Not yet 20 years old, we seem to know Se-Yeon “Geguri” Kim, for a lifetime. Her story began in her adolescence, at no more than 16 years old. But she has become ever since, an icon in the gaming world and a very well-known figure in the feminist movement. Her story has slowly but surely unraveled, from the wrongly accused underdog to one of the debuts most expected by eSports betting in the USA. Also, she has evolved, rather reluctantly on her behalf, into an example for overcoming the injustices that women suffer in a man dominated the field.

Overcoming Toxicity At An Early Age

The start of her undesired attention happened in 2016. The newly released Overwatch was already starting to take off to the fame it has today, with more than 30 million official players. In June 2016, during an amateur tournament, one of the players was display close to perfection shooting skills. After losing and, even more troubling, after finding out that the player named Geguri was IRL a young girl, two of the losing team members launched official cheating allegations.

At first, received with a nonchalant shoulder shrugging, Geguri found herself in a whirlwind of hate and toxic behavior, which the 16 years old was not sure how to handle. To all the hate mail, death threats and accusations of all being just a marketing ruse to promote the new game, the shy, inexperienced youngster responded the only way she knew how to: by playing the game the way she loved to.

In a live stream, Geguri exhibited her unbelievable aiming and gameplay skills, thus dismantling, beyond any reason of doubt, that the way she reads the game and aims is all natural, no help needed. Legend says that after the perfect performance in which Kim convinced everybody of her artistry, the only words she could say, at the post-game interview, were an excuse that because of her nerves, she couldn’t play well.

The Feminist Movement Found A New Model To Follow

The eSports world went bananas, and Geguri’s story went straight to the stories’ hall of fame. It was more than the one about a hero who prevails wrongfully thrown accusations, but of a woman who managed to prove her abilities were superior to those of most men. And the feminist movement found itself the ideal representative in South Korea and, given the spread of news in eSports, perhaps in the whole world.

From Geguri’s point of view, not that much had happened, and she was somewhat oblivious to all the commotion created around her. And that was yet again natural for a shy, introvert 16 years old girl, who only wanted to do the thing she liked most, which was to play the game. The remaining of the year, oscillating between high-school and the gaming house where she practiced with the team. 2017 found the team dismantled and Geguri sat on the sidelines for a while.

Even if her in-game appearances have become fewer, her media coverage has taken the high-rise, although in her absence. She became the symbol of all the female gamers which surely have endured abuses along their path to becoming pro-players. But the fact that Geguri managed to better these odds and teach her haters a real lesson, both in gaming skill and in humility, made her famous and gave hope to a lot of teenage girls to carry on playing, no matter how the male-dominant community felt about it.

Esports Betting In The USA Love A True Hollywood Story

Once she convinced her parents to move to another high-school which allowed her more practice time, she returned on the Overwatch stage. The results of the teams she joined hence haven’t been that great, but her presence always made the difference. And her fan base has constantly increased. Every tournament she participated at, found a large group of her supporters in the crowd, waving encouragement messages at their idol.

But all this fame hasn’t changed her view on life, or her persuasion to become a pro. Many feminist groups have tried associating their name with Geguri’s image, but they were all kindly refused. That was not her main aim, and her attitude has shown that over and over. Perhaps this increased her fan’s adoration, seeing how she obviously didn’t do all those actions for fame but genuinely trying to become the best Overwatch player she could be.

18-year-old Geguri was signed by Shanghai Dragons in February 2018 and managed to reach her long-time aspiration, which was to play in the Overwatch League, thus becoming the first female player to do so. The frenzy was unimaginable, with feminists thriving and eSports media having a day. But most important, she has become an inspiration to lots of teenage girls around the world. And this is at such an early age, we’re surely eager to find out what this introvert girl has yet to offer.