Securing the First Gank, No Matter What!

As the game went on, Nia felt herself becoming stealthier. It seemed like the enemy's all-seeing eye started to lose its authority. The laners' responses to Nia's rotations became slower and more negligent. It seemed they weren't on max alert like before.

[A chance to gank might be coming up soon.] Nia gulped. [I need to choose where to strike, and then just pull it off. Yes, just pull it off against the regional champions. No pressure. None at all. Yeah...]

Honestly, it was scary. Every single player on the enemy team was a powerhouse of some sort. Basically, they were the dangerous kind of prey who could easily turn the tables on the predator. Therefore, Nia had to be very careful with her attack.

And, if that wasn't already enough pressure, then there was also the fact that this was Nia's chance to achieve some sort of success for the first time today. She got a few nice opportunities in Game 1 as well, but she blew all of them due to her sleepiness.

[But, this time, I have to make it work. I can't mess up, not again.] Nia repeated this in her head more times than she was willing to admit. Such thoughts filled her mind to the brim as she slithered around the jungle, evading all the ward traps placed there by the enemy.

After a while longer, the time has finally come. Nia felt it - she vanished. The enemy lost sight of her!

[So, I guess this was just a question of time, after all.] Nia nodded. [I almost started thinking that the Leopards were somehow immune, but it turned out they were just stubborn.]

If the Leopards assigned someone specific to stalk Nia's movements, then that person was sleeping on duty right now. Alternatively, maybe none of the wards have spotted Nia for so long, that the enemy team has completely lost track of where Nia was.

Either way, the Leopards were no longer on high alert like before. This time, even though Nia walked deep into Top Jungle, Challenger still showed no signs of retreating.

[So, I slipped past their wards. ]Nia nodded. [Am I not amazing? I solved all these complicated warding puzzles!]

In truth, maybe some of the wards over here had expired by now and that made Nia's job easier, but she decided to ignore that nitpick.

Never before in her life did she imagine that she'll be so happy about figuring out enemy wards. This was the first time she tackled a riddle of this difficulty, and after a lot of hard work, she actually aced that thing!

[This could probably be a fun standalone puzzle game in its own right.] Nia thought. [But anyway, the real challenge starts from here. Gulp.]

Getting past the wards was only the first step. Next, Nia had to actually execute the gank.

From Top Jungle, she only had two available targets: Mid or Top. However, in this case, there was no real dilemma. Ganking Mid was out of the question.

[Their Mid is turtling 24/7. Not fun.] Nia pouted.

It would have been best to gank Mid because of how important the lane was, but Theorist was a very unattractive target. Sneaking up to that Turtlewoman was going to be an exercise in futility.

On the other hand, Top was the most attractive target ever. Challenger was the carefree confident type, so it should be easy enough to catch him off-guard.

The guy only ever retreated early when wards spotted Nia approaching. However, right now, Challenger wasn't suspecting a thing, so he was playing very boldly.

[And, they still haven't finished clearing minions.] Nia thought. [S-So, I'm in a good position to go for this gank. Yeah.]

Thump. Thump. Thump. Her heartbeat quickened with each breath she took.

This was it. This gank was Nia's first big opportunity of the day. It was as joyous of a moment as it was terrifying.

[I have to nail this one. I have to.] Nia repeated in her head as her legs carried her closer to Top. [Oh, but wait! I have to make sure I don't let wards spot me!]

She stopped in her tracks right in front of a very inviting shortcut. Was there a ward there? She couldn't tell.

[But, maybe it's a solvable puzzle.] Nia thought. [Considering I got this far undetected, it's probably safe to assume that there's a ward here.]

The Leopards have been religiously warding the jungle this entire game. So, even if somebody was slacking on the job right now, surely some of the dangerous wards were still present across the jungle.

Nia did a good job slipping through the enemy's blind spots to come this far, but the shortcut ahead of her was risky business. Many of the most efficient rotation routes toward Top used this shortcut, so it had to be warded.

[I'll have to go around.] Nia retreated a few steps and took a different path. [There's no rush. I can still make it in time to the lane, probably.]

Even if it meant losing time, Nia had no intention of letting herself get exposed due to rushing. This was the very first mistake she committed during her debut game against Taurus, and it left quite a trauma.

So, never again! Even if she has to slow down, Nia will definitely nail the first gank of this game, no matter what! Hopefully.

[So far so good.] Nia confirmed that Challenger showed no reaction to her movement. She had clearly reached peak stealth at this point.

