No. 1 in the power rankings, Gen.G, has been eliminated.

On November 1 at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, Gen.G fell 1–3 to KT Rolster in the semifinals of the 2025 League of Legends World Championship, bringing their 2025 Worlds run to an end. Few expected Gen.G to lose, which made the result all the more shocking.

Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk spoke with visible frustration and regret. Even in what may be the toughest moment of his career, he left a message for the fans who had supported them: he hopes they “won’t lose heart.”

First, can we get your overall thoughts on today’s series?

I’m not sure. There were sets I really regret, and dropping Game 1 hurt a lot.

How did you prepare for today?

We talked among ourselves about how the opponent would focus on stacking dragons, but we couldn’t execute. In Game 1, we fell behind early so there wasn’t much we could do, and overall we just didn’t take the fights we needed. We fought awkwardly around dragon timings and ended up giving the drakes away a lot. In Game 3, our draft (ban/pick) wasn’t good, so we had no initiative. I’m not even sure what to say about Game 4, but it felt really hard to break through.

What specifically went wrong in the Game 3 draft?

With most of the supports already off the table and us ending up on Lulu, it felt hopeless. They had longer range and solid engage tools, and we basically had nothing.

You had a superb regular season. How would you sum up 2025 as a year?

I thought it was a really good year, but losing in the Worlds semifinals again leaves me confused.

If you could turn back time a few hours, what would you change?

In Game 1, from my perspective, I think we got a little too amped up. I’d try to rein that in.

Using today’s loss as fuel, what would you want to change for next year?

Honestly, I don’t know. It’s really hard to decide what to start changing first. Figuring out where and how to adjust is a really tough problem.

Your first year back with Gen.G is in the books. Looking back, how do you feel?

In 2023 I played every event and the results were good, but even then we lost 3–1 in the semifinals. Losing the same way this time makes everything feel so difficult. Every year the tournament ends the same way, and I truly don’t know where to begin or what to do.

How do you plan to spend the rest of November and December?

First I’ll rest a bit. While I’m resting, I want to do some volunteer work, and I also need to get ready for boot camp.

Lastly, a message to the fans.

It’s rough. I don’t even have tears left. I feel helpless. Of course, if another chance comes, I’ll obviously work hard again—but all I can do is give my best. I’ll keep pushing next time and going forward, so I hope our fans don’t lose heart either.

This article was translated from the original that appeared on INVEN.