[TS] Malicious Sniper

The first day of their cohabitation for the virtual marriage was successfully concluded.

A passionately pursuing woman and a guy with an unreasonably hard wall around him.

The relationship between Curry and Barcode was a fresh concept of a virtual marriage that had never been seen before.

Of course, for Curry, putting up that wall wasn’t a concept; it was sincere.

“Boss. This time, it’s really crazy. It reached over a million views in less than half a day!”

“…So what do you want to say?”

The manager brought positive news early in the morning, but Curry couldn’t smile at them.

The video that hit a million views in no time was none other than the one that sealed her cringeworthy past.

“Boss, this is an opportunity. All the things we were excited about previously? It’s like child’s play compared to how crazy the growth is right now. Ultimately, what I want to ask you is, if you’re going to get humiliated, just think of it as a chance to mass-produce your past mistakes during this virtual marriage. Or, you could turn the tables and embarrass Barcode to show some charm!”

Faced with the manager’s impassioned speech, Curry couldn’t help but think seriously.

Get humiliated? She was currently lying on the bed, not being able to find a reason to exist!

If she didn’t want to be humiliated, should she just embarrass Barcode?

That guy wouldn’t feel ashamed even if she tried to embarrass him.

In fact, he would probably devise ways to torment her in that very situation.

“I’m hanging up…”

“Boss! Remember my words…”

Click—

Curry unilaterally hung up the call and sighed quietly.

Lately, being nagged by managers even more than her mother was draining her energy.

Still, it was something she couldn’t ignore entirely, as the managers’ words were all for her benefit.

“Phew…”

Not wanting to lie around aimlessly any longer, Curry got up.

Stepping out of her room to check out the exercise equipment in the living room, her head turned towards a mouthwatering smell wafting from the kitchen.

The delicious aroma was coming from the kitchen, and Curry followed the scent.

Hmm~ Hmm~

Hearing the familiar humming coming from the kitchen, Curry briefly paused but soon moved forward again.

As she passed through the living room and reached the dining table, she spotted Barcode diligently focused on cooking.

It was tough to believe this exotic-looking person was genuinely the Barcode she knew, the one who had spent years playing the Nayun Queen.

Watching Barcode cook made the hatred she felt for her gradually fade, leaning instead towards fond memories.

No, no!

She shouldn’t be deceived by that facade.

Remembering the times she had been fooled by her mask, the answer was simple.

What she was showing now was just a means to torment Curry once more.

“Curry! Did you sleep well?”

“Oh, uh, yeah.”

Curry almost answered “no” at that moment due to surprise but managed to change her response before the words fully came out.

In that brief moment, if Barcode’s face showed both seriousness and a smile, it must have just been Curry’s imagination.

“Can you help me move this food?”

“Sure…”

Curry followed Barcode to move the completed dishes.

Looking around while moving the food, she realized neither the camera nor the young housekeeper she’d seen yesterday was present.

In other words, there was no intention of broadcasting today.

Translated differently, it meant she was going to have breakfast alone with Barcode.

“Uh, where did the housekeeper go today…?”

Full of curiosity about the housekeeper’s whereabouts, Curry asked.

“Curry.”

All she received in return was a stern look and a cold voice.

“You’ve been showing an interest in our housekeeper since yesterday… Is younger guys your type?”

“What? No, it’s not like that! I was just curious!”

Although she hurriedly explained herself, the piercing gaze from Barcode made it impossible for her to lift her head.

Hmph…

Despite giving an honest explanation, all she received in return was a skeptical snort.

“The food will get cold. How about we just eat first and talk later?”

“…Okay.”

It seemed Barcode had no intention of arguing further as she picked up the dishes.

Thus, their meal—or rather, Curry’s meal—continued in a heavy atmosphere.

*

Having skipped dinner yesterday and still feeling hungry, I pondered what to do for today’s broadcast.

While each of us was living together, we had decided to occasionally stream late at night or collaborate, but otherwise, we would proceed with individual broadcasts.

The duration for the virtual marriage hadn’t been precisely decided, but the common opinion that emerged during discussions was to decide based on viewer reactions.

“Hey, sis! Look at this!”

“Yeah, I’m watching.”

“Wow, it’s amazing! It surpassed 1.2 million views in less than half a day!”

Right now, the external reaction to the virtual marriage broadcast was explosive.

The video containing Curry’s cringeworthy past, uploaded on Mutube, had surpassed a million views less than half a day after its release.

And the edited video capturing the birth of that embarrassing moment, edited overnight by Ji-hye, had exceeded 1.2 million views.

As the number of videos uploaded to the channel increased, monetization had also been approved, making it perfect for pocket money.

“By the way, are you going to stream with Curry today?”

