Speaking of the one thing Ming Kai regretted most in his life, it was probably joining Blue BIUBIU.
In 2012, nineteen-year-old Ming Kai joined the Blue BIUBIU team at the time, officially becoming a professional LoL player.
This team's composition was extremely complicated…
Simply put, it was a team of anime otakus, or rather, 2D shut-ins mixed with edgy non-mainstream types.
The support player's national server ID was Hanazawa Kana, his favorite champion was Twisted Fate, and he was also the team's captain at the time.
Anyone who would use a Japanese voice actor's name as their ID was clearly a legendary weirdo; you could imagine just how deep his otaku tendencies ran.
The mid laner's national server ID was Mianhua Shiyu Youmu, and he really liked the game A Chinese Odyssey. He was probably the most human-like person on the team besides Ming Kai.
The top laner's national server ID was |Yishi Suiyuan|, and you could tell from the ID alone that he possessed the noble status of a non-mainstream aristocrat. His best champion was Nidalee.
The ADC's composition was about the same as the top laner's, but this bastard's actual best champion was Garen.
This was also the norm for early pro players—positions weren't fixed at all.
Shan Riruo debuted as a support but later became a jungler.
WE's top laner Wang Caomei had served as the ADC when he first debuted; it was Wei Xiao who gave the position to him. Later, they discovered Wei Xiao was way better at ADC, so Caomei became a top laner.
In those days, this sort of thing was too normal.
It wasn't until Children's Day of 2012 that Factory Manager finally joined the team created by StarCraft player LoveTT, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
Farewell, prison!
There was every reason to suspect that Factory Manager had left the team because he couldn't stand this group of shut-in non-mainstream weirdos.
Because of this, Ming Kai—who now had psychological trauma regarding all things 2D—asked a question that seemed rather subtle in Chu Bai's eyes.
"…It shouldn't be, right?"
Chu Bai fell into thought.
He hadn't watched many anime; basically only mainstream ones that broke into the public eye. He was a complete normie.
Chu Bai replied that he wasn't.
Ming Lian: That's great then
"…"
For some reason, Chu Bai seemed to sense that he heaved a sigh of relief.
But why?
He didn't dwell on it too much, because champion select had arrived.
When it was his turn, he still didn't hesitate, instantly locking in Talon.
Chu Bai's champion pool wasn't shallow now. Depending on the match, he would pick The Blade's Shadow, Male Knife, or the Noxian Hooded Guy.
This game, his lane opponent was Ziggs.
This was a meta mid laner in the current patch, a must-pick for climbing in high elo.
The higher the level of a ranked game, the more the picks resembled professional matches.
And besides Chu Bai, everyone else in this lobby was Challenger.
On the national server, this was basically the highest level of match possible.
Time flowed backward. Chu Bai opened his eyes once more, his expression puzzled.
"This is a pro jungler?"
He had already rewound once.
Originally, he had planned to coordinate with Ming Kai and control the tempo. After all, in his eyes, Ming Kai was a professional jungler; his skill level should have been fine.
But beyond his expectations, this game Ming Kai was sleepwalking.
He said he was the jungler, and he really wasn't lying.
That bastard was only power-farming!
Chu Bai mentally lowered his expectations for EDG and regrouped.
This insect of a jungler…
He wasn't Chu Bai's type. Hard pass.
This time, Chu Bai gave up on expecting anything from Ming Kai's skill level and began forcibly taking over shot-calling for the team.
He won trades hard against the enemy mid laner at levels two and three, then proactively spoke up and led Ming Kai to invade.
Kills were spoon-fed right to his mouth. You couldn't spit them back out, right?
After winning the mid 2v2, he began targeting the enemy top laner.
From the very first time, he had noticed that his top laner was somewhat struggling.
The enemy Riven's combos were as smooth as God's, while his own Renekton couldn't win no matter how hard he tried.
But it didn't matter.
Can't win? A few ganks will fix that.
Chu Bai refused to believe that with the mid-jungle double-daddy buff of him and Ming Kai, their top laner could still lose.
Facts proved that indeed, he couldn't.
After two waves of ganks top, Renekton's gold lead grew massively, and he even pulled off a solo kill.
This made the originally dominant God-Riven very unhappy, and she directly started cursing Chu Bai out in all chat.
—You got the guts to gank your dad again?
—Male Knife, your mom's dead, you dog bastard. Gank again if you have the guts??
