Greetings from former Executive Director, Sangwon Kim.

Hello Guardians, I'm Sangwon Kim.

I know today's news may come as a bit of a surprise to some of you.
As of the last World 16 update, I have stepped down as the Executive Director of Guardian Tales.

In October last year, while discussing the 2023 roadmap for Guardian Tales, I said the consensus was that we were moving in a direction that was too familiar and that we needed to shake things up in order for Guardian Tales to be loved in the future.

Guardian Tales has always been popular because it's always been fun.
It's because it's always trying to be different, and that's why it's stood the test of time.
So the idea that we were heading in a too-familiar direction made me look back on myself.
But up until that point, I had convinced myself that Guardian Tales deserved a little more time and effort, and I was working harder and harder on the game and events like Symphony Tales.

But at the same time, my health was starting to show a lot of red flags. I kept going to weekly tests and treatments, determined to push through.
But it wasn't long before something went wrong, and I ended up in the emergency room.
I've since come to terms with the fact that, as much as I've tried to deny it, the future of Guardian Tales needs someone with more strength and vision than me, and I've begun preparing to make the transition as seamless as possible.

To that end, Q2 2023 was not about showing you anything new, but rather about fixing the things that I've done wrong. I've tried to keep as many of my promises as possible, so that I don't get in the way of a fresh start.

I'm sorry that I didn't deliver on all of the promises I made in various channels, and I'm sorry that I disappointed so many of you at the beginning and end of the year in 2022. I really don't know what else to say, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart.

The other day, we had a World 16 update. The one we talked about in the prologue, the one we dreamed about when we introduced the Plague Doctor in Magic School, that we've been building up to for the entirety of Season 2. It was a lot of hard work involving much collective effort from a lot of great people.

If any of you Guardians were happy with this story, that would mean the world to me.

To the Guardians, thank you so much for your support. I know I'm not good enough, but I've only been able to make it this far with Guardian Tales because of your love and support.

I will always look back on this time with fondness, and I will miss it. That's it for my time as the Executive Director at Guardian Tales.
I'm now off to protect Kanterbury as a Guardian myself, just like you, and stand by the side of Little Princess.

While some of you may be looking at this World 16 as the end of the season, we still have a lot of really exciting material and stories to tell.
And our new director, Boogang Kim, who will be taking over Guardian Tales, is an amazing storyteller.

We look forward to the future of Guardian Tales and our new director.

Thank you.