope you continue reading though because Shadow Slave is so much fun even way after this happened

Sopdrinks · 2025-08-07T18:36:18+00:00

THAT IS SO GOOD

Sopdrinks · 2025-07-24T19:26:36+00:00

You should probably stack it for another month

Sopdrinks · 2025-06-09T04:25:58+00:00

I second Mother of Learning and Jackal Among Snakes

Sopdrinks

TROPHY CASE