Chu Bai smiled.
He wasn't the type to hold grudges.
Because he usually settled them on the spot.
The more this Riven cursed, the harder he camped her.
Even bot lane, his original favorite, had to take a backseat this game.
Bot lane: So, does love just fade away? 0.0
0/3.
0/5.
Super ghost.
Once Riven's score became a super ghost, all chat was completely silent.
No matter how toxic someone was, seeing the enemy completely ignore everyone else and just camp them into the dirt would probably kill any desire to keep cursing.
At thirty-one minutes into the game, Riven timidly walked out of the top lane inhibitor.
In Ming Kai's vision, Talon had originally been taking the Red Buff donated by his ADC, but the instant he spotted Riven, he immediately burned Teleport, arriving in the enemy's top jungle.
Talon didn't hesitate. He used his ultimate to stealth, Flashed over the wall, E-Q'd into a silence, and casually kicked Riven to death.
[All] Ba Ji Da Kuang Feng (Talon): Huh, I even get a cannon minion here? Hohoho
"…This bastard."
The corner of Ming Kai's mouth twitched slightly.
You could say he was quite the grudge-holder.
The Riven player stared blankly at the black-and-white death screen before her. The kill log in the center was exceptionally eye-catching.
Combat Duration: 0.00 seconds
What the hell?!
Actually, this was normal.
Because all of Chu Bai's damage had burst out almost simultaneously, creating an effect similar to an instant one-shot upon landing. The combat system hadn't even finished calculating before Riven was already dead.
Faced with the enemy Talon comparing her to a cannon minion at this moment, the Riven player was already powerless to retort.
No matter how stubborn someone was, after being battered this badly, they'd be too embarrassed to keep barking.
—Unless they were completely shameless and had lost all face.
There wasn't much left to say. Chu Bai's teammates weren't disadvantaged every game.
Actually, the reason they lost the previous game was because Ming Kai had played like a paid actor.
Bot lane's performance really wasn't an issue.
They took Baron in one go, and the enemy had already lost the will to resist.
Chu Bai ended the game.
And just as he exited, he received Ming Kai's friend request.
"Should I accept?"
Chu Bai muttered to himself, thought about it, and accepted.
Even counting the rewound games, Ming Kai's performance in both had been somewhat human-like, making Chu Bai doubt the skill level of professional players.
But regardless, this guy was still Chu Bai's first choice for contacting EDG, so he might as well see why he had added him.
Ba Ji Da Kuang Feng: ?
When in doubt, lead with a question mark—the first step to effective communication.
Ming Lian: Hello, interested in going pro?
Ming Kai was quite direct.
From his perspective, Chu Bai had done a lot this game.
He could create a mid-lane gap during laning phase, demonstrating extremely strong laning ability.
He proactively set the tempo and made calls, showing strong initiative and the ability to serve as the team's shot-caller.
Besides the venting-like camping of Riven later on, Chu Bai's ganking-side macro was equally excellent, with great timing.
Even though he roamed a lot, his CS didn't fall behind by much, showing that he had his own game plan and could balance farming with making plays.
These four points laid out before him proved that Chu Bai had the qualifications to become a decent pro player.
But Ming Kai also had doubts:
Was his champion pool deep enough?
The biggest gap between professional players and one-trick ponies or ladder kings was champion pool.
To sum it up in one sentence:
A professional player could be a one-trick or a ladder king, but they absolutely could not be just a one-trick, and even more so not just a ladder king.
There was a fundamental difference between a Talon one-trick and a pro mid laner who was good at Talon.
If Chu Bai's other champions were also above professional standard, even if not as broken as his Talon, Ming Kai still felt he could completely fill EDG's mid-lane position.
But if his other champions didn't reach pro level, then they needed to consider it carefully.
So Ming Kai only asked if he was interested, rather than asking him to join EDG.
He still needed to have Abu properly scout him.
Chu Bai's reply was very direct.
Ba Ji Da Kuang Feng: Yes
He had been planning to go pro anyway. Accepting Ming Kai's friend request was only because he felt he could use it to contact EDG.
Ming Lian: Can I ask how old you are this year?
For a player about to enter the competitive stage, age was an important factor affecting how much they were valued and whether their future was promising.
Was a twenty-five-year-old Challenger the same as a sixteen-year-old Challenger?
"Hopefully not over twenty. After twenty, training value drops a lot…"
Ming Kai muttered as he waited for a reply.
