Rise
Chapter 40: The True Hunt Begins

“Did the trolls stop talking? Got nothing more to say?” Lin Feng’s innocuous remark resounded like a crisp smack to the faces of the trolls.

Su Xue’s eyes lit up. Her real viewers also relished in the schadenfreude and vindication. 

「hahahhaha take that! told you you’d be eating those words!」

「LOL that shut them up real quick!」

Lin Feng proved why he was worthy of their respect yet again. Not only was he amazing at the game, even a simple remark from him could deal critical damage! The viewers snickered thinking back to the proud claims of those trolls. Lee Sin hard counters Rengar! Ha! No one counters our li’l bro! Invading at Level 2? What a joke! Ha! Who is the joke now? Please, keep talking trash!

The faces of the trolls went red hot from the sting of embarrassment before lashing out in a rage.

「Dumbasses! Think you’re hot shit just because he got first blood?」

「trash streamer! getting excited over something so small!」

「talk to us again when you actually win a game」

「acting like they won the game. NEWSFLASH that was just first blood. God…. never seen such dumbass streamers in my life」

Of course, Lin Feng wasn’t the slightest bit bothered by the comments flung at him by the trolls. He had his Rengar retreat from the enemy jungle and head for his own red buff camp. In the minimap, he’d noticed that the support Nami was on her way to help Lee Sin retake jungle control. So, although he could’ve stayed for another gank, he decided the risk was too great. His eyes lit up with fighting spirit. This was fine too. After all, picking up kills depended on arriving at the right time, or being at the right place, sometimes both!

After clearing his red buff camp, Rengar reached Level 3. Lin Feng scanned the minimap and noticed that in top lane Malphite was being pushed in by the enemy Riven. “Mhm. Looks like we’re going to gank top!” he decided, already guiding his Rengar up there.

At 4:30 minutes into the game, the minion wave stopped just in front of red team’s outer tower in top lane. Rengar directly passed through the tri brush[1] into the river for the gank.

Riven’s path of retreat was cut off!

Rengar lay in ambush in the river brush, waiting for Riven to come in range. Then, he leaped. His attacks were perfectly linked together. From a fully empowered Savagery[2] to a Bola Strike—to slow Riven down—and all the auto attacks in between. They shaved away a large chunk of her health.

Malphite finally caught up and attacked the Riven with Seismic Shard. A shard of the earth shot through the ground and struck Riven, stealing her movement speed.

Riven reacted with Ki Burst, briefly stunning Malphite and Rengar. Then, she escaped with Flash and a dash from Valor[3].

The trolls watched on in excitement. The Riven survived and looked no worse for wear! They immediately started spamming the chat, ridiculing Lin Feng for his failed gank.

「loool! that’s how you can tell he's trash. what n00b uses his ferocity stacks for a little more damage? HAHAHHAAAAHA」

「SHITGAARRRRRR」

「ahahaha what a garbo! can’t even kill riven when she’s pushed in so far!」

These remarks had some merit. A fully empowered Savagery only dealt more damage, but an empowered Bola Strike turned the skill’s slow into a root. In other words, if Lin Feng had rooted the Riven with an empowered Bola Strike, he might’ve killed her. Now, however, even if he flashed after her, he still wouldn’t catch up to her.

“Mhm? Who says I can’t get the kill?” Lin Feng asked with a mysterious smile.

The trolls were caught off-guard. They were just about to call him out on his bluff, when their mouths fell open in shock.

Rengar flashed. However, he didn’t flash toward Riven, but rather diagonally into the top brush.

The Riven player was bewildered before his face paled in realization. He quickly tried to move his champion as far away from the bush as possible. But it was already too late.

After Rengar entered the bush, Unseen Predator was triggered. “Nothing will escape!” a deep growl rang out like the herald of death. Suddenly, a shadow shot out of the bush and pounced toward its prey!

Rengar leaped onto Riven! With an auto attack, red buff took effect and applied a slow. All of Riven’s skills were on cooldown. She had nothing left to escape. The auto attacks kept coming in until she finally collapsed dead on the ground.

《You have slain an enemy!》

“Nice!” Su Xue excitedly blurted out.

The chat boiled over with excitement. Even after using all her skills to get away, Riven still died! Lin Feng’s Rengar was godly!

The trolls found it hard to believe what just happened. The barrage of insults they were about to launch became stuck in their throats, while their cheeks started burning with a stinging sensation. They’d never even considered using Flash like this. Lin Feng’s quick thinking allowed him to cross a far larger distance than possible with just Flash. The rest was history.

Ah Mei’s pretty face slightly warped with anger. She angrily typed in chat.「What the hell is going on? How did you die at top!?」

The Master-rank Riven player also had an unsightly expression on his face. He reluctantly admitted in chat.「that Rengar is pretty good」

The game was barely five minutes in, and Lin Feng’s score was already 2/0/0. At this time, Lin Feng noticed Lee Sin making a gank attempt on Orianna and moved his screen over to the mid lane. Su Xue’s long time viewer, Water Wraith, reacted brilliantly, flashing away to the safety of his tower and not allowing the gank to succeed.

Su Xue’s viewers excitedly typed in chat.

「Nice job, Wraith!」

「that’s what you expect from a Diamond 1!!!!」

「NICE!! Shitlee needs to ask Godlee for a lesson」

Lin Feng returned to base. After completing his jungle item and buying a pair of boots in the fountain shop, he went back to farming his jungle. Rengar’s ganking ability in the early game was pretty weak. But when he reached Level 6, he would become a true predator of the jungle. No one could stop him then.

At the six-minute mark, Lee Sin ganked bottom lane. Morgana had to sacrifice her life in order to protect Sivir. Unfortunately, the kill went to Caitlyn.

Ah Mei’s mood immediately lifted. She chuckled happily, “The enemy bot lane is so trash. Hahaha.”

The 60,000 viewers in her stream showered her with praise for her Caitlyn skills.

Meanwhile, Lin Feng killed Gromp and reached Level 6. “Oh! I’m Level 6.” He glanced at his minimap and nodded. “Let’s get this party started.” Then, he activated Thrill of the Hunt. Rengar’s predatory instincts took over, camouflaging him and revealing the nearest enemy champion in a large radius around him. With his increased movement speed, he stalked to bot lane.

Badump… Badump… Badump...

Lin Feng’s screen was suddenly submerged in an ocean of blood. Everything else got drowned out. All that remained was the steady rhythmic sound of a heartbeat.

Badump… Badump… Badump...

This was the heartbeat of the Pridestalker, yearning for the thrill of hunting down worthy prey.

Su Xue bit down on her lips in anticipation and tightly clenched her fists.

The viewers all held their breath. They didn’t even blink, afraid they would miss out on a single moment.

「He’s finally ganking bot!」

「he activated his ult so early, you think can he pull it off?」

「was it too soon???」

Lin Feng’s eyes narrowed, his gaze becoming increasingly focused. He’d already firmly locked his sights on Caitlyn. Under his control, Rengar stealthily passed through the jungle, closing in ever faster towards his prey! The true hunt… was about to begin!

1. The tri brush connects the jungle, river, and lane.

2. Rengar's next attack brutally stabs his target for bonus damage. Ferocity effect: deals increased damage and grants Attack Speed.

3. Riven steps forward a short distance and blocks incoming damage.