Players With a Talent for Stealth

"My, aren't you overextending a little too much there?" Cato asked.

"No problem," Jin reassured. "I retreat soon."

"What do you mean 'soon'?" Cato raised an eyebrow. "You should've retreated a long time ago. Gunz can root you inside the tower area with his ult." 

"It's a little dangerous but no problem. I'll retreat when few minions left."

Elf's ult was indeed a threat worth considering, but it didn't faze Jin. The skill's only function was to root an enemy in place. This was indeed a potent weapon under the tower, but overall not that dangerous as long as Jin had minions to tank tower shots. And, he sure had plenty of those.

[There's nothing Elf can do in this situation to stump me.] Jin thought. [It's a free push.]

WHISH! He unleashed his scourge on the enemy tower, dealing hefty damage. Meanwhile, Gunz was busy taking out the minions one by one. This will keep him occupied for a while. 

[But, it's not like Cato's concern is entirely unreasonable.] Jin admitted. [Honestly, I also wasn't planning to dive at first. But, Gunz forced my hand. I can't just retreat after being shot like that.]

The way Gunz jumped over Jin's Scourge and counterattacked was nothing short of insulting. It ruined the entire image of Jin "dominating" the lane, which was the main point of rotating over here in the first place.

[Now, I'm forced to push in order to erase that event from everybody's minds.] Jin clicked his tongue. [If I delete more than 50% of the tower's HP, then surely everybody's attention will shift toward this success.]

And so, Jin continued lashing at the tower with his scourge. He was confident that the Elf in front of him was the only threat around, so there wasn't much to worry about.

However, just then, Sonya's internal clock went off. "I haven't seen Vanishing in the last 20 seconds," she delivered her periodic report. "Last I saw, Vanishing left Mid to enter Top Jungle, but I haven't seen her show up anywhere over there."

It was the standard pointless report that Sonya had delivered countless times this game. Every single instance like this felt like a waste of breath. After all, Jin wasn't some amateur, so he always kept a close eye on the mini-map, especially on the position of the enemy Jungler.

Nonetheless, this once, Sonya's report gave him pause.

[Their Jungler hadn't shown up in Top Jungle at all after that?] Jin frowned. [I didn't realize it.]

Back when Jin was on his way to Bot, he clearly saw Vanishing leaving Mid by entering Top Jungle. So, he was certain that the girl's plan was to farm Top Jungle next.

After that, Jin became busy with the situation in Bot, which demanded much of his attention. So, this entire time, he hadn't had the opportunity to stop to think about Vanishing's location. At the back of his head, the obvious answer was that "she was in Top Jungle", therefore Jin didn't spare much more thought to the matter. But, perhaps he was wrong in doing so.

Vanishing was a low-profile Jungler, the type who was good at concealing her location by dodging wards. It seemed like this sort of playstyle came naturally to some players, as exhibited by some players Jin encountered back in Korea.

Yes, Jin did play a few opponents like that in the past. That's why, unlike the Leopards, Jin wasn't too concerned about Vanishing's "peculiar ability". This was a rare playstyle that some players had an affinity with, that's all.

Back in Korea, players like this caused no shortage of trouble for their opponents. In particular, in one of Jin's evaluation exams, his entire team was terrorized by one extremely crafty player like that. That guy single-handedly destroyed his opponents' evaluation scores with his oppressing performance. Jin was the only one who came out relatively unscratched because he did his research in advance.

[I did a fair share of studying to make sure I could handle rare players like that at any time.] Jin thought. [This Drow is obviously nowhere near the same skill level as that guy, but if her playstyle shares the same essence, then I'm sure she'll strike soon.]

A slight shiver ran through Jin. The possibility of being hit by Drow's ult in this position didn't amuse him in the slightest.

[Jen-jang! In this position, I might actually die from an attack like this...!] Jin gritted his teeth. [I can't let that happen.] He activated Last Stand, yelling loudly at his minions.

Frankly, it was wasteful to activate the ult this late into the push, as some of his minions were already dead. To make things worse, if nobody ganks him in the end, then Jin will end up looking like a clown.

Nonetheless, Jin deemed this a necessary precaution. He couldn't let some lowly Western player gank him to death, especially not in front of an audience.

[Do I roll right away? Yes, that should be optimal.] Jin determined. [The earlier I roll, the earlier the Dodge Roll will come off cooldown again.]

And so, Jin turned around and immediately rolled out of the tower area. Yes, even though there weren't any decisive signs of the ganker yet, Jin had spent both his ult and his roll.

And, he was right to do so. As soon as he started rolling - darkness erupted in the area! It was Drow's ult!

WHOOSH! A repelling dark force exploded right in Jin's face! Was he too late in his evacuation...!?