[TS] Malicious Sniper

The day after successfully concluding the Kenwang collab stream.

Having returned home, I skipped breakfast and lay on my bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Sure, living with Curry was enjoyable, and I handled that damn stalker just fine.

But still, I felt something was off, and I lacked motivation.

“…”

I recalled Curry’s face from outside the police station last night.

The expression of Curry, who called me Nayun Queen with a hateful voice, looked infinitely pained.

I never imagined the police would call my name, and I was just as flustered.

To hide my embarrassment, I tried to act casual.

As Curry left in distress, I blurted out a completely inappropriate question.

Am I ever going to get into a relationship? Did I regret asking that?

No matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t think ‘regret’ was the reason behind this tight feeling in my chest.

I had been tiptoeing on the edge of enjoyment, but I also realized I’ve crossed the line multiple times recently.

If the feeling of regret was causing this tightness, it should have started bothering me since I crossed the line.

While recalling various memories, I thought back to my childhood.

Distant memories I couldn’t quite remember.

On May 8th, Parents’ Day, I pinned a carnation on my father.

But he callously snapped the flower and tossed it in the trash, and young me watched that scene unfold, feeling that same tightness in my chest.

As a child, I liked my father.

Now, as a fan, I liked Curry as a streamer.

But my father disliked me.

And now Curry also disliked ‘me,’ not just Nayun Queen.

So, this is what it feels like to be hated by someone you like.

Having figured out the reason for my discomfort, I got up.

There was a time when Curry’s hatred towards Nayun Queen peaked.

When her sniping became too much, I recognized my own issues and took a break from sniping for a while.

Time always tends to embelish both good and bad memories into ‘nostalgia.’

This tight feeling and Curry’s hatred towards me would eventually be okay.

…It had to be okay.

*

As I was having lunch, I felt Ji-hye’s intense gaze on me.

“Sis, how was living with Curry?”

“It was just fun.”

“Nothing special happened?”

“Well, something special did happen.”

“Oh no… w-what happened?”

I quickly sensed what Ji-hye wanted to hear and decided it was better not to share the details about my conversation with Curry from the police station, so I told her about the stalker instead.

“That person who chased me was my stalker? Ugh… that’s creepy.”

“You don’t have to worry about that jerk anymore.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. To be honest, I wasn’t really paying much attention.”

Whether she was pretending to be okay for my sake or genuinely was, Ji-hye’s lively demeanor brightened my mood even if just a bit after yesterday’s incident.

After lunch, I headed upstairs.

Having decided to take a break from sniping for a while, I needed to find something else to do.

Should I keep grinding League of Legends? I was about to start when my hands froze.

There were only four days until the new season began, so what was the point in throwing myself into ranked games now?

It was a waste of time, and having lost interest in solo queue, I shifted my gaze to the broadcast program icon in the corner of my desktop.

Should I stream, or snipe another streamer?

As I pondered, I felt my resolve leaning more towards streaming.

It was like when I sniped the Wandering Swordsman; sniping another streamer besides Curry didn’t seem fun anymore.

But then again, I couldn’t snipe Curry while she was feeling down from yesterday, so I decided to spend my time streaming.

I started preparing for the stream, feeling a mix of excitement and nerves.

*

Curry and Barcode’s Kenwang collab had a massive impact.

After the release of that collab video, Curry surpassed a million subscribers on Mutube.

Even though Barcode had uploaded only four videos, she achieved a subscriber count of 600,000.

The chemistry between Barcode and Curry was so compelling that viewers couldn’t help but watch.

Curry’s video titled “Are We Dating?” soared to the top of the trending videos list.

The video was only a minute long, but its content was an unexpected declaration of a relationship from Barcode, making it possible.

With a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Curry’s Mutube skyrocketed, but oddly, Barcode’s account was quiet, and she rarely went live.

Curious new viewers soon discovered who Barcode was.

They came across her love story listed on PuriWiki and understood why she didn’t stream often.

However, knowing with your head and resonating with your heart are two completely different things.

They understood she had no reason to stream, yet they eagerly wished for her to turn her stream on.

[Open the door!!!!]

[“Do you really want to see me die?”]

[OH NOOOOOO]

[I’ll hold my breath until Barcode goes live!]

[“But it says here…”]

[When will she stream?]

[KYAAAAAA!!!!!]

It got so intense that even with Barcode not streaming, messages piled up in her channel’s chatroom.

