"Towards 100 Wins"... The Path Traveled by TEKKEN World No. 1 'Bae Jae-min'

Pro gamer 'Bae Jae-min', the world number one in TEKKEN rankings with a total of 65 career wins, shared his obsession with gaming and his journey so far. Appearing on the tvN variety show "You Quiz on the Block", Bae Jae-min calmly recounted the process of starting from an arcade and standing at the top of the world.

The Path of a Pro Started from 'Dojo Crushing' at the Arcade

Bae Jae-min's gaming life began at a local arcade during his high school years. Having made a name for himself as the best in the area at an arcade in front of Yeungnam University in Gyeongbuk, he proved his skills by visiting famous arcades in areas such as Daegu and Busan. In the video, Bae Jae-min recalled those experiences in a "dojo crushing" style, remembering the days when he wanted to find the masters in Busan to prove his strength.

The defeats he experienced in that process became the catalyst that led him to the true world of professionals. Bae Jae-min mentioned his experience of suffering more than 30 consecutive losses against a master he met in Sagada, saying that the defeat at that time was the moment that led him to the true world of TEKKEN. Afterwards, he even made the decision to drop out of university to immerse himself in the game. He explained that his desire for gaming was greater than his studies given the social atmosphere at the time in 2004.

Records Created by 65 Wins and 'Winning Techniques'

Bae Jae-min is currently ranked number one in the official TEKKEN game point rankings and holds an unrivaled record of 65 total wins in international competitions. He did not stop at just one or two characters, but mastered all 40 or so characters within TEKKEN to achieve the highest rank. Bae Jae-min stated, "I practiced all characters because I thought I had to know how to play every character to survive."

In particular, he is also famous for his 'winning techniques' that even made the developers recognize them as official techniques. According to the video, the method of using the taunt technique of the character 'Bryan Fury' to break the opponent's guard and land a guaranteed hit was an original play demonstrated by Bae Jae-min, which subsequently led to being recognized as an official skill. His career, which has continued since 2004, has had its ups and downs. There was a period after his military discharge when he intended to quit gaming, but seeing the TEKKEN league on MBC Game, he reignited his will to challenge himself again, and after winning Season 4, he was evaluated as "the departed Knee has returned."

"My Goal is to Become the Longest-Serving Pro Gamer in History"

Bae Jae-min recalled the moment he led the cheers of the local crowd by defeating the world number two and winning a competition in the United States in 2019, as well as the intense match in the recent Korea-Japan match. As he enters his late thirties, the question "How long will you play games?" is sometimes posed to him, but his goal is still ongoing.

Regarding his future goals, he expressed his ambition, saying, "I want to become the longest-serving pro gamer who can leave a name in history saying, 'This person really played for a long time.'" He added a specific goal of increasing his current 65 wins to 100, revealing his unchanging will toward the game.