League of Legends player Cheon āPromiseā Min-Ki is in serious condition today after reportedly jumping from a twelve-story building and ending up in a coma. According to several Korean news reports, this comes after he revealed alleged eSports match-fixing.
Promise played for South Koreaās AHQ eSports team. But according to him, the whole thing was a sham. On the Inven forums (via Gosu Gamers and Redditor AskMeAboutZombies), Promise wrote how the team was apparently created by the manager to throw games and lose on purpose.
In his post, Promise wrote how he was allegedly threatened by team manager Noh Dae Chu if he tried to win. Because of those threats, Promise said he did do things to lose on purpose. Continuing, he added (via AskMeAboutZombies):
When we first made the team, we were told that AHQ sponsored us with cash and computers. We didnāt know they only gave us gaming gear for rights to the team name. Our manager Noh had lied to us, and took out a loan to pay for our housing, living expenses, computers, and even our salaries. He was planning on placing illegal bets on eSports games and fixing them to win back the borrowed money and make a profit.
Things got worse, with Promise writing about how the manager allegedly sold off their practice computers and apparently telling them he couldnāt pay their rent. He continues (via AskMeAboutZombies):
Later on, I contacted AHQ and talked to their management in Taiwan. They denied ever donating any money or computers. They only donated gaming gear meant for the players themselves, not manager Noh. I asked if we could keep rest of the gear for practice and they approved. Eventually, we discovered that Noh was selling our practice computers so he could pay off his debts and runā¦
ā¦we confronted Noh and announced weāre leaving the team. We demanded payment for the months that he still owed us. Noh responded that he couldnāt give us the money right away, but he would instead waive the 50% commission that AHQ claimed on prize money. Since we previously talked to AHQ management, the entire team already knew Noh was lying. AHQ never sponsored us with cash, never had rights to prize money and the computers didnāt belong to them, so who is he trying to pay money back to?
āI know I could have done better, but thanks to these events my professional career was over,ā he added. āAfter practicing to my best for a year, all I had left was a feeling of emptiness.ā Promise ended his post with these words (via AskMeAboutZombies):
tl;dr: Iām not in this world after 5 minutes, AHQ Korea was a team made by Noh to profit off illegal gambling, teammates didnāt know and we had to fix games because of this. AHQ Taiwan never sponsored our team, it was a lie. I am sorry for all of this, and I canāt tell you everything, but Iām leaving now as I cant deal with this anymore.
Promise said he grew up in a disadvantaged household. As noted on Inven (via Redditor cakezz15), his father left when he was 15 years 0ld, and his family home had no heating. Pro-gaming was Promiseās way out.
The Reddit thread, which has been following the whole incident closely, is careful to point out that Promise didnāt attempt suicide only because of the match fixing and that he was dealing with other personal problems.
Reports out of South Korea (via tipster Sang) state that Promise landed on the roof of a recycling center. AHQ Koreaās Nam Hoon Kim told This Is Game that Promise was in the emergency room, adding, āHis condition is stable. Police said he was not in a critical condition when they found him by the recycling bin.ā
Yonhap News published photos of the building, and the roof that broke Promiseās fall.
Another article on Yonhap News (via Sang) states that Promise was discovered at 5:56AM this morning, when a passerby heard a voice saying āHelp me.ā Promise has since come out of his coma, but has suffered multiple fractures throughout his body.
KeSPA, the Korea eSports Association, sent a dispatch to the hospital to check on Promise and told Inven that Promise āwill need a long time to recover.ā
The Korean branch of Riot, League of Legendās developer, issued an official statement, which, according to Kotaku tipster Sang, states that it has formed an internal task force to investigate the match fixing. Riot Korea also added that it will spare no expense in aiding Promiseās full and complete recovery. Another English LoL broadcaster in Korea, MonteCristo, said heās interested in working with the countryās media to help Promiseās family cover the medical expenses.
If you are ever contemplating suicide, please talk to someoneāfriends, family, or volunteers. People will listen.
Update: According to Korean site PGR21 (via tipster Sang), the AHQ Korea team was not part of KeSPA (the Korea eSports Association) and is considered amateur by the organization. KeSPA, which is a government organization, is also working with Riot to help Promise recover and re-enter society.
Whatās more, KeSPA has completed its first part of the investigation and has interviewed former AHQ Korea members. The organization has concluded so far that the teamās manager can be prosecuted and will pursue legal action.
AHQ has released an official statement about what happened. You can read the original version or the translation by Redditor Qiuri
Elsewhere, there is a Reddit fundraiser for Promise, as well as one by Inven on a YouCaring.com.
[ģ·Øģ¬] āķ¼ėÆøė„“ā ģ¤ģ, ģėŖ ģ§ģ„ ģģ§ė§ ķė³µģ ė§ģ ģź° ķģ [Inven Thanks, Sang!]
ķ¼ėÆøė„“ ģ²ėƼźø° LOL ģ¹ė¶ģ”°ģ ķė”ģ ė“ė§ź³¼ ė¼ģ“ģ-ģØź²ģė·-ķķ ģ ģ„ [This Is Game Thanks, Sang!]
Former AHQ Korea marksman āPromiseā attempts suicide following matchfixing scandal [Gosu Gamers]
To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft
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