[TS] Malicious Sniper

The bathroom in the curry house existed, one in the living room and one in the bedroom.

Though it was called the bedroom, it was where Curry did her broadcasts, and the living room bathroom was very close to the guest room.

So, the moment I woke up in the morning, I headed straight to the nearby living room bathroom.

I had gotten into the habit of washing up in the morning, and I had already packed my clothes and the toiletries I needed.

Still, it might be rude to suddenly shower in the bathroom without permission, so I intended to at least ask the homeowner.

But when I entered the broadcast room, Curry was fast asleep, and given the early hour, it felt awkward to go in and wake her up.

I couldn’t hold back any longer due to feeling all sticky from last night’s drinking stream, so I went ahead and took a shower.

Hooo…

The only thing that never bored me was taking a hot shower.

At this moment, it was nice to spend time without any distracting thoughts, and I loved this kind of time-killing.

After warming up my body with hot water for a while, just as I was about to wash my hair with shampoo…

Creek—

I heard the sound of the door opening.

Through the dense steam, I could see someone’s silhouette.

“Huh?”

“Uh…?”

The silhouette of someone—no, Curry’s panicked voice.

As soon as I heard that voice, the door quickly closed again.

Huh-huh~

I hadn’t intended it, but I suddenly had a reason to tease her.

Unintentionally, I found myself humming.

In fact, I hadn’t locked the door thinking that such a situation could arise.

No matter how much the shower sounds were coming from inside, I never thought Curry would open the door.

Sure, thanks to the foggy steam, she probably couldn’t see me properly.

But what mattered right now wasn’t whether she saw me or not.

What mattered was that Curry had opened the bathroom door while I was showering.

“How amusing.”

The misunderstanding about Nayun Queen and Barcode being the same person still hadn’t been clarified.

In that situation, to suddenly open the bathroom door and see me showering?

From Curry’s perspective, it was truly an amusing situation.

She might be feeling like she was in hell right now, but of course, that was not my concern.

Shhhh—

Pitter-patter—

After finishing my shower, I dried off with a towel.

While pondering how to torment Curry so well that it would become notorious, I was enjoying this happy thought, and I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

After changing into the clothes I had brought, I opened the bathroom door.

“…What are you doing?”

As soon as I opened the door, what I saw was Curry on her knees.

So, I asked what she was doing, and Curry bit her lip and buried her head down.

“I’m really sorry!”

“Huh…”

With just a single apology, I understood everything and let out a snort.

It had become a habit of mine to snort every time I was happy.

“And what are you sorry for?”

“Um… For opening the door while you were showering…”

“Is that the only thing you did wrong?”

As I subtly raised my head, our eyes met.

After a moment of glancing away, Curry avoided my gaze.

“Also thinking that Barcode and that bastard Nayun Queen were the same person…”

“Why did you think that? That I was the same person as that one?”

“Well… Most of us are similar, and the time slots overlap too…”

“Huh… Clearly, when that person targeted me yesterday, I was right next to you.”

“I must have been a bit crazy. Our precious president wouldn’t do such a thing!”

As she lifted her head, Curry gave an awkward ‘Hehe’ smile.

It seemed like a clumsy attempt to lighten the mood a bit, but unfortunately, I had no intention of letting this entertaining situation just slip away.

Zing—

“Why would you think like that? Our Curry, of all people?”

“…I have nothing to say. It’s all my fault.”

“Is saying sorry enough? Does apologizing make the past disappear?”

“I’ll gladly accept any punishment…”

As I tried to act angry, Curry quickly waved the white flag.

“I’ll gladly accept any punishment… Do you know what I might give you?”

I had to act angry and sulky, but my lips kept wanting to curl up.

As I forced my lips down and tried to maintain a cold expression, it felt like my face might stick.

“As long as it’s not a physically impossible punishment, I’m fine with anything…”

“Then let’s do a dating content later.”

“Huh?”

“Dating content. If you really don’t want to do the dating thing with me…”

“N-no! I mean, not at all! You just caught me off guard.”

“So are we doing it? The dating content.”

Could it be that she found it hard to accept the punishment I decided on?

Curry couldn’t easily reply.

At first, I didn’t understand her reaction, but if she still suspected Barcode to be the same as Nayun Queen…

Curry’s reaction would make sense.

No matter how much of a florist she was, the evil deeds Nayun Queen had done would feel heavier to Curry.

Thinking that way, I could understand her reaction enough, and just as I was pondering whether to give her a different, more ordinary punishment…

“Um, I said something, so… I’ll do it. The dating thing with Barcode.”

“Did you promise? No changing your words later.”

“Yes… I, Curry, sincerely swear and promise to date Barcode.”

Having received Curry’s heartfelt promise, I reached out my hand.

“Now, stop bowing and get up. You have to play King of Kings too, right?”

“…Thank you.”

Curry grabbed my hand and stood up, moving to the room together.

*

Curry’s Grand Master King of Kings session proceeded smoothly.

On the first day, she wrapped up as a Master, and on the next morning, she achieved a feat of five consecutive wins.

It was truly a crushing wave, and if she carried this momentum, getting to Grand Master within today felt possible.

[Curry is really going to make it to Grand Master?]

[Barcode-sub, who turned a beast into a human, what on earth…]

[This guy didn’t act like this when getting tutored by another Challenger.]

