They're stalking me. Scary. Nia realized that early into the game because there was no other logical explanation for the weird things that have been happening. Basically, the enemy was abnormally cautious of every move Nia made.
Of course, there was also the enemy’s skill level to consider. These were the Leopards, the strongest players in the entire region, so of course, their map awareness was going to be airtight
Nonetheless, Nia refused to believe that she couldn’t slip past their radars. After all, she was the uncrowned world champion of hide-and-seek, so there was nobody she couldn’t hide from.
Well, maybe except for Yuel. But, he’s a rarity among rarities. Yeah.
Aside from that alien robot, no regular human being was ever able to detect Nia on a regular basis. No matter who she played against, Nia had always successfully erased her presence from their minds and snuck up to them undetected.
They’re probably aware of my godlike hide-and-seek skills. Nia concluded. They must’ve studied me like a lab rat by watching all the replays. Scary.
Yuel mentioned that the replays of the official scrimmages are available for everybody to purchase. Therefore, most likely, the Leopards bought a copy of the Stratus vs. Taurus scrim and studied that one from top to bottom. That's how they figured out Nia's secret talent.
What a pain. Nia sulked. They're already the strongest team in the region and they still study their opponents? Tryharding much?
That thorough preparation was probably the reason the Leopards were on such high alert against Nia. It’s almost as if they were scared of her.
I'm terrorizing them, hehe. Nia giggled to herself. But, even if they know that I can hide well, how can ALL of them be so good at keeping track of me? It doesn't add up.
Given the circumstances, it made sense that it was harder for Nia to erase her presence against the Leopards. But, was it supposed to be completely impossible? No way. It was only supposed to take a little longer than usual, that's all.
If I keep hiding from them, then they're supposed to eventually forget about me. But, it's just not happening. Weird.
All three lanes showed clear signs that they were aware of Nia's existence 24/7. They beefed up their defense or retreated whenever Nia was anywhere near their lane. Basically, they were acting as if Nia was the manifestation of pure terror. This was funny at first but it became tiresome after a while.
They're gotta be stalking me. That's how Nia reached this particular conclusion. Somebody out there must be following my every move. Scary.
There was also strong evidence to suggest that the Leopards placed more wards than usual across the jungle, possibly to combat Nia's elusiveness. With so much warding, figuring out how to best maneuver around the jungle became one huge puzzle.
It’s kinda fun to solve in its own way, but they just won’t give it a rest. Nia ranted. When will they lower their guard already???
The match was already approaching mid-game, yet Nia hasn't delivered a single gank yet. Like, none. Nada.
Basically, she has spent the entire game farming camps and solving the complicated warding puzzles. It's not like that wasn't fun in its own right, but the real thrill of being a Jungler always came from scoring kills. In particular, scoring kills on unsuspecting targets by stabbing them in the back.
This isn’t good. I haven't done anything today. Nia gulped. Yuel is going to bully me so hard during the match review. Scary.
So far, Nia hasn't achieved anything against the Leopards today. In the first game, she was sleepy, and in the next two games, she was asleep. So, in a way, this 4th game was actually Nia’s first "real" game of the day. And still, she hasn’t achieved anything thus far.
Actually, maybe that's not exactly true. Nia realized that as she saw the enemy Top Laner retreat. The guy wasn’t in any immediate danger and he wasn't the defensive type, so he had no reason to retreat there, especially not against a turtle like Ben.
Nonetheless, Challenger fled from the middle of the lane as if somebody threatened his life. Why?
Probably because they spotted me rotating to Top Jungle. Nia deduced. Hmm. So, I still passed near a ward somewhere on this path. Noted.
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She marked another potential ward location on the mini-map. This was a feature that Nia rarely used in the past, but Yuel insisted that it was crucial for anybody who wanted to consistently play around wards.
I didn't get much mileage out of it in Ranked, but today it's really helpful. Without marking all the suspicious spots, Nia probably would’ve never solved the Leopards’ difficult warding puzzles.
In Ranked, opponents usually didn't pose much of a challenge with their wards. After all, how many people seriously bothered to ward in Ranked? Yeaaaah.
And, even when some of the opponents properly warded, the team’s warding as a whole was rather unorganized. It was nothing like the Leopards’ methodical bullying that specifically targeted Nia from all directions. Scary.
