Even if Wuwukai racked his brains to the heavens, he never would have expected an answer like that.
For a moment, everyone was stunned.
—Mad, mad, mad, mad, mad!
—No problem there. You’re the runner-up, and I beat you. If I’m not the champion, then who is?
—Even the Great Demon King froze. So we’ve got a CN brother too?
—Doesn’t conflict, does it? Worst case, we can all be Wuwukai’s dads together.
Although this was Wuwukai’s stream, there were actually more people in the barrage trying to disgust Wuwukai.
That was normal too.
Right now, there really weren’t many diehard player stans. Although Wuwukai had taken runner-up, the current domestic public opinion was that failing to win the championship counted as failure.
The reason was simple.
The esports players who had debuted before—Warcraft’s Human Emperor Sky and King of Fighters’ Xiaohai—had put up results that were simply too insane.
Human Emperor Sky, Li Xiaofeng: a two-time WCG world champion in Warcraft III, the first Chinese player to enter the WCG Hall of Fame, and the fierce figure who developed the “Sky Style.”
Even a tactic had been named after his player ID. One could imagine just how exaggerated his influence was.
King of Fighters’ Xiaohai, Zeng Zhuojun: the first to break Japan’s monopoly and establish China’s position in fighting-game esports. In King of Fighters alone, he was a genuine four-time champion.
Across titles, he had also won championships in Street Fighter, swept major North American tournaments, and dominated fighting-game esports for seventeen whole years. Even by 2025, at the age of thirty-five, he could still win a championship in Fatal Fury.
Everyone else was so fierce, so how did things get so weak when it came to your League of Legends?
Even setting aside other games, the Taipei Assassins from Taiwan Province had also won the S Championship in Season 2.
We’re all CN people. Why can’t you guys win the championship?
Even when Wuwukai called himself the runner-up mid laner, it was mostly self-mockery.
—Because everyone knew that runner-up was worthless.
Wuwukai didn’t get angry. Jokingly, he typed out two lines.
[All] Youyoumei (Dark Sovereign): If you’re this awesome, why aren’t you playing professionally? Why are you stuck here playing in Platinum?
[All] Youyoumei (Dark Sovereign): Royal Club happens to be short a mid laner. If you’re interested, I can help you get in touch.
Wuwukai exited the game, then sent Chu Bai a friend request.
It was accepted very quickly.
Just as Wuwukai was guessing that this guy was actually a Royal Club fan putting on an act, Chu Bai’s message came through.
Level-Eight Gale: I can give it a try.
Level-Eight Gale: Once I’m rank one on the Chinese server.
Wuwukai: …
His eyes went wide.
No, bro, you’re not actually thinking of going pro, are you?
This time, the direction of the barrage changed completely.
Jokes were jokes, messing around was messing around.
But this little Platinum thought he could play professionally?
He didn’t really think he could go pro just because he’d beaten Wuwukai once, did he?
Syndra wasn’t even in Wuwukai’s champion pool. He hadn’t been very good at this champion to begin with.
Even if he won, what did that prove?
—This bro has no self-awareness at all. Looks like he really believes he can go pro.
—Just the fantasy of someone after failing his high school promotion series.
—Hahaha, he believed it. He actually believed it!
—Honestly, this is kind of funny.
Wuwukai glanced at the barrage, which was all mocking him, then looked at the line the other party had sent: “Once I’m rank one on the Chinese server.”
After thinking for a moment, he replied.
Youyoumei: Good luck.
To be honest, his thoughts were actually about the same as the barrage’s.
Because the gap between Platinum and professional play was no longer just a little bit. Under normal circumstances, it was simply not a distance one could cross.
How many players were there on the Chinese server?
Tens of millions in Silver and Gold, millions above Platinum, tens of thousands in Diamond, and at most a four-digit number of Challengers across all regions.
But in the end, those who could actually step onto the professional path numbered less than three digits.
A Platinum player—what gave him the nerve to say something like “I can give it a try”?
But in the end, Wuwukai still did not discourage this unfamiliar player.
On one hand, he was streaming, so he had to be a little friendly.
On the other hand…
He, too, had once carried a dream.
On the other side, Chu Bai had already closed the chat window.