But then, Chu Bai's reply made his eyes go wide.
Ba Ji Da Kuang Feng: This year? 14
Ming Kai froze: ?
Whose kid is this?
Ming Lian: Say what?
Ba Ji Da Kuang Feng: 14, no typo
In the EDG clubhouse, Ming Kai shot to his feet.
The quarterfinals boy stood at attention!
"Fourteen… fourteen years old!? A fourteen-year-old 1000-point Challenger!?"
Ming Kai was already stunned silly.
In this game, he had intentionally soft-inted, saying he would only jungle and literally only clearing camps, precisely to test Chu Bai's mettle.
To see if he could still control thunder and lightning in this almost-1000-point Challenger lobby.
The result satisfied him greatly.
Now, hearing Chu Bai's age, he was even more satisfied.
—Damn, a fourteen-year-old 1000-point Challenger. So what if he only knew Talon?
He had all the damn time in the world to practice!
I want you!
Rather than just thinking it over, Ming Kai acted immediately.
Ming Lian: Come to EDG! We can create a dynasty together
Chu Bai blinked at the screen, inexplicably wanting to laugh.
Before he transmigrated, he had a friend who went pro. His ID was Yao Dao.
Every time he casted Yao Dao's matches, the bullet comments would spam things like [Yao Dao dynasty!], [Yao Dao is god!], and other such bullshit.
Now, suddenly seeing Ming Kai send this message, he really couldn't help but laugh.
Chu Bai thought for a moment.
Ba Ji Da Kuang Feng: Can you give me some time to think it over?
He wasn't someone who made decisions lightly, but once he made one, he wouldn't regret it.
There were three paths before him right now.
First, visit WE. They were short a mid laner, and he could find a way to attend tryouts.
Second, after hitting rank one on the national server, use Wu Wu Kai as a connection to contact RYL Royal.
Third, accept Ming Kai's invitation and join EDG, the team built by WE defectors.
Rationally speaking, the third path was the easiest and most stable.
But for someone like Chu Bai, who had to rewind every time he lost, if he wanted to minimize rewinds, he had to find the team that suited him best—one with the most promise.
Where exactly to go still needed careful consideration.
Otherwise, if he rashly joined a team and ended up rewinding dozens of times for a single match…
Chu Bai would truly go numb.
Ming Kai's attitude became much more amiable now.
A fourteen-year-old 1000-point mid laner was worth it.
He was all about keeping it real.
Ming Lian: No problem, but it'd be best if you could give me an answer before the Summer Split
Ming Kai figured that if worst came to worst, they could have U play the Spring Split first. By the time Chu Bai arrived for Summer, they'd still have a split to build synergy.
Of course, if Chu Bai ultimately didn't come, they would have to go with U as the backup choice anyway.
—If U, who was currently mulling over whether to join EDG, knew his thoughts, he'd probably burst into tears with a loud waaaah.
U: So love just fades away, right? o.O
Chu Bai replied with an "Okay" and closed the chat window.
The door to going pro had already opened halfway for him.
Then, continue completing the mission and hit rank one on the national server.
Who knew, maybe in the future he could open a text document for everyone and meticulously talk about his story of reaching rank one on the national server in Season 4!
The moment he thought of this, Chu Bai couldn't help but hum lightly.
Over the next two days, the focused Chu Bai began a mad climb.
As his Talon skill grew higher and higher, the number of rewinds also grew fewer and fewer.
And his hidden MMR seemed to gradually reach a limit. The teammates he queued with also became increasingly familiar.
Diamond II, Diamond I, Master.
All the way to the final…
Challenger.
Without Chu Bai knowing it, he had already become a somewhat famous solo queue king and one-trick on the national server.
Videos from enemy or ally perspectives about him gradually began to multiply.
More and more players knew that there was a new 100% win rate solo queue king in the high elo of the national server's District One, someone who specialized in Talon. Some people were even calling him the "National Server's Number One Talon."
Even quite a few LSPL and even LPL teams had cast their eyes toward him.
But unlike Ming Kai, they didn't know Chu Bai's age.
So, similarly out of consideration for champion pool, none had formally approached him yet.
Not until he reached 1102 points and ranked 23rd in Challenger did someone finally come looking for him.
But unlike what Chu Bai had expected,
this person wasn't some team's coach or recruiter, but a video creator.
—The video creator of the National Server Rank One series, Xiao Mo.