As such, today was the first time when Nia truly saw the benefit of methodically marking the map every time she felt like she was spotted. As Yuel preached, this was indeed a useful tech, at least for the most part.
It’s still a pain to use, and it was even more of a pain to learn. Nia pouted. Yuel somehow turned this into a whole university-level course. So, where's my academic degree for this? Gufu…
By relying on her markings, Nia slowly but surely developed a better grasp of the enemy's warding habits. In time, she'll surely figure out everything she needed to know, and then she’ll be ready to unleash a devastating gank!
But, until then, some pesky wards still spotted her every now and then. Interestingly enough, that came with its own share of benefits.
For example, Challenger was actually retreating right now. Yes, that aggressive and overconfident guy actually decided to fall back all of a sudden. Why?
Because a ward exposed me. That scared him.
This was an unexpected benefit of being revealed. Every time a ward spotted Nia, it visibly made the enemy fortify their defenses and retreat. Even an aggressive player like Challenger responded like that. It's almost as if Nia was a terrorist who always sent a warning in advance. Scary.
I think they did something like this in the first game too, but I didn't really notice it back then. Nia thought. But now I'm awake, so I see everything.
This was an odd situation. Even without actively ganking any lanes, Nia was still applying indirect pressure on the entire enemy team. This was actually a kinda eye-opening experience. She had never experienced anything quite like this.
I remember Yuel lectured about something like this before, but it never really made sense to me. But, now it kinda does.
For an elusive Jungler like Nia, making her presence known was the ultimate taboo. After all, her entire game plan revolved around erasing her presence and making the enemy drop their guard.
On the other hand, right now, Nia’s presence made the enemy more alert than ever. And, Yuel actually lectured her that this type of passive terrorism was one of Jungler's strongest assets. These were actually some very difficult sermons for Nia to digest.
"I like your funny words, magic man." That used to be Nia's response to these lessons. The idea itself made some sense and Yuel explained it well, but it sounded outright impractical for a player like Nia.
That was true until now when she ran into a scenario where she struggled to erase her presence. Suddenly, the fact she was ever present actually had some unexpected weight to it and made the enemies sweat.
If Nia had properly studied that dubious art of “remote intimidation”, then she could’ve terrorized the enemies even better here.
But, I didn't take it that seriously, so I’m not sure what to do with it. Nia shrugged. All I can do is keep trying to erase my presence.
Ironically, amidst her attempts to achieve that goal, she somehow ended up applying pressure on the enemy with her presence. It was like a paradox. She was trying so hard to be undetected, yet being detected was actually her greatest contribution to the game so far.
And of course, the alien robot caught wind of this phenomenon as well.
"I know it's not intentional," Yuel said. "But, you're piling a lot of pressure on them when they see you rotating. So, it might sound absurd for somebody with your playstyle, but I suggest intentionally letting their wards reveal you every now and then, just to shake them up."
"Eh? Intentionally reveal myself?" Nia made a face. "Don't wanna. I need to erase my presence."
"I figured you'll say that.” Yuel sighed. “I suppose it's too early to make you use tactics like this, so you do you. But, just keep in mind that your rotations are pressuring them. We'll discuss this topic in more detail during the match review."
"Sounds like fun..." Nia jerked at the mere memory of the needlessly long match review they had after the Taurus scrim. It was soooooo long that it was probably possible to write an entire novel just about this one meeting alone. Scary.
Anyway, putting that dreadful topic aside for now, it was undeniable that Nia's biggest “contribution” to this game was the passive “pressure” she was applying on the enemy. This was both a good thing and a bad thing.
It was kinda good because it meant Nia wasn't entirely useless in this game, unlike she was in Game 1. However, this was also bad because it meant Nia was still far away from her ultimate goal of erasing her presence.
Seriously, the enemy team just refused to forget about her. They were like professional stalkers! Scary.
But, I'm making progress on that. Nia tried to reassure herself. At least, I THINK I’m making progress...
As the game went on, Nia felt like she was becoming better and better at solving the enemy’s warding puzzles. This meant the wards caught her in action less often, which should also mean that the enemies had a harder time keeping track of her movements.
The less they saw Nia, the easier it should be for her to erase herself from their minds. At least, she hoped that this logic applied against a top-tier team like the Leaoprds, too...