Tomb Raider King is a hugely popular South Korean web novel and manhwa that has just revealed its first teaser trailer, produced by Studio Eek.
The story takes place in a world permanently altered by the sudden emergence of ancient artifacts known as Relics.
These powerful items grant extraordinary abilities, but they don’t come easily, each one is hidden inside dangerous, monster-infested dungeons called Tombs, turning relic hunting into a deadly global phenomenon.
At the center of the story is Seo Joo-Heon, a skilled but relatively underpowered tomb raider who is betrayed by an employer on a retrieval mission and left for dead.
While bleeding out, he encounters a mysterious Relic that lets him travel back 15 years into the past to change his fate. Armed with his knowledge of the future, Joo-Heon sets out to exact revenge and become the world's #1 tomb raider.
Sanji Jiksong (SAN.G) is the author of the web novel, while Yuns (REDICE STUDIO) wrote the manhwa.
Studo EEK is producing the anime in Korea, which will also air in Japan under the title, Tōkutsuō.
K-pop group QWER will provide the OP, which is titled, "Show Down."
In the global manwha community, Tomb Raider King and Solo Leveling are often compared to one another due to their similarities.
The duo unofficially occupy two slots of the manhwa "Big Three", along with Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.
Both Tomb Raider King and Solo Leveling were produced by REDICE Studio, resulting in a similar art style and character design. And both series focus on the sudden and mysterious appearance of monster-filled "dungeons" or "tombs" and feature a protagonist who's story starts out with being left for dead while inside one of these locations before miraculously surviving and becoming incredibly overpowered.
However, one of the main differences is that Tomb Raider King's Seo Joo-Heon uses his knowledge of the future to carefully plan his moves, while Solo Leveling's Sung Jin-Woo has the mysterious "system" guiding his steps.
Another key difference is that Tom Raider King has a lot more humor and playful moments, while Solo Leveling is more of a high-stakes, power fantasy that focuses on increasingly difficult and powerful adversaries.
While Solo Leveling is currently more popular in the U.S. and other Western markets, Tomb Raider King is its equal in South Korea and Japan and that dynamic might change with the upcoming TV anime that's set to premiere in July.
Mysterious tombs appeared all over the world one day, each containing a relic which grants its owner supernatural abilities. Jooheon Suh is a tomb explorer, excavator, and raider. Betrayed by his employer, he's about to die at the hands of a powerful new relic when he suddenly finds himself 15 years in the past, before any relics or tombs made their debut. Driven by feelings of revenge, how will Jooheon use his knowledge of the future to become the Tomb Raider King?