[TS] Malicious Sniper

Since the feedback, Line has continued to show great performance.

After the dramatic change, there was no significant difference, but it was clear she displayed skills unmatched for her Gold tier, leading her rank to soar to Gold 2.

“In circumstances like this, a straightforward push might be the better call.”

“Ah… I was in such a rush that I went to stop the base.”

I watched Curry giving feedback to Line in the situation room.

After the feedback, Line went on a winning streak, and I quietly exited the room.

My role was simply to help Team B, who were struggling.

As much as I wanted to teach Line a bit more, it wouldn’t be polite to the original mentor, Curry.

Of course, I knew it was strange to seek politeness after already provoking them, but I decided to let it go.

After the shoot wraps up, we’ll meet again at home, so I felt no need to torture them further.

Anyway, we’d be doing the stick candy game during tomorrow’s broadcast.

Thus, the first day of the collab shoot ended smoothly.

A staff member came to thank me personally.

They seemed cheerful, as the scene turned out well.

However, Curry, standing next to them, didn’t look so pleased.

I glanced at Curry, but they deliberately avoided my gaze.

Are they pouting?

Seems like it.

Having confirmed that Curry was sulking, I paused for a moment to contemplate.

I had read about how to comfort a sulking friend from many books.

But with someone sulking right in front of me, I had no clue what to do.

Seeing them trying not to talk to me, I doubted monetary therapy would work.

What to do? I pondered while still following Curry from behind.

“Um, Barcode!”

Just as I was about to head outside, Line’s voice came from behind.

Curry, who had been moving forward, suddenly halted and turned back.

I was right behind, but Curry’s eyes were directed somewhere behind me.

“If you’re free later… can we collab together?”

It seemed that Line was earnest about wanting to collab with me.

When I glanced aside, I saw Curry watching us with a bewildered expression.

If they had truly given up on Line, they wouldn’t react like that.

They clearly still had lingering feelings for Line, and I decided to offer the best answer possible in this situation.

“How about we all three of us, including Curry, collab? We can play a game together and have some drinks…”

“Since you two are in a romantic living arrangement, I feel like I’d be intruding.”

“Not at all. I want to stay on good terms with Line since she’s cute. How about you, Curry?”

Caught off guard, Curry stuttered before hurriedly responding.

“Of course, I’d love that. It would be fun to collab as a trio!”

“Curry says she’s in.”

“Ah, then I’ll definitely reach out later! Here, this is my contact info…”

After giving me her number, Line left the scene.

Curry, who unwittingly ended up collabing with me and Line, stood there dazed.

Seeing that, I concluded this was the right answer and smiled slightly as I grabbed Curry’s wrist.

“What are you standing there for? We need to head home.”

“Oh, yes. We should…”

I led the now-aware Curry away from the academy.

*

During the previous romantic living arrangement phase, there were countless point gambles.

Naturally, I participated in all those gambles and managed to accumulate a staggering ten million points after a lot of hard work.

I could execute the stick candy game immediately, but I was contemplating when the right moment to use it would be.

This amount was something I couldn’t gather again easily, and the time and effort spent acquiring it were considerable.

‘Should I use it when collabing with Line?’

The collab with Line was to take place after the broadcast of the collaboration between Tritch and Leori Academy.

This was something all three of us agreed on, and the broadcast date was set for next Friday.

While I was already resting on ten million points, I pondered if I could wait over a week to use them.

But I felt that waiting for that moment would please Curry the most, hence I couldn’t decide easily.

“By the way, why aren’t you all buying ‘Cuteness for the Romance Target’?”

I asked my viewers during my personal stream.

To my surprise, they weren’t purchasing the ‘Cuteness for the Romance Target’ item.

I thought it would at least show up once, but bewilderment washed over me as time passed without it materializing.

When I inquired with the viewers, their answer was surprisingly consistent.

[Why waste points on that?]

[The only thing to do here is collab and the stick candy game ㅋㅋ]

[I need to torment Curry, who’d buy that?]

[For real, 250,000 points isn’t just a dog’s name.]

[Barcode’s cuteness suits her better than the sticks.]

Just typical viewers of someone’s stream, only thinking about torturing Curry.

But isn’t it a bit strange that not a single person wants to buy the cuteness option?

Even though it was odd, I decided to move past it and read the purchasing chat that scrolled up the screen.

“Chase has purchased the collab with the Romance Target.”

Perfectly accustomed to the timing of ending the stream.

I closed the broadcast for an hour of collab and headed downstairs.

I entered the room where Curry was residing and immediately moved to the seat next to them.

“Curry, I’m going to bother you for an hour.”

“The homeowner is Barcode, so how can I be a burden? I’d be the one losing.”

Initially, the sound would go silent during sudden collabs, but having done it as much as eating now, we could chat naturally without a hitch.