“Well, technically, I didn’t stream together yesterday. I merely made a guest appearance on Curry’s stream…”

Although we had agreed beforehand to collaborate every two days, I seriously pondered what yesterday’s situation should count as.

While it technically wasn’t a formal collaboration, it had drawn a bigger reaction than an official one.

I could easily play semantics, but I also needed to consider Curry’s mental state after having her embarrassing past sealed on my channel.

During our breakfast earlier, I didn’t bring up Ji-hye’s name because I was worried about Curry’s mental state.

“Hey, sis. How about this?”

Ji-hye, who had been deep in thought, brought out her laptop.

Then she played a video for me to see, and my eyes landed on a familiar Twitch screen.

In that split second of confusion about what she wanted to ask, Ji-hye pointed at the chat room.

Beside the incoming messages in the chat were red and blue markers attached, and even I, who usually didn’t pay attention to pointless things, recognized what they were.

“Point gambling?”

“Yeah. Wouldn’t it be interesting to come up with some collab content using this?”

“Content… content, huh…”

Having never considered content during my broadcasts, this kind of pondering felt incredibly challenging.

What kind of content could be created from point gambling? That thought ran over and over in my head.

Noticing how I struggled, Ji-hye slowly opened her mouth.

“You and Curry stream around the same time, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then I’ll discuss with Curry’s manager to draft some content!”

With a confident declaration, Ji-hye fixed her earnest gaze on me, and seeing her eyes full of hope, I couldn’t refuse.

Nodding my head in agreement, I left the room.

*

Beeeeeep—

As Curry started to prepare for the broadcast, the sudden call from her manager made her halt all her actions.

Ever since their virtual marriage began, the manager had only stressed her out, which made her reluctant to pick up.

But since the manager had never called for useless reasons, she put on a face that screamed annoyance while answering the call.

“What is it?”

– Boss. You’re preparing to stream, right?

“…Are you in my room? Is there a CCTV in here?”

– Just a lucky guess. By the way, I got a message from Barcode’s manager!

“Message?”

Curry’s question was met with a lengthy explanation from the manager.

To sum it up, both sides would be doing their personal streams while implementing point gambling, setting up products related to “collab” available for purchase with channel points—what they called “Virtual Marriage Gambling” content.

Listening closer, the quality of this content didn’t seem too bad.

However, the lack of prior discussion meant there were too many holes in this hastily assembled content.

As a professional streamer, there was no way Curry, despite wanting to avoid it, could proceed without making improvements.

“If viewers earn tons of points through point gambling but don’t buy the items, the whole thing flops, right? Wouldn’t it be better to give tangible rewards like gift certificates to those who purchase specific items? And it’d be a waste to only do this for a day. If we’re gonna do it, let’s set everything properly for the duration of the virtual marriage.”

– As expected. You act like you don’t want to do this, but deep down you enjoy living with Barcode…

Click—

Before the manager could finish, Curry hung up, letting out a heavy sigh.

Wondering how her situation had fallen so low, she was puzzled.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz—

As soon as the call was disconnected, her smartphone vibrated several times, and Curry checked the new message that just arrived.

It was from her manager, containing a long list of products available for purchase with channel points.

======

[Curry Channel Product List]

100,000 Points / Call with the Virtual Marriage target. (10 min)
500,000 Points / Act cute to the Virtual Marriage target. (Must be in call or same room)
1,000,000 Points / Collab with the Virtual Marriage target. (1 hour)
5,000,000 Points / Use the desired tone with the Virtual Marriage target. (15 min, must be in call or same room)
10,000,000 Points / Stick biscuit game with the Virtual Marriage target. (This one was suggested by Barcode’s manager.)

(Barcode’s channel product list will also be the same.)
(Due to Barcode’s significantly shorter streaming hours, costs are reduced by 50% compared to Curry’s.)

======

After reading through all the message content, Curry covered her face with one hand.

The sheer amount of points required felt overwhelming, but it made sense given the high viewership.

If they also offered tangible rewards for those who purchased items, it could become an unprecedented new content idea.

Curry would usually welcome the emergence of new content but couldn’t find joy after seeing that last item on the list, boasting a hefty price of 10 million points.

There’s no way someone could gather that many points, she thought.

Yet, as people continued gambling, it was only a matter of time before someone amassed 10 million points.

When that day came, she would have to engage in a stick biscuit game—something she had previously only dreamed as a nightmare.

As her past nightmares began to transform into predictive dreams, Curry fell into serious contemplation.

She pondered the possibility of escaping Barcode’s house.

“Why, oh God…”

Why would you bestow such trials upon me?

In a crisis, Curry desperately sought God, but naturally, she heard no divine voice.

Eventually, she resigned herself to her fate and moved her mouse.

[Curry is currently streaming!]

Curry’s stream went live.

[Barcode is currently streaming!]

Barcode’s broadcast, now named after his channel, also went live right after.

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