Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.17 Ch.14: The Phantom's Elusive Gank

After taking the long route, Nia finally got close to Top Lane. However, one last obstacle stood between her and the lane itself.

Is there a ward near the entrance? Nia couldn't possibly tell for she never had the opportunity to venture this far in this game. Therefore, she had to make an educated guess.

It's probably better to assume that it's warded. Such was Nia's conclusion based on her experiences with the Leopards' warding thus far.

These guys were good, they stuffed the entire jungle with pesky wards to make Nia's life as difficult as possible. So, surely, they had a ward near the lane entrance well. And, unfortunately, Nia had no choice but to pass through this area in order to enter the lane.

There were three entrances available: one on the allied side of the jungle, one on the enemy side, and one in the middle. Most likely, there was a ward near at least one of these locations.

Nia could take a gamble here and choose an entrance at random, but the odds were against her. If there were two wards, then her chance of picking the right entrance was 1 to 3.

Actually, the chance is pretty much 0%. Nia reasoned. If they placed two wards, then they're probably near our entrance and theirs.

That kind of arrangement made it practically impossible to reach the middle entrance without being spotted by one of the wards. And, the worst thing was that there were no practical alternatives in this situation. Nia had to enter the lane through one of these paths.

Entering the lane from behind the tower area was also an option but that would take way too long. Therefore, going through one of the regular entrances had to be the play.

But, how could Nia possibly slip by unnoticed?

I guess it's time to ask my dear sister for help. Nia activated Shadow Clone, summoning a copy of herself. I'm sorry I have to treat you like this, sis. But, this is for the greater good...

Nia directed her dear sister... into a wall. Yes, that's right. The clone was forced to dash straight into a wall, head-first.

Though this clone was supposed to be a copy of Nia, the bot controlling it didn't possess a shred of intelligence. Therefore, Nia's sister simply kept running forward in the direction she was summoned in. In other words, the clone kept running into the wall like a classic bugged bot.

Please stay like this and don't run into any wards, thank you. This may have looked like familial abuse but it was a necessary evil.

Now, that the clone was summoned, Nia became cloaked in stealth. This should allow her to get through the sus area ahead without being spotted. Probably.

I just hope they don't have any Stealth Wards... This train of thought might've seemed paranoid for such an early phase of the game, but it was impossible to put anything past the Leopards. Their warding has been over-the-top the entire game so anything is possible...

Nia gulped as she set foot inside the sus zone. Nervousness assaulted from all directions, but she nonetheless pressed onward. At the end of the day, she had no choice but to hope that not even the Leopards would resort to placing Stealth Wards this early into the game.

Stealth Wards cost more than regular wards and they offered nothing extra except for revealing stealthed players like Nia. As such, it was a huge money sink for the earlier stages of the game.

Besides, Nia hasn't even established herself as much of a threat thus far. So, no matter how careful the Leopards were, surely even they wouldn't resort to something like this... right?