Vision Strikers has placed Kim “Zest” Gi-seok, one of its VALORANT players, on medical leave, the organization announced today.

The announcement comes after days of speculation regarding the status of Zest on Vision Strikers as he didn’t play in the team’s matches at the Korea VCT Stage Three: Challengers.

“While you may not have seen Zest in any of the recent team activities, we want to clarify that Zest is still part of our organization,” the official statement reads. “But has since been granted a prolonged leave of absence due to his recently arising health issues. Vision Strikers fully supports his request for a personal leave as he takes time to recover, and will assist him in any way we can on his road to recovery.”

The organization didn’t disclose what health issues Zest is going through to the public. The 20-year-old is a former CS:GO pro and has been a part of Vision Strikers since June 2020, when the org entered VALORANT‘s professional scene. He helped the team to win several tournaments, including First Strike Korea in December 2020, but Vision Strikers didn’t make it into the VCT Masters Two Reykjavik after they were eliminated by NUTURN in the Korea VCT Stage Two: Challengers

Vision Strikers won’t have to bring in a substitute since they have been working with a seven-man roster since July 2, when Kim “Lakia” Jong-min rejoined the team. The organization has used Yu “BuZz” Byung-chul, Lee “k1Ng” Seung-won, Kim “MaKo” Myeong Gwan, Kim “stax” Gu-taek, and Goo “Rb” Sang-Min in their first four matches of Korea VCT Stage Three.

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