Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.19 Ch.20: The Two-Timing Coach

In Bot, Karen fought the enemy Impaler and brought down the guy to 10% HP. It was an ezpz victory!

But, the pesky bastard refused to let Karen score a kill. He slipped away just in the nick of time to dodge death.

However, instead of retreating straight to his tower, the Impaler chose to flee to the jungle through the nearby entrance. What an idiot.

What is he even doing? I'm gonna catch up to him if he goes that way. Karen thought. Oh well, guess it's a free kill for me then. Let's go!

Karen turned her back to the jungle entrance and fired off her Backfire Cannon, sending herself flying toward the jungle. Since the Impaler didn't have any movement skills, Karen should be able to catch up to him in a jiffy. But...

"Karen, give it up," Nakajima ordered.

"Huh? Why? I'm literally about to kill this scrub."

"Or, you're about to suffer a horrible death."

"Huh? I still have over half health, tho."

"No, you meant to say you have ONLY about half health," Nakajima corrected. "That HP is within gankable range, especially when targeting a marksman."

"Gank? What gank? I don't see anybody coming over here."

"Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they're not there," Nakajima said. "They destroyed one of your important wards a while ago, so now there's a lot you can't see."

"Hmm. Yeaaaah, I guess our vision is a little impaired," Karen admitted.

"S-Sorry about that," Lua apologized. "I should've warded better..."

"Nah, it's not your fault," Karen reassured. "These guys are just too gung-ho about warding. Like, who even buys Sentry Wards this early into the game? Mad lads."

"True," Nakajima agreed with the analysis. "They seem uncannily concentrated on warding, which isn't typical for Ranked. Either way, the point remains that they robbed your vision. For example, you haven't seen their Jungler for a while now, have you?"

"I guess not, now that I think about it." Karen scratched her head. "Like, I have no idea if he's around Top or Bot."

"Exactly. So, he might be lurking nearby, waiting for you to overextend."

"Damn, seriously?" Karen's self-preservation instincts kicked in immediately. She rolled out of the jungle before anybody had the chance to attack her. "So, you're saying I almost got my ass ganked, huh."

"Karen, language," Fiona scolded.

"Oops. Sorry, sis, haha." Karen laughed awkwardly. "Anyway, yeah, that was kinda close, assuming the Jungler is really there."

"Even if he isn't," Nakajima said. "It's safer to assume he's there and retreat. Just think about how unnatural this entire situation was in the first place."

"Huh? Unnatural? It seemed pretty normal to me, tho." Karen shrugged. "Like, I kicked the guy's ass all the way down to 10%, so he started running away like a bitch."

"Karen."

"Oh, sorry, sis, haha!" Karen laughed it off as usual. "Anyway, the guy dropped low so he had to food it, and that's what he did, right? So, nothing 'unusual' here."

"Except," Nakajima started. "For whatever reason, he chose to run into the jungle instead of retreating to the tower."

"Oh, right. He did."

"And you didn't find that suspicious?"

"Well, in retrospect, now I realize he was probably baiting me," Karen answered. "But, back then? It looked like he was just misplaying or something."