[TS] Malicious Sniper

The new season has begun, and most League of Legends streamers have focused on solo queue streams to climb the ranks.

League of Legends feels like an entirely different game each season, and in such a situation, grinding solo queue became fresh content.

There was no need to prepare any unique content; just running solo queue would naturally draw viewers in at this early stage of the season.

If you didn’t stream solo queue, it felt like a loss.

Amid all this, Barcode was the only streamer under the League of Legends category who wasn’t playing solo queue.

Ironically, the stream with the most viewers out of those in the League category was Curry’s stream.

After having fun with other streamers and keeping a distance from Curry, Barcode’s comeback had secured a massive audience.

Despite ignoring the signals Barcode had been sending, the atmosphere shifted when Curry finally accepted a relationship.

News of this swiftly spread across various internet broadcasting communities, leading to a flood of viewers rushing to Curry’s stream.

*

Questions about their relationship might have left Curry traumatized.

After impulsively throwing out a rude question, my heart filled with anxiety and regret.

“Barcode, when would be good for you?”

A surprisingly positive answer came from Curry, completely catching me off guard.

I never thought they’d respond positively to such a rude question, leaving me brain-fried, unable to answer Curry’s counterquestion.

“What? Was that a joke?”

“It’s not a joke.”

“Then please answer me.”

“…Next week?”

Flustered, I averted my gaze and muttered softly.

Though I hadn’t started my stream, it felt as if Curry was looking right at me.

So I turned my sight forward, seeing the rapidly escalating chatroom of Curry’s stream.

[Ah haha, pulling suddenly like that makes it awkward]

[As a five-year veteran of dating sims, I’d say this is the time to pull in ㅇㅇ]

[Curry’s sweet voice is delicious…]

[Did someone dump a ton of sugar on Curry?]

[Barcode’s flustered look is cute]

[This place isn’t banning ‘cute’ words, huh]

Noticing the distracting chats, I shifted my focus back to the screen.

Curry wore a slight smile so faint it was almost undetectable.

“Our president doesn’t act like this…”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Last time, you were overwhelmingly proactive. Why are you being so passive now?”

“When was I proactive… So, Curry, when would be good for you?”

“…”

Curry, just like me, couldn’t immediately provide an answer.

The flustered expression was captured clearly on the cam, and seeing that, I regained my confidence and slowly opened my mouth with a smile.

“Curry, you’re the same as ever, right? Still oblivious, passive, and not very manly…”

“Tomorrow.”

“…And, what?”

In the midst of playfully teasing, Curry offered an answer.

Thinking I might have misheard, I asked, “What?”

“I find tomorrow nice.”

“…”

Curry confirmed with a certainty that left me unable to refute.

Once again, silence took over as I could see the corners of Curry’s mouth lift slightly.

Always the one to tease or playfully bully, now I felt utterly dumbfounded.

‘Hah.’

Realizing that Curry was now the one teasing me, my first thought was, “How dare you?”

I had no clue what kind of emotional shift led to such nonchalance, but my pride wouldn’t allow me to just take it lying down, so I replied slowly and lazily.

“Why tomorrow of all days? We could start right now.”

“Well, since it’s my first relationship, I need time to prepare mentally…”

“Hmm… It’s my first time too. I don’t need any preparation, though?”

“You know that’s not true.”

Seeing Curry flustered once again, so different from earlier, finally eased my mind.

“Well, we’ve done everything we should and shouldn’t while living together, right?”

“Talking in that way will just add a controversial line on the wiki again.”

“Controversy? The real controversy is when you walked in on me taking a shower…”

“Ahhh!!! Barcode, I have to go! Something urgent came up!”

Curry abruptly ended the call.

Though I regretted not fully expressing myself, I thought the sharp viewers would get the idea of what I almost said.

With that in mind, I turned my gaze to the chatroom.

[If you walked in on him while showering, that’s way too lewd, ah haha]

[Curry acted like he didn’t like it, but it was all a scam after all]

[Was I the only one sincere? Was I the only one sincere? Was I the only one sincere?]

[Wiki updated in real-time, haha]

[I won’t watch Curry’s stream. I won’t sponsor it.]

[You must’ve worked hard acting while streaming, huh?]

As expected, the chatroom was ablaze like never before.

Seeing so many people fired up by what I said brought unparalleled joy at the sight of Curry’s despair.

“Everyone, today’s stream ends here!”

[Where are you running to? Where are you running to? Where are you running to? Where are you running to? Where are you running to? Where are you running to?]

[Are you really just going to run away without clarification?]

[Don’t run! Fight back!!!]

[Forget relationships, haha. You’ve been secretly dating!]

[If you end now, just know this will be the last stream, okay? ㅇㅇ]

Usually, Curry would extinguish the fire and then end the stream, but this time, she must have judged the blaze too hot to handle alone because she abruptly ended the stream.

Even after the broadcast ended, viewers stayed in the channel, burning up the chatroom, but no dramatic return from Curry happened.

