[TS] Malicious Sniper

After the dizzying stick snack game, Curry declared a three-day break from broadcasting.

The notice mentioned taking some time off for condition management, but the real reason wasn’t that at all; it was to sort out complicated feelings.

When they were playing the Barcode and stick snack game, she pretended to dislike it and acted like it was forced.

But her face drew so close, and the dizzying fragrance wafted in unexpectedly.

With other factors and a complicated situation, her heart cracked at the inability to accept her.

Is it really okay to forgive Nayun Queen?

The weak thought crept in constantly.

It’s not fair that I’m the only one in pain, right?

Can’t I just forgive and embrace it and enjoy?

Even during solo broadcasts, even during collabs with Barcode, those thoughts lingered.

So she chose to take a break, and it turned out to be a good decision for Curry.

After stepping away from the concept of cozy living together for a couple of days, she felt her mind clearing up.

While taking that rest, Curry was realigning her shaken heart and enjoyed the comfort of lying in bed on the third day without fail.

I hope this cohabitation ends like this.

As she hoped, her eyes slowly began to close.

Just as she was about to waste time drifting off,

Thud—

the sound of the door opening announced someone entering the room.

Startled by the noise, Curry opened her eyes and propped herself up.

The person who entered was none other than Barcode, radiating a strange atmosphere.

“Barcode? What brings you in without knocking…”

Curry cautiously opened her mouth, glancing at Barcode.

After a moment of silence, Barcode slowly spoke.

“Curry, be honest with me.”

“Huh? What do you want me to be honest about…?”

“Crystal.”

“Crystal? Oh, are you interested in MCN? I figured someone like you would have received an email from Crystal…”

She thought she had replied as kindly as possible, setting aside personal feelings.

But seeing Barcode’s trademark icy glare intensifying, it seemed her answer was far from correct.

Curry maintained composure with the mindset of keeping her wits about her even if stepping into the tiger’s den.

“I didn’t receive an email.”

“That’s odd. Crystal wouldn’t ignore someone as talented as you…”

“I expressed my desire to join, but I only got a cold reply with no reason given.”

“…”

At this point, Curry couldn’t help but piece together what Barcode was hinting at.

Of course, she understood Barcode’s perspective well enough, but after doing absolutely nothing since the stick snack game, Curry felt this situation was profoundly unfair.

“Um, I’m really in the dark about this. Maybe there was a miscommunication? Should I contact the representative…?”

She tentatively asked, but unable to face Barcode’s fierce expression, she intentionally avoided looking and waited for her answer.

“Heh.