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RIDI Pulls BL Web Novel After Allegations Story Mirrors Career of e-Sports Legend Faker
posted on by Wonhee Cho
Korean webtoon and web novel platform RIDI suspended sales of the newly published boys-love (BL) novel Crazy Dog Hunts the Tiger only a day after its release on November 24, following accusations that the story closely mirrors the real-life career of the world-famed professional gamer known as Faker.
Faker, often called “the Michael Jordan of e-sports,” is a Korean-born professional League of Legends player and the most decorated athlete in the game's history. Since his debut at age 17, he has led his team to multiple world championship titles and is widely regarded as one of the greatest competitive gamers of all time.
The Crazy Dog Hunts the Tiger web novel centers on a male pro gamer nicknamed “Tiger,” a legendary player with five global tournament championships, portrayed as an invincible star under all conditions. Critics pointed out that Tiger's storyline — debuting as a teenager, achieving back-to-back championships, failing a chance at a “three-peat,” then returning years later to succeed — aligned almost exactly with Faker's real record.
Public outcry over using a real person's achievements in an adult fiction story prompted the author, Eun‑gyu Lee, to post an apology claiming the resemblance was coincidental. Nevertheless, online communities widely criticized the decision to anchor a mature-rated romantic story in a narrative so similar to an actual player.
Later, Lee issued a formal apology. She denied intentionally modeling the character after Faker, but stated she was "short-sighted," and overlooked how unique Faker's achievements were. Lee stated she will revise the problematic content.
As of press time, RIDI displays a message for the web novel stating that its sale has been “temporarily suspended at the request of the publisher or copyright holder.”
Source: Hankook Ecomony (Ye-rang Kim)
