What would happen if League of Legends' Faker and aespa's Karina met? The best K-drama of the year, apparently

“I, Lee Sang-hyeok, man of may word, am going to confess my uncontrollable feelings to her.” Faker grabs Karina’s hand as cherry blossoms fall, floating gently as their eyes meet. The lighting is warm; the music romantic. It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for.

Smash cut to a Google Play convention. Faker tears through the halls with a somewhat perplexed Karina at his side, a smile on his face – somewhat disarming, the League of Legends icon is notably emotionless. “For Ji-min [Yu, Karina’s full name], who wants more rewards,” he continues. As he chills in the Google Play VIP lounge, Karina looks on in dismay. This is Google Play Korea’s latest ad series, and it’s the K-drama I never knew I needed.

The series turned mini-drama sees esports’ greatest player ever consistently collide with aespa’s Karina, one of K-pop’s darlings. We’ve seen League of Legends dabble in K-pop before with K/DA, but this is something completely new.

The series is genuinely hilarious. In the library, Faker notices Karina playing games on her phone, and prepares a Powerpoint presentation to ask her questions – it’s a library, after all, no chatting. As she goes to speak, he shushes her with his signature finger-over-lip pose; I immediately found myself smiling.

From here, Faker encounters Karina everywhere he goes; “destiny” he calls it. As the duo continue to collide, Faker continually attempts to play videogames with her, but his approach is… perplexing to say the least.

There are plenty of references here: the “all roads eventually lead her to me” during the train ad references the iconic hype video from Worlds in 2023; the recreation of the ‘Faker roll’ from the 2015 Worlds finale. As he shows her the slides in the first video, there’s his classic thumbs up, referencing fans attempting to get him to form the other half of a love heart using their hands in photos, only to be met with the upturned digit. The list goes on.

On Karina’s end, she consistently declares herself to be “on the next level;” a nod to aespa’s 2021 hit, ‘Next Level.’ The entire series is a perfectly realized blast of nostalgia that I’m absolutely obsessed with. Plus, Faker looks like he’s constantly trying not to laugh, and that makes it even better.

The series’ finale dropped on Thursday May 15, where it seems like Karina’s prospective boyfriend is finally going to ask her to marry him. Faker, however, appears at the table, attracting all of the attention. Frustrated, Karina issues her partner an ultimatum: “say it clearly: is it me or Faker?” I won’t ruin the ending, but I think he makes the right choice.

As a self-professed connoisseur of romantic K-dramas (My Demon, Hotel del Luna, Business Proposal; I’ll admit I have a problem), I genuinely want to see this series expanded out. What happens from here? Do Karina and Faker ever get together? Maybe they’ll duo bot; Faker’s a nasty ADC, after all.

All jokes aside, this campaign really is fantastic. It perfectly blends the worlds of celebrity and videogames, and creates something that’s enjoyable for both fans and casual viewers alike. It’s a masterclass in marketing, and an absolute joy to watch.