“How about we duo together after a long time with you, Curry?”

“…I’d prefer to decline.”

“Come on, it would be a pity not to game together now that we’re collabing.”

“…”

[For real, haha]

[If we don’t play together, it’s a shame, for sure….]

[Curry’s face turned pale suddenly, what’s going on? Haha]

[I can see Curry’s future of being bullied]

[No one in Curry’s room is worse than the Chairman.]

[So did you two do it?] – [Blocked.]

Logging in with Barcode’s sub-account, I joined Curry’s queue.

Curry, without saying a word, started matching us, and while I thought of a topic to fill the broadcast void, a recent incident came to mind.

After finishing my personal stream and bored during the point gambles, I considered sniping once.

However, ‘The Lonely Gourmet’ was absent from my sniper account’s friend list, and I sent a friend request during the broadcast, but it didn’t show the request appearing on the stream.

In other words, not only did they remove me, but they blocked me too.

I had been furious about it at that time, but that wasn’t the case anymore.

Recently, I had so much good fortune that the anger I had felt back then had mostly faded away.

Of course, that didn’t mean I could easily forgive Curry for blocking the Flower Shop Owner.

“By the way, I noticed you’re not on my friend list, Curry?”

“Huh? I’m friends with all of Barcode’s accounts.”

“No, not the Barcode account. I’m talking about the Flower Shop Owner account.”

“…”

As if trying to brush it off.

“Could I trouble you to send me a friend request again?”

I wondered if Curry could refuse my request in front of thousands of viewers.

Requesting a friend request from none other than the ‘Flower Shop Owner’—how could they refuse?

“…”

Curry stared at me with a puzzled look, and I felt a thrill from their gaze, causing me to smile.

It was nice to ponder, but my patience isn’t particularly good.

If this contemplation continues, it might lead to me saying, “I think I might have been blocked by Curry.”

“…Fine.”

Before a verbal bomb could explode from my mouth, Curry finally confirmed my request.

In truth, since I was already friends with Barcode’s account, it wouldn’t have mattered if they didn’t accept it.

But still, having a friend from the sniper account seemed incomplete without it, given the history that account had built up.

I decided to wrap things up with accepting the friend request later since we were currently doing a duo rank.

After getting matched, I pulled out my goofy pick as Mid Janna and enjoyed Curry’s reaction.

I played through the game without slacking off but also not going full throttle, while surprisingly, it was Curry holding the game together amidst the chaos.

“Barcode!! Why did you buy Luden!?”

“I thought it would be good… turns out it’s not that great.”

“You have to eat shit to know if it’s shit or not!?”

“Hey, it might not be shit.”

“Ughhh!”

Curry screamed as they tried to steer the game.

In the end, with our team having a better late-game composition, we secured victory in the last team fight, concluding the match.

After a 40-minute fierce battle, we gained 20 LP, but instead of looking joyful, Curry wore a bewildered expression.

“Shall we try the next match?”

“Save me… Please… Anyone will do…”

“Oh ho, such misleading comments aren’t good.”

While covering Curry’s mouth with one hand, I clicked the matching button with the other.

Just when my blissful duo rank was about to start safely,

{ rine9901 has donated 100,000 won. }

– Barcode, you’re so pretty!

A donation notification popped up from my side.

[?]

[Is that really Line?]

[Is that for real?]

[She streamed not long ago, yup.]

[That account is legit.]

[But any donation name can be changed.]

[Host!!! Investigate!]

Out of the blue, Line appeared.

Wait, it wasn’t certain yet, so I checked the donation list.

“The donor ID rine9901… is it really Line?”

[Oh, for real ㅋㅋ]

[What’s happening?]

[Line has grown up, donating to Barcode’s stream!]

[Is this not impersonation?]

[In the collab, Curry’s mentee is Line, you know.]

[What a love triangle….]

Seeing the chatroom atmosphere, it seemed the real Line was here.

While I was wondering what to say to the suddenly appearing Line, I noticed Curry sitting next to me in an OTL position, leaning closer.

“Did Line donate?”

Was this the same person who just wore a blank expression? Curry’s voice and complexion had brightened considerably.

Just the presence of Line could lift their mood this much—it was apparent Curry is a huge fan of her.

However, being in a collab with me while showing such interest in someone else didn’t sit right with me.

How could I paint that insufferable Curry’s face a color of despair? I smiled while pondering.

Logging into the Flower Shop Owner’s account on my smartphone, I entered the channel’s product list and purchased the item at the very bottom labeled ‘that’ item.

[The Flower Shop Owner purchased ‘Stick Candy Game with the Romance Target’.]

After making the purchase, I slowly turned my head sideways.

“…”

Curry’s expression was one that defied verbal description, and I caught sight of it.

Ah, this is too enjoyable.

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