The Phantom's Distracting Presence

"You're right," Yuel said. "Ben is a little on edge this game. But, do you know who else is suffering from the same issue?"

"Who?" Nia asked.

"You are."

"Eh?" Nia titled her head. "I'm... perfectly fine. Yeah."

[That pause gives her away.] Yuel sighed. [Why can't this girl be more honest about her problems? It'd make my life so much easier...]

"If you were 'perfectly fine' as you claim, then you wouldn't have gone for that sorry excuse of a gank."

"S-Sorry excuse'!? Gufu..." Nia's shoulders slumped. "But, I worked so hard for it... Bully."

"I have no doubt you worked hard," Yuel said. "In fact, you even deserve some praise for getting past all enemy wards."

"Right? I'm just the best sometimes."

"HOWEVER, going for that terrible gank without discussing it with anybody shows that you weren't thinking straight," Yuel said. "You knew that the gank was unlikely to score a kill, so you should have sought some advice."

"I just didn't want to risk Ben ruining it..." Nia shifted her eyes away. It seemed like she had an idea of what Yuel was talking about, but she was adamant about denying her faults until the bitter end. Seriously, this troublemaker...

"If you didn't want Ben to hear your plans, you could have whispered to me first."

"You seemed kinda busy. You didn't even notice me going for a gank."

"That is true." Yuel really somehow missed all the preparations Nia made for the gank. Normally, he was unaffected by her ability to erase her existence, but in this game, he had a hard time keeping track of her. It just went to show how busy he was in the lane.

"Regardless," Yuel continued. "You should have said something. Me being busy with my lane doesn't excuse me from doing my job as a shot-caller. That gank opportunity was the kind of thing you must tell the shot-caller about, I thought we discussed this topic enough times by now."

"Yeah, at least a hundred times..." Nia rolled her eyes. "I guess I should have said something."

"But, you didn't. Instead, you rushed ahead, thinking it'll somehow work out for you. Doesn't that behavior remind you of something?"

"Hmm, nope."

"I remember one girl who cracked under pressure during her debut game and rushed to gank a lane at the first opportunity that presented itself," Yuel said. "And, what was the result of that play? As expected, she made a careless mistake in her rush and allowed enemy wards to expose her before she even got to the lane."

"Sounds like a terrible player. That couldn't be me." Nia looked away. "Besides, I slipped past the wards just fine this time."

"Yes, you did," Yuel agreed. "But, you still rushed to the lane. I bet you couldn't think about anything other than scoring that kill, and that blurred your judgment all over again, just like it happened during the debut game."

"Eh, that's..." Nia chewed her lips. As much as she wanted to deny everything, Yuel's criticism was on point. That solo gank attempt wasn't going to score a kill against a Dragonborn, not in a million years. And, especially not against a player from the Leopards.

Nonetheless, Nia still went ahead with it despite the impossible odds. Why? Well, because it was her first opportunity to actually deliver a proper gank today.

By some stroke of luck, the enemy's all-seeing eye, which has been stalking Nia this entire game, decided to a short break. There was no telling when that stalker will resume operations, so Nia had to act fast! It felt like she might never get another chance if she misses this rare opportunity.

[Eh, why was I so dramatic about it, again?] Nia couldn't answer that now. At the time, her head was filled to the brim with thoughts about the gank opportunity she had finally discovered, so she never stopped to think about how desperate her actions actually were.

On top of that, there was also a pang of guilt in Nia's chest ever since this game started. She performed terribly during the first game of the day, and after that, she succumbed to slumber and contributed absolutely nothing to the team.

[I felt like I had to make up for it...] The more Nia thought about the circumstances, the more she agreed with Yuel's assessment. [Yeah, all of that really makes me sound kinda desperate. But, Yuel won't catch me admitting that, no way.]

For better or worse, there was no need for Nia to voice her conclusions. Apparently, everything was written on her face in a language that the alien robot knew how to decipher

"Looks like you figured it out as well."

"N-No idea what you're talking away." Nia looked away and puffed her little cheeks. "Well, maybe I kinda sorta see what you mean. Just a little, though."

"That's good enough." Yuel didn't expect more from this bratty girl anyway. "You need to calm down first. There's no rush."

"But, it's already mid-game and I haven't killed anybody."

"Nobody has," Yuel pointed out. "The score is still at 0-0."

"Yeah, but it's only gonna get harder to get any ganks from here on out."

"True, but there's nothing you can do about that fact," Yuel said. "The Leopards' defense is hard to break through, that's all there is to it."

"But, I basically haven't done anything the entire game..."

"Oh, is that what you're worried about?" Yuel smiled meaningfully. "Don't worry, you've contributed plenty."

"Eh?" Nia blinked. "Did I?"

"Yes, definitely. Didn't you notice that they were paying a lot of attention to you specifically?"

"Of course I did, that's why I couldn't pull anything the whole game." Nia grumped. "They're bullies."

"The fact they're paying so much attention to you means that they pay less attention to other things, such as their lanes," Yuel explained. "In addition, your rotations always make them retreat early, which makes them miss on some farm. This a fine example of applying pressure as a Jungler."

"Somehow, it makes me sound like an amazing player even though it feels like I didn't do much." Nia's brain struggled to process all of this. Was this praise? It had to be praise, right? But, it came from Yuel, so there was probably some hidden layer of criticism hidden in there that's gonna come out and reveal itself soon. Any moment now. Surely.

But no, nothing came. Other than criticizing Nia's failed gank attempt, Yuel only had positive things to say about her performance.

"You've been playing well overall, so just keep doing what you're doing," Yuel said. "No need to rush for kills. As I've told you many times, there's a difference between a 'Jungler' and a 'ganker'. The Jungler has many other important jobs to do other than ganking, and one of these jobs is to apply pressure on the enemy team, just the way you've been doing."

"Got it." Nia nodded and breathed in relief. She felt like over half of her anxieties died down all at once. And, how could they not? After all, Nia had just received a bunch of praise from the hardest man to please. That alien robot tyrant always had nothing but criticism to spare, but here he was actually praising Nia in spades. It was amazing.

[Somehow, it makes me feel real good.] Nia's cheeks heated up a little. [I've been enduring his super harsh training and criticism all this time, and finally, it pays off! I'm a top-level player now, a pro! Praise me more pls!]

"Don't let it get to your head, though. This is only the beginning."

"Gufu..." Nia slumped. [Yeah, of course that'll happen. This alien robot tyrant can't stay alive if he doesn't criticize somebody at least once a minute...]

Ultimately, Yuel's words only resolved half of the issue. They helped Nia realize that the remote pressure she had been applying on the enemy was an important role in its own right, so she definitely wasn't "useless" in this game.

However, that won't stay effective for much longer. In the mid-game, the enemy will often be packed together, so Nia's presence won't spook them as much anymore.

[I still have a lot of work cut out for me.] Nia thought. [I have to do things right this time.]

Her nervousness was obvious to all, even Yuel was able to pick up on it. But, was there anything more he could say to help the girl calm down? Truly, topics like this weren't his forte at all...