Even though the streamer was offline, there were still 1500 people in the chatroom.

That meant 1500 people were staring at a black screen, longing for just one thing.

For Barcode to turn on her stream.

Did those viewers’ wishes reach the heavens?

[zxcv1234 is now live!]

Barcode’s stream had started.

*

During the Platform Tournament, Jericho led the “Curry Breaker” team, with a mid-laner named Ain.

However, due to a car accident right before the qualifying match, Ain couldn’t participate, and Barcode took her place.

At that time, Ain couldn’t live properly due to the guilt of causing her teammates to suffer.

Even though the accident wasn’t Ain’s fault, no one blamed her.

But the fact she couldn’t keep her promise kept haunting Ain.

However, Barcode, who joined instead of Ain, showed overwhelming carrying power throughout the tournament, leading the “Curry Breaker” team to victory.

If it hadn’t been for the accident, Ain would have been there, but instead of feeling envy or jealousy towards Barcode, she was grateful that the girl had led the team to victory in her stead.

“Phew!”

Having been discharged from the hospital, Ain took a deep breath to relish the fresh air outside.

Then, she pulled out her smartphone and called Jericho’s number.

-Oh, hey Kyung-hoon. What’s up?

“Hyung, I’m out of the hospital.”

-What? Why are you only saying this now… No, I’m coming over.

“Don’t come over. But there’s something I want to ask.”

Pausing briefly, Ain continued softly.

“Have we not had a team reunion yet?”

-Oh? Yeah. We didn’t get together back then because of the situation.

“Now that things have settled down, how about having one? I’ll cover the cost.”

-Why should you pay for the gathering? Even if someone has to, it should be me!

“It’s only right that I pay for the team members because I feel sorry for them and want to thank Barcode for working hard in my absence. You can consider it a way to make up for not being part of the Curry Breaker team.”

Ain’s light laughter made Jericho chuckle too.

-You’re so stubborn. It’s ridiculous. Okay, I’ll ask. I’ll check with Barcode too.

“Thank you, hyung.”

Having wrapped up the call with Jericho, Ain walked home with light steps.

*

When I finally streamed after a long time, I was taken aback.

I couldn’t help but be shocked because as soon as the stream started, the viewer count rocketed past ten thousand.

Within just ten minutes, it exceeded twenty thousand.

I checked the follower count to see how this happened, and it was astonishing.

It wasn’t even Mutube’s subscriber count, but ‘Twitch’ followers reached fifty thousand!

That amount could only be achieved by someone already well-known outside of Platform, and I, who had been streaming for less than three months, had hit that number.

[So when are you dating Curry? So when are you dating Curry? So when are you dating Curry?]

[Thank you so much for streaming, Barcode!]

[Did you do the sticky stuff with Curry?] – [Blocked]

[Oh, the ‘Empress’ of Twitch!]

[A flood of new viewers, haha!]

[Give us the living together story!]

The chatroom was utter chaos.

It was going up so fast that Ji-hye couldn’t manage it by herself.

The chat was advancing at such a rapid pace that it was barely possible to even read the messages.

Only after Ji-hye applied all possible chat restrictions did it finally start to settle down.

I had intended to just casually chat today, but I hadn’t expected so many people to come.

Just then, I thought about just ending the stream and looking for another hobby.

Ding ding- ding~

Ding ding- ding~

Jericho called me on Discord.

Given the chaotic situation, I hurriedly answered the call.

“What’s up?”

“Ah, Barcode! We haven’t had our team reunion yet, remember?”

“Right. I couldn’t meet back then because of… well, you know.”

“So we’re planning to have a reunion. Will you be able to join?”

It was a sudden proposal for a reunion from Jericho.

Since I decided to stop aggravating Curry for now, I didn’t have anything else to do.

And it felt odd to turn down the invitation.

“Ain said she’ll cover everything for you guys and wants you to come without any worries.”

“Well, if she’s paying that much, I can’t say no then. So when is the reunion?”

“I’m thinking about three days from now. Is that okay with you?”

“Yes, that works for me.”

“I got it. I’ll send the details over in a personal message on Discord!”

After the call ended, I received a message from Jericho.

Switching my stream’s display to the waiting screen, I checked the message Jericho sent.

Having nothing to do for a while felt timing perfect, so I saved the location of the meeting place and continued my broadcast.

---