From the depths of Seoul, South Korea Fleta has been forged in a war that he fought alone. Crawling over the cold, ashy remains of his teammates, he has proven time and time again that he will not falter. Fleta has spent nearly half a year preparing for his first professional win that was not him fighting for his career. Now, he operates within a team that can support him more than he could have ever imagined and can provide symbiosis. This is the story of the slumdog becoming the millionaire, the perennial coming of age story of an incredible Overwatch talent.

This is Fleta.

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“This guy is a god. Once the ‘Flash Lux’ shackles come off he is finally able to demonstrate why he is so feared as ‘1’ player on a losing team.” — Max “Atlus” Anderson, OGN Commentator

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Fleta played for a small South Korean Overwatch team called Flash Lux, a team that made their debut in the freshman season of OGN’s Overwatch APEX League. However, Fleta would not join the team until APEX Season 2. Crashing in like a gust of fresh air, his entry was dynamic, but the skill and prowess that he possessed would be almost lost in Flash Lux.

Early on in his professional career, Fleta was the definition of a standout player. He was able to maintain ludicrous statistics within the three APEX seasons he would perform in before leaving for the Overwatch League as a part of the Seoul Dynasty. Fleta was such an enigma for the simple fact that he never managed to win a single match during his tenure while in OGN’s Overwatch APEX League, and yet he still managed to stand out being the only threat on a deflated team. To the degree that he managed to secure half of his team’s total kills on two different occasions. In a world where most DPS players floated around 29% - 32% of their teams kills a match, Fleta towered over them with an astounding career high of 54.3% of his teams kills while on a team that quite literally never won.

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"Watching Fleta play, I often found myself thinking: 'How on earth did he even think of that play?' What he did on Flash Lux — continuously shining by himself on a continuously losing team — is really difficult. When I finally got to work with him, I couldn't help but be awed at his drive. He's only 19, but he's so serious, so determined to improve. It's amazing." — Lee “Hocury” Ho-cheol, Coach of Seoul Dynasty

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Season after season it was the same old song and dance. Flash Lux would be put into a group and as per usual, no matter the difficulty, they would fail to win a single match. He was stuck, treading water within Flash Lux, as stars like birdring and Fl0w3r passed him by. And yet, he remained. The “Ace of last place”, Fleta and Flash Lux would maintain their position at the bottom of the leaderboard, acting as the gatekeepers to the Overwatch APEX League.

But Fleta yearned for glory; it called to him, it enticed him. To his dismay these were but pipedreams if he stayed with the confines of Flash Lux. These voices spoke in sweet hymns and drove him to his wits end and suddenly everything was quiet. In October of 2017, Fleta made a change that would alter his fate for good. He would walk away from Flash Lux and join the two time APEX champions, Lunatic-Hai, as their star DPS player.

The Seoul Cup Supermatch was the first stage he donned the Lunatic-Hai jersey and he commanded the eyes of the audience. Much like the saying goes: it is best to let sleeping dogs lie, in fear that you might get bit. To Fleta’s credit, he had been sleeping for far too long—it was due time for him to bite back. To show the Overwatch world that he would not be defined by narratives and titles. He would resist the urge to buckle under the pressure of the expectation that came with the name “Lunatic-Hai.” He would persevere in each match of the Seoul Cup, just as he did for three seasons of APEX. And at the end of the day, Fleta was clad in gold. Lunatic-Hai won in nail biting fashion, but it was a victory nonetheless. Fleta had not completed his Overwatch quest to achieve a win, he had merely began to chase success.

He is the boy with the cold, almost impassive eyes. His aim reflects his perpetual stoic look, composed, almost robotic in a way. Fleta not only matches each of the worlds best DPS players, but he finds a way to supersede the governor of what we thought possible. Swimming through a tunnel of realities, quite literally bending them to his will. Matching his versatility with equal parts skill and drive, Fleta is the mainstay enforcer of the Seoul Dynasty. The sleeping tyrant has awoken, his eyes are bolted to the steely shimmer of the Overwatch League trophy.  The captain of the red lantern stands at the last train car no more, he is here to collect his due, much like a ruthless tyrant collects the tithe of his people.

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“Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun: Here's the thing. He sleeps way too much. He says he can sleep anywhere, anytime, and it seems to be true! On a more serious note, we had never played against him in APEX, so we weren't 100 percent sold on how good he was said to be. But then when he came in for his tryouts, he blew us all away. His play was so ridiculously composed.” — Baek Kwang-jin, Head Coach of Seoul Dynasty

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The Dalai Lama once ushered the quote; “ [...] not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck”, and for nearly half a year, Fleta was the luckiest man in South Korea. In his eyes, the gilded throne at the apex of the proverbial Overwatch mountain belonged to him as a birthright. After paying his dues in unending determination and sheer willpower, Fleta has found himself at the head of a dynasty - but not just any dynasty, his dynasty.

Joseph “Volamel” Franco has followed esports since the MLG’s of 2006. He started out primarily following Starcraft 2, Halo 3, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. He has transitioned from viewer to journalist and writes freelance primarily about Overwatch and League of Legends. If you would like to know more or follow his thoughts on esports you can follow him at @Volamel.

Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment and OGN.