Achieving the pinnacle of athletic success comes with a host of honors: star players often sign lucrative brand deals, access VIP experiences and pop up on merchandise. As esports progresses into mainstream culture, League of Legends icon Lee 'Faker' Sang-Hyeok has one-upped the traditional cereal-box appearance: fans are noticing his likeness on Korean instant ramen packaging. In addition, some fans are already selling the limited-edition boxes on eBay for 13.80 USD a pop. Let's recap what this means for the gaming world.

To ask a League of Legends player 'Who is Faker?' is like asking a basketball fan about LeBron James or a Formula 1 enthusiast about Max Verstappen. Faker's legacy is inextricably intertwined with League of Legends esports, as he is a 5-time Worlds winner and a co-owner of T1, one of the title's most successful esports teams. Faker was so instrumental in Riot Games' competitive circuits that the developer selected him as its first inductee in the Hall of Legends, which commemorates League of Legends' most influential players.

Faker is particularly famous in his home country of South Korea and is largely credited for expanding League of Legends esports' popularity in the region. His cultural impact is so significant that he was exempted from South Korea's mandatory military service after winning the Asian Games (for international readers, roughly equivalent to an Olympic gold medal). To put all this into perspective, the government essentially considers him a cultural asset. In addition, not even South Korea's most famous boy band, BTS, received any similar sort of military exemption.