In fact, Nia was so stealthy that probably even Yuel was unaware of what she was doing right now. Normally, he'd call out to her at this point and ask her about her intentions, but so far, there was radio silence.

[He seems busy over there.] Nia could vaguely tell that the players in Bot constantly engaged in some complex back-and-forth that went way over Nia's head.

[Should I report rotation this to him?] Nia wondered. [Hmm, I don't wanna distract him. Besides, I bet the moment I bring this up, then the alien robot will start lecturing as usual...]

In all likelihood, Yuel will want to discuss the specifics of Nia's plan. In turn, that will get Ben involved in the process.

Ben wasn't an alien robot like Yuel, so he probably had no idea that Nia was approaching. And, as odd as it sounded, Nia kinda wanted to keep it that way.

[I can't mess up this chance.] Nia repeated to herself. [If I tell Ben I'm coming and he starts acting differently because of it, then he might expose me.]

Based on how things usually went down during club practice, Nia knew that Ben wasn't a very good actor. Normally, he had a very stable defensive playstyle, but he always started acting up the moment he learned that somebody was rotating to his lane.

Instead of playing his usual solid defense, Ben often started baiting the enemy. Basically, he tried to lure the enemy deeper into allied territory in order to make them easier to gank.

For some reason, he felt like it was his responsibility to increase the gank's odds of success. After all, the Jungler was going out of their way to grace Ben's lane with their presence, so Ben had to respond with proper courtesy or something like that.

The intention itself wasn't half bad. In fact, if Ben could do this properly, then some of Nia's ganks could've benefited greatly from this kind of arrangement.

But unfortunately, Ben was a terrible actor. In the process of baiting the enemy, Ben made his intentions way too obvious. Any half-decent opponent immediately figured out that Ben was preparing the ground for a gank. Even in Ranked, most opponents weren't THAT stupid.

As a result, even though Nia successfully concealed herself in these games, Ben's overly dedicated preparations ruined the surprise. Ben's poor acting spooked the enemy and made them retreat, which killed the gank in its infancy. It was such a pain.

[I know that Yuel said he was working on this problem with Ben, but not sure how far they've progressed.] Nia thought. [It's not like we had that many weeks to prepare for this game, so I bet the problem is still there.]

In all likelihood, Ben was still a terrible actor. Even if he improved his acting a little, these pro players from the Leopard will surely figure him out at a glance.

[Even worse, this is his first game on the stage.] Nia shuddered as she recalled how much of a mess she was during her own debut game. [The pressure of the first game is real scary, it makes everybody make mistakes. So, I'm sure Ben will mess something up.]

This was Nia speaking as Ben's senior on the competitive scene. Perhaps she was just a freshman, but she had already experienced 4 competitive games up to this point. So, she kinda knew what she was talking about. Probably.

Basically, giving in to the stage's pressure was the worst. Ben was visibly still struggling with that aspect, which was very relatable.

On the other hand, Nia has already overcome that obstacle. At least, for the most part...

[I have to make this gank count, no matter what.] Nia repeated once more to reinforce her determination. [So, to improve my chances, it's best to keep quiet about this.]

Normally, it was optimal for the Jungler to borrow the laner's aid during ganks. Nia understood that her actions here went against the most fundamental aspects of game theory, but it was necessary in this particular edge case, it really was.

[I have to make this gank count. I have to.] Nia steadied her will and focused solely on the task at hand. [I just need to kill Challenger, that's all that matters here.]

Admittedly, delivering a gank on a Dragonborn was no easy task. It was a rather tanky class and could also use its dragon form as a last-resort escape tool. Truly, this was a pesky target for Junglers to deal with.

But, there was no choice. Mid-game was already around the corner, so Nia had to go for it. Now.

With that said, there was some good news here as well. At this point in the game, everybody's builds have already solidified into the overall playstyle they were going for. And, Challenger's intentions couldn't be clearer from his build.

[He built a lot of power, so it means he's planning to go full offense! ]Nia deduced this like a pro. Indeed, it was a great deduction worthy of Herlock Sholmes' respect.

Considering that Challenger didn't build much defense, it should be relatively easy to take the guy out. Therefore, Nia should be able to score the kill even without Ben's help.

[I have no choice but to do it myself.] Nia repeated to herself. [I can't let this chance slip no matter what…!]

After a long internal struggle, Nia finally made a decision. She knew it was wrong to keep her teammate in the dark about the upcoming play, but it was all for the greater good. She absolutely had to nail this gank, no matter what!