Ring in the New Year with Cha Haein's Epic Solo Leveling Moment

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Beware, spoilers ahead for Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 67.

For fans of Solo Leveling, the anticipation surrounding Cha Haein’s return continues to build like the countdown to New Year’s Eve, but unfortunately, the latest chapter of the sequel manhwa, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, leaves them waiting once more. Despite numerous hints suggesting her comeback, Chapter 67 does not deliver on this much-anticipated event.

The chapter unfolds with Sung Suho’s newfound ally, the Ice Elf Magic Beast named Sarca—also known as Sirka in some translations—falling into the clutches of the successors of the Plague and Transfiguration Monarchs. Sarca, who has formed a maternal bond with Cha Haein, was taken under her care along with other Ice Elves after Cha found herself stranded in the land of the Snowfolk. As the New Year approaches, Sarca finds herself saved, but to the fans’ disappointment, not by the hoped-for return of Cha Haein.

Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 67 picks up with Sung Suho’s new Ice Elf Magic Beast friend, Sarca (sometimes translated as Sirka), having been captured by successors of the Plague and Transfiguration Monarchs. Sarca is known to have developed something of a mother-daughter connection to Cha Haein, who took the Ice Elves under her wing after being trapped in the land of the Snowfolk herself. Thankfully, Sarca is rescued just in time for the New Year, but it’s not by the person fans have been hoping to see.

Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Already Missed Its Golden Opportunity to Bring Back Cha Haein

Jinwoo fondly recalls a hug with Cha Haein in Solo Leveling

Sung Suho has been (albeit passively) searching for his mother from the very start of Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, he just never knew where to look. Even as of Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 67, he technically still doesn’t, but the manhwa’s latest arc finally revealed the truth of Cha Haein’s fate to readers, at least.

It was first revealed in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 65 that Cha Haein was actually trapped in the land of the Snowfolk the whole time, and that just so happens to be where the giant S-Rank Gate that appeared over Seoul South Korea led.

Even though Suho still doesn’t realize how close he is to his mother, he seemed to get much closer to finding her when he befriended Sarca in Chapter 66. Unfortunately, that mother-son reunion never happened, which was even more bittersweet considering Chapter 66 was also released on the real-life date of Cha Haein’s birthday, December 24th. If there were any time to bring Haein back into the story, it seemed like her birthday would be the most opportune moment, but Ragnarok opted to avoid picking that low-hanging fruit.

Even though Cha Haein didn’t physically appear in Ragnarok Chapter 66, she was shown in a hazy flashback from within Sarca’s mind’s eye. Not only that, but the story perfectly set up the ideal circumstances for her to return in the latest chapter instead. After all, Cha Haein is the protector of the Ice Elf children, so it makes perfect sense that she would come to Sarca’s rescue. But the manhwa seems to be playing the long game, irrespective of the awesome meta-narrative that would arise by having Haein reunite with her son around the time of her birthday in the real world.

Between a new Solo Leveling: Ragnarok chapter dropping on Cha Haein’s literal birthday, and now one coming out on New Year’s Eve, it seemed like the perfect time to celebrate the iconic wife of Sung Jinwoo and mother of Sung Suho. But Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 67 has unfortunately dropped the ball on that opportunity.

Solo Leveling: Ragnarok is Building Up to a More Epic Return For Haein Than Most Fans Realize

As unfortunate as Haein’s continued absence in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok: Chapter 67 is, it’s not all doom and gloom for Cha Haein’s role in the series’ current arc. If anything, it seems Solo Leveling: Ragnarok is hoping to raise the stakes even more before Cha Haein does finally return to make her big comeback that much more satisfying. In her original appearance in the light novel version of this arc, for example, Haein arrived during the intense climax of the dungeon boss fight.

That gave an even more epic quality to her dramatic arrival on the back of Kaisel. The manhwa may be trying to relive that former glory. Of course, many of the details of this arc have already diverged considerably from the light novel’s telling of the S-Rank Raid Arc’s plot line.

Even the reason Sung Suho entered the land of the Snowfolk is very different in the manhwa, because Jinwoo already had a lead on Cha Haein’s location when he entered the dungeon in the light novel, whereas Haein’s appearance in the land of the Snowfolk was a complete mystery in the manhwa. It also seems that Sarca’s relationship to the Frost Monarch has changed in the manhwa. In the light novel, Sarca is Sillad, the Frost Monarch’s granddaughter; in the manhwa, she seems to be the granddaughter of Barca, the leader of the Ice Elves who Jinwoo fought at the start of the anime’s second season.

Sarca shares her truth with Sung Suho in the Solo Leveling: Ragnarok manhwa — Sarca shares her truth with Sung Suho in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 66

Perhaps, instead of just saving Sarca, it’ll be up to Cha Haein to save both her and Suho as well. The tension is already ramping up considerably in this arc, as Park Dojin (the Apostle of Itarim’s secret identity) also finally reveals his true intentions to Lim Taegyu in Chapter 67.

Between Taegyu’s fight with Dojin, the ongoing rivalry between the Scavenger Guild and the Korean S-Ranks, and Jinwoo’s fight with the Monarch Successors, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok‘s current arc is showing signs that it could actually deliver on its promise of being a spiritual successor to the infamously intense Jeju Island Raid.

If nothing else, Suho needs the help of his mother more than ever in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok’s upcoming chapters. It’s just a shame she’s taking so long to show up. Hopefully, that’ll change when the series returns next year with Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 68, scheduled for release on Wednesday, January 7, 2026.

New chapters of the Solo Leveling: Ragnarok manhwa release weekly on Wednesdays in Korean on KakaoPage. The official English translation is available to read via Tappytoon and the Tapas app.