[Of course, wouldn’t your skills improve if Barcode-nee was personally tutoring you? Ah haha.]

[It’s like having a pretty university girl tutor you, in a way.]

[What a comparison. LOL.]

Eventually, when lunchtime came, Curry’s record after reaching Master was 8 wins and 1 loss.

Even the single defeat was because a troll was intentionally targeting her to hinder her climb.

Thus, with Curry having achieved tremendous results in the morning, lunch began for her and Barcode.

As it was the content of King of Kings, they always ate in front of the computer at the desk.

“How is it? This is a sushi place I order from often.”

“Um… well, it’s okay? Honestly, my taste isn’t very picky. As long as it’s not inedible, I eat everything well.”

Just as the meal was nearing completion, feeling a bit bored, I rested my chin on my hand and quietly said,

“Curry.”

“Yes?”

“So when will we do the dating thing?”

“…”

Curry froze, and the chat room heated up.

[?]

[????]

[I knew it!]

[Curry! This guy can’t shake off his old habits and is betraying again.]

[Why did you betray me? Why deceive me? Why betray me? Why betray me?]

[This damn world, with no one like me, a miserable soloist.]

[I’m feeling dizzy…]

[Do young people these days really not have any push and pull?]

I satisfiedly looked at the burning chat room.

Turning slightly, I saw Curry looking at me with a troubled face.

“Uh… Barcode, what do you mean all of a sudden?”

“Huh? We agreed on it, right? The dating content.”

When I answered with a soft smile, the stream started lagging.

Even though all chat controls were on, the streaming computer couldn’t keep up with the rapidly rising messages.

“Why are you saying this to me for real…”

Hehe.

Seeing Curry mutter softly was so cute it made me laugh.

While I felt a bit sorry and guilty, I couldn’t help but be filled with greater joy.

Eventually, the server reached its limit, and the stream ended up forcibly shutting down.

“Keep it up!”

“Sigh…”

I relayed my support message as ‘Flower Shop Owner’ had done for years.

Was it that I couldn’t be angry or curse her?

Curry, who let out a sigh, began preparing to turn the stream back on.

*

Time flew by and deep into the night, it became.

Since lunch, Curry skipped dinner and continued with ranked games.

As a result, she achieved over 70% win rate and reached the upper ranks of Master.

“Just one more win and it’s Grand Master, right?”

“Yes…”

Currently, the Grand Master cut was at 300 points, and Curry was at Master with 289 points.

Rank updates usually occurred between 11:45 PM and midnight.

“Since it’s 11 o’clock now… If we lose this game, it’ll basically be extended until tomorrow?”

“Ugh… Anything but that…”

Curry’s condition was so poor she looked hardly human, almost like a zombie.

At my mention of extending the King of Kings content to the next day, Curry reacted fiercely.

With her dim eyes regaining a flicker of life, it seemed she truly didn’t want to continue the King of Kings.

While it would benefit me to enjoy another day, could a child actually have fun with a broken toy?

I started really worrying about Curry’s condition and focused on assisting her as much as possible.

I was almost helping her play instead of offering advice and guidance at this point.

I ensured Curry could finish her last game of King of Kings with a glorious carry.

However, the game wouldn’t resolve easily.

Curry’s state had reached extremes, but the enemy team wasn’t just regular enemies either.

In spite of everything, Curry approached the game without complaining.

How desperately did she want to finish King of Kings to concentrate this hard?

In a brief moment of mischief, I set aside my wicked thoughts and genuinely led Curry to victory.

[The enemy team has slain Baron!]

[The Elder Dragon has been slain!]

The enemy team claimed Baron, while our team got the Elder Dragon.

In a situation where we had to go for a team fight, the enemy support made a critical mistake by wandering alone in the jungled neighborhood.

As a result, we succeeded in taking out the support and overwhelmed the final team fight.

[Victory!]

“YAAAAAAH! GRAND MASTER!!!”

The game, which had continued for 40 minutes, concluded with Curry’s victory.

*

Hoo…

In a quiet room left alone after everything wrapped up, Curry sighed.

Having miraculously won the final game, she successfully attained Grand Master in King of Kings and could now conclude the content.

Of course, the journey was anything but smooth, but earning Grand Master in just two days made her feel fantastic.

The stream flourished, and even though the tier was preseason, she had achieved Grand Master.

“It’s all thanks to you, President…”

It wasn’t a result achieved alone but possible because Barcode was there.

Sometimes, or rather often, she would act mischievous, but she would also do beneficial things for herself.

Even though she had treated me like that bastard Nayun Queen, she only let it slide with a ‘dating’ punishment.

After the collab stream ended, Barcode was seen off as he returned home.

Now, having thought she had only relaxation left, Curry was about to prepare for bed when…

“Huh?”

Curry spotted a strange yet familiar smartphone on the desk.

“President, you really didn’t take your smartphone…”

What should she do with it?

As she pondered for a moment, Curry stood up.

Yawn~

With a yawn, Curry took the smartphone and left the house.

To return the phone left behind to Barcode, who hadn’t gone too far yet.

When she got to the first floor, she exited the apartment.

Remembering that Barcode had headed towards the front entrance, Curry began to run lightly.

And she could see Barcode in the distance.

The back of Barcode, who had dropped something and appeared to be dragged away by some unknown person.

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