“Hmm…”

Ending the call and stream on her own.

Just moments ago, I was worried about the frail-looking Curry, and now I was filled only with wicked thoughts of wanting to tease this infuriating Curry.

How could I catch Curry and make things even more difficult for her?

After pondering, an astonishing idea struck me, and I logged into Barcode’s account to start the stream.

[zxcv1234 is live.]

After confirming the alarm reached my smartphone, I played an appropriate song to pass the time and sent Curry a direct message on Discord.

[Barcode: Curry, where are you running off to?]

[Curry: I’m tired from streaming for 7 hours…]

[Barcode: I turned on my stream so you could comfortably clarify things, you know?]

[Curry: Why are you even streaming?!]

While exchanging messages with Curry, I continued to set up my stream.

Since it was a hasty broadcast, the setup wasn’t prepared at all, and I configured the streaming screen and cam feed separately.

Even though it was unexpected, I somehow had managed to prepare a ‘Curry Interrogation’ content and turned on the broadcast microphone.

“Ah, can you hear me?”

[Ba-ha!]

[Hey, umm…]

[Yes, we can hear you]

[Barcode, please bring Curry over]

[We can hear you well]

[But did Curry really walk in while showering?]

[Did they date while you weren’t streaming? Is that it?]

[Barcode, clarify please ㄹㅇ]

[Clarify!]

As viewers flocked to Barcode’s stream after Curry ended hers, the audience swiftly surpassed 20,000, and it was still growing.

It was clearly a situation Curry would despise, and I was enjoying the anticipation of seeing how she would react.

With a giddy heart, I dialed Curry.

After several rings, the call connected normally.

“Curry.”

“…Yes.”

“You have to clarify before you leave.”

“No, umm… Barcode, please check your private Discord.”

With the sound of rapid typing, a message from Curry arrived.

[Curry: Just take a look once, for the relationship stuff I’ll accommodate your wishes… Please…]

[Barcode: Hmm… I’ve already said what I said. What now…?]

Should I help the flustered Curry or make things even more difficult?

As I pondered happily, I meticulously weighed the pros and cons.

Finally choosing how to act, I spoke slowly.

“Everyone, actually, I was just joking.”

[Liar ㄴ]

[That’s a lie ㄴ]

[Who would believe that?]

[You’re blatantly lying now]

[Haha, that’s too obvious of an act]

[So did you actually meet? So did you actually meet?]

Anyway, it was a lie that wouldn’t work, and the viewers certainly didn’t believe my white lie.

[Barcode: I said I was joking, but the audience doesn’t believe me. What should I do?]

[Curry: In such cases, you just need to pull in attention with another story.]

[Barcode: Another story… then come to the call room for a moment.]

[Curry: Sure.]

As Curry entered the call room, I thought of another story.

A narrative that could swiftly douse the current scandal.

And that story could only be about my ‘relationship’ with Curry.

The ‘relationship.’

Commonly shortened to ‘We Got Married,’ it’s one of the popular content streams among broadcasters.

This content enjoys a devoted fanbase, and even unknown small-timers can attract viewers once they engage in it.

That’s how strong the fixed fandom for ‘We Got Married’ content is, and it is precisely why internet streamers frequently pursue it.

But typically, internet streamers conduct this ‘relationship’ content online.

There are certainly instances where it’s done offline, but those cases are rare in contrast.

The original broadcast program usually revolves around ‘cohabitation’ and such.

Ding-

“I’m here.”

“Curry, when shall we meet?”

“What do you mean, meet?”

Did Curry also think we’d be doing a normal ‘relationship’ format?

When I asked ‘when shall we meet?’ she expressed confusion.

I kept a straight face while continuing.

“Relationship content is supposed to involve cohabitation, right?”

“What do you mean by that? Barcode, don’t tell me…”

As Curry appeared to start explaining the concept of ‘relationship’ content, I jumped in.

“Our last collaboration was at your place, so this time, let’s do it at mine.”

“…”

Curry seemed at a loss for words as if she couldn’t find a reply.

Grinning to myself at her reaction, I checked the chatroom atmosphere.

All the scandal-related messages had mysteriously vanished, and with that, I had successfully redirected the topic.

I continued with a topic fitting to the discussion.

“Once we start living together, food will be a major issue. I wouldn’t know how to cook anything outside…”

“Ordering for delivery is tough since my house isn’t exactly in a good delivery area.”

“…That said, we can’t just keep a housekeeper around while living together.”

There was one line I always wanted to say after watching various relationship programs.

I couldn’t even imagine what kind of response Curry would give this time.

Since it felt too on-the-nose to say it outright, I phrased it slightly differently as I delivered the line.

“Curry, if you don’t mind, I could make some ramen…”

Ding-

Curry interrupted my sentence entirely as she cut off the call.

At the same time, the boiling chatroom erupted with excitement due to the heightened tension of the broadcast.

On that day, Barcode’s stream broke records with a peak of 100,000 viewers and went down in legend.

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