Why did Faker reject the 24.5 billion won annual salary offered by China? “Focus on growing”

Professional gamer Faker Lee Sang-hyuk revealed the reason why he rejected the 24.5 billion won annual salary offered by China.

Faker Lee Sang-hyuk appeared as a guest on tvN's 'You Quiz on the Block' (hereinafter referred to as 'You Quiz'), which aired on the 20th.

On this day, Faker expressed his feelings about winning the gold medal at the Asian Games following winning the 2023 League of Legends (LoL) World Championship last November. Faker showed a humble attitude, saying, "This is my first time participating in the Asian Games as an official event. I am grateful and satisfied that I had a good experience." When Yoo Jae-seok mentioned that there were many people who tried to take pictures with Faker, Faker said, "I participated in a demonstration event in 2018, and there weren't many people taking pictures then, but this time there were a lot."

When asked, "Is there a benefit after winning?" Faker responded, "As far as I know, the prize money for winning the World Cup is about 1 billion won. I distributed that and received various additional income. There are avatars called 'skins', limited editions to commemorate the players. “Skins have also been produced. We make a lot of profit from that,” he explained.

After winning in 2016, he set an amazing record of winning the world title for the fourth time in seven years. Faker said, "I was just proud. I prepared without really thinking about the result. I was determined to do my best. Even if I lost 3-0, I said I would face it with a smile on my face. Winning is what the fans want, so I was happy in that respect." He expressed his feelings about winning.

At the time, Faker said, ‘This win is for the team, not me.’ "When I first debuted, I wanted to make a lot of money. As the years went by and I achieved my money goal, I thought I should have a new goal to motivate myself. I thought that the next goal would be fame. If I had a goal for others rather than for myself, “I thought I could keep up with it,” he confessed honestly. Yoo Jae-seok, who heard this, did not spare praise, saying, "Isn't he 27 years old this year? He's cool."

Regarding the reason for rejecting the 24.5 billion won annual salary offered by China, he expressed his belief, saying, "My goal was to learn and grow more than money or fame." Faker then mentioned an anecdote from his childhood and said, "I stayed up all night playing games. I didn't stay up past midnight because I had to go to school. I read to get better at games. It was thanks to books that I was able to enjoy playing professional gamers." “Among the qualities, humility is important. You can learn more only if you can listen without any distractions,” he added.

The house was so large that it even clarified the rumor that it was a ‘palace’. When asked, "Is it possible to play tag at home?" Faker replied, "It's not a palace. The team members sprinkled a lot of MSG. My father knows architecture well, so he designed it himself. It would be okay to play tag at home."

Reporter Ha-neul Lee, Ten Asia greenworld@tenasia.co.kr