They're stalking me. Scary. Nia realized that early into the game because there was no ical expnation 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 sider. These were the Leopards, the stro pyers iire region, so of course, their map awareness was going to be airtight

  heless, Nia refused to believe that she couldn’t slip past their radars. After all, she was the uned 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, nur human being was ever able to deteia on a regur basis. No matter who she pyed against, Nia had always successfully erased her presence from their minds and snuck up to them ued.

  They’re probably aware of my godlike hide-and-seek skills. Nia cluded. They must’ve studied me like a b rat by watg all the repys. Scary.

  Yuel mentiohat the repys of the official scrimmages are avaible 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 stroeam in the region and they still study their oppos? Tryharding much?

  That thh preparation robably 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 hide well, how ALL of them be so good at keeping trae? It doesn't add up.

  Given the circumstances, it made sehat it was harder for Nia to erase her presence against the Leopards. But, was it supposed to be pletely impossible? No way. It was only supposed to take a little lohan usual, that's all.

  If I keep hiding from them, then they're supposed to eventually fet about me. But, it's just not happening. Weird.

  All three nes showed clear signs that they were aware of Nia's existence 24/7. They beefed up their defense or retreated whenever Nia was anywhere heir ne. Basically, they were ag as if Nia was the maion of pure terror. This was funny at first but it became tiresome after a while.

  They're gotta be stalkihat's how Nia reached this particur clusion. Somebody out there must be following my every move. Scary.

  There was als evideo suggest that the Leopards pced more wards than usual across the jungle, possibly to bat 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 approag mid-game, yet Nia hasn't delivered a single ga. Like, none. Nada.

  Basically, she has spent the entire game farming camps and solving the plicated warding puzzles. It's not like that wasn't fun in its ht, but the real thrill of being a Jungler always came from sg kills. In particur, sg kills on unsuspeg targets by stabbing them in the babsp;

  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 wo 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 ly true. Nia realized that as she saw the eop Laner retreat. The guy wasn’t in any immediate danger and he wasn't the defeype, so he had no reason to retreat there, especially not against a turtle like Ben.

  heless, Challenger fled from the middle of the ne 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.

  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 wao sistently py 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, oppos usually didn't pose much of a challeh their wards. After all, hoeople seriously bothered to ward in Ranked? Yeaaaah.

  And, even when some of the oppos properly warded, the team’s warding as a whole was rather unanized. It was nothing like the Leopards’ methodical bullying that specifically targeted Nia from all dires. Scary.

  As such, today was the first time when Nia truly saw the be of methodically marking the map every time she felt like she otted. 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 turhis into a whole uy-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 o 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. Iingly enough, that came with its own share of bes.

  For example, Challenger was actually retreating right now. Yes, that aggressive and overfident guy actually decided to fall back all of a sudden. Why?

  Because a ward exposed me. That scared him.

  This was an ued be of being revealed. Every time a ward spotted Nia, it visibly made the enemy fortify their defenses areat. Even an aggressive pyer 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 nes, Nia was still applying i pressure oire eeam. 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 seo me. But, now it kinda does.

  For an elusive Jungler like Nia, making her presenown was the ultimate taboo. After all, her entire game pn revolved around erasing her presend making the enemy drop their guard.

  Oher 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 stro assets. These were actually some very difficult sermons for Nia to digest.

  "I like your funny words, magi." That used to be Nia's respoo these lessons. The idea itself made some sense and Yuel expi well, but it sounded ht impractical for a pyer like Nia.

  That was true until now when she ran into a sario where she struggled to erase her presence. Suddenly, the fact she was ever present actually had some ued 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 eveer here.

  But, I didn't take it that seriously, so I’m not sure what to do with it. Nia shrugged. All I 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 prese was like a paradox. She was trying so hard to be ued, yet beied was actually her greatest tribution to the game so far.

  And of course, the alien robot caught wind of this phenomenon as well.

  "I know it's not iional," 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 pystyle, but I suggest iionally letting their wards reveal you every now and then, just to shake them up."

  "Eh? Iionally reveal myself?" Nia made a face. "Don't wanna. I o 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 topi 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 robably possible to write aire novel just about this oing alone. Scary.

  Anyutting that dreadful topic aside for now, it was undeniable that Nia's biggest “tribution” to this game was the passive “pressure” she lying on the enemy. This was both a good thing and a bad thing.

  It was kinda good because it meant Nia wasirely 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 eeam just refused tet 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 beier aer at solving the enemy’s warding puzzles. This meant the wards caught her in a 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...

  DarkestCymore