Dungeon Crawler Carl's Publisher Is Back With A New Can't-Miss LitRPG Series

Published Sep 6, 2026, 12:31 PM EDT Merlyn De Souza is a freelance writer and anime enthusiast based in Goa, India, with a Bachelor's in English Literature. When she isn't writing, she can be found exploring various realms of entertainment, including, but not limited to, K-dramas, novels, and even the occasional manhwa. She also enjoys all things creative, like sewing and makeup. Just a little over a year ago, Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl made its much-awaited debut as a webtoon. Now two seasons in, the series has amassed an impressive 10.3 million views on Webtoon and has cemented itself as one of the platform's most popular fantasy titles. No doubt, with a blend of comedy, action fantasy, LitRPG, and post-apocalyptic elements, Dungeon Crawler Carl was a recipe for success from the start. RPG-inspired stories have evidently been on the rise for quite some time now, as seen through the growing popularity of webtoons and manhwa like Omniscient Reader and Surviving the Game as a Barbarian, as well as anime like Shangri-La Frontier and Solo Leveling. All that said, as Dungeon Crawler Carl continues to climb higher and higher, the webtoon's success has also shone a spotlight on its creators, Aethon and Laurel Pursuit, who have just returned with a brand-new LitRPG series. Dungeon Crawler Carl's Creators Just Launched Another Major Webtoon Adaptation Aethon Webcomics, together with Laurel Pursuit, recently launched a new series titled Shadow Slave, a fantasy LitRPG series based on a very popular web novel of the same name by Russian author GuiltyThree. Shadow Slave has accumulated well over 117.6 million views on Webnovel, and with 3177 chapters out so far, the novel shows no signs of slowing down. Amidst the novel's ever-expanding readership, Shadow Slave's webtoon was launched on August 19, 2026. Seven chapters of the webtoon have been released so far, with new chapters coming out every Wednesday. So far, the webcomic is available to read on Webnovel as well as Aethon Webcomics' official website, and even though the adaptation is still in its early stages, Shadow Slave already looks like it could be the next big sensation. Set against the backdrop of an almost post-apocalyptic world recovering from a series of natural disasters and wars over resources, Shadow Slave follows Sunless, or Sunny for short, a young man from the slums who has been affected by a mysterious phenomenon known as the Nightmare Spell. Initially mistaken for a disease when it first appeared a few decades prior to the start of the story, the Nightmare Spell puts its victims into an endless slumber. Within this slumber, known as the First Nightmare, those affected must undergo trials, which include slaying monsters, and should they survive, they wake up back in the real world as the awakened, with all the powers and abilities they acquired during the trial still intact. However, should one fail the trial or die within the nightmare, their body turns into a gate that lets Nightmare Creatures into the real world. Upon being marked by the Nightmare Spell, Sunny, Shadow Slave's protagonist, turns himself in to the police and is quickly thrust into his First Nightmare. However, his first trial sees him start out as a mere temple slave, with no special skills or abilities, so to speak of. Meanwhile, his attributes only further attest to the rather turbulent, unpredictable fate that awaits him. Shadow Slave's Webtoon Already Shows Great Promise Right off the bat, Shadow Slave's premise is familiar yet just unique enough. While many action fantasy webtoons as of late have adopted the formula of dungeon gates that eke monsters out into the world, Shadow Slave puts a fun, new twist on this world-building convention by adding the Nightmare Spell into the mix. As a protagonist, Sunny is also immediately reminiscent of popular LitRPG heroes like Latna Saga's Ryu-Hanbin or Solo Leveling's Jinwoo, especially with how he starts out rather low on the rungs as a temple slave without any remarkable abilities. Granted, seven chapters are barely enough for the series to properly establish itself, its world, or the direction of its story. Having said that, so far, Shadow Slave is checking every other box, whether that's its character designs, its gorgeous backdrops and scenery, or even its grotesque monster designs. Furthermore, considering the overwhelming viewership the web novel has garnered, there is no doubt that Shadow Slave's story must be excellent and worth waiting to see unfold in the webtoon. Lastly, as far as adapting the web novel goes, Shadow Slave's webtoon appears to be very closely adapting its source material so far. The webtoon is almost one-for-one with the web novel right now, with Chapter #7 of the webtoon having adapted up to half of Chapter 8 of the novel. Season 1 of Shadow Slave's webtoon will reportedly run for 50 chapters, by which point the series will have definitely found its footing. But there's no need to wait until then, as Shadow Slave is already good enough to dive into right now, especially since it's currently available to read for free on Aethon Webcomics. Dungeon Crawler Carl Publisher(s) Penguin Random House Publication Date September 21, 2020 Number of Pages 444 ISBN# 979-8688591507