He was still in a period of accumulation right now. Even after running into a professional player, he didn’t pay it much mind.
He was also clear in his heart that only by truly climbing to the highest ranks would he have a chance to walk the professional path.
Even if he was lucky enough to run into a professional player now, he couldn’t convince the other party to give him a tryout opportunity.
—Was he supposed to tell them he could rewind time and space?
Who would believe that?
Anyone who could believe that would truly be a divine being.
Time flowed on, and the neon lights outside the window lit up once more.
Chu Bai left the computer desk and wolfed down his dinner.
Was he tired?
Very tired.
The intensity of his matches was getting higher and higher.
Clearly, the matchmaking system was growing increasingly displeased with his 100% win rate.
Matchmaking system: A hundred percent win rate? Trying to piss me off!
But the more it was like this, the harder Chu Bai worked.
Before, he had wanted to go pro because he wanted to go home. But now, it was because he didn’t want to admit defeat.
He was exactly that kind of stubborn bastard.
The boss of the streaming guild had once told him that as long as he showed his face on stream every day, once his fan count went up, a single night of selling products could directly make him financially free.
Chu Bai knew that too. After all, the love letters he had received since childhood could be sold by the pound.
But he just wasn’t willing.
It was the same now.
Rewinding exhausted him to death, but the more tired he was, the more serious he became.
Moreover, as the intensity of the matches grew higher and higher, he truly felt the system’s boost.
Although there was no quantifiable standard, Chu Bai could very clearly feel that his focus and game sense were rapidly improving during matches. Naturally, his proficiency with the champion Talon was also soaring crazily.
In the past, as he played, he would gradually become impatient and restless. This was also a common problem among ordinary players.
But now, the moment he entered a match, he would become extremely focused, completely in a state free of distractions.
This was also the reason he felt mentally exhausted after rewinding.
Tired was tired, but the effect was indeed astonishing.
In his first match today, against that Youyoumei, he had rewound eight times.
But from then until eleven o’clock at night, he never rewound even once again.
Second match, Talon vs. Ziggs: victory, crushed lane.
Third match, Talon vs. Orianna: victory, crushed lane.
…
Ninth match, Talon vs. Lulu: victory, crushed lane.
Lulu, who had once caused him great trouble, was now nothing more than a roadside stray when he encountered her again.
Even if this Lulu was stronger—a Master-tier Lulu specialist.
A nine-game win streak sent him straight from Platinum I with zero LP to Diamond IV.
By the time he finished the last match, his LP gain had already reached a terrifying forty-five.
What kind of concept was gaining forty-five LP for one win?
It was the highest LP gain recorded by Riot.
But that was the limit of the point system, not Chu Bai’s.
Right now, counting ranked games alone, he had already won nineteen matches in a row.
“Tomorrow, I should be able to get matched with Challengers, right?”
After washing up, Chu Bai lay down on the bed and silently pondered.
Without thinking too much, he soon fell asleep.
What he did not know was that at this very moment, because of him, a storm neither too large nor too small had already been stirred up on Tieba.
Anti-WE Bar.
[He can’t really go pro, can he?]
Poster: [Royal Club Is Awesome]
The attached images were very simple: four screenshots of match history and one chat screenshot.
All Talon.
All green.
All carry performances.
From the first image onward, the ranks of his teammates and opponents gradually soared.
From a mix of Platinum and Diamond, to all Diamond, then to Diamond mixed with Masters.
After that came all Masters, then all high-LP Masters…
The final chat screenshot was precisely what Wuwukai had typed before the game ended:
—If you’re this awesome, why aren’t you playing professionally? Why are you stuck here playing in Platinum?
—Royal Club happens to be short a mid laner. If you’re interested, I can help you get in touch.
On the second floor, the original poster posted a new chat screenshot:
In the screenshot, Wuwukai’s expression in the stream camera at the lower right corner was astonished.
In the chat box, an almost outrageously arrogant statement was displayed.
Level-Eight Gale: I can give it a try.
Level-Eight Gale: Once I’m rank one on the Chinese server.
The original poster, [Royal Club Is Awesome], added one sentence below:
“That’s what he said.”
For a time, one stone stirred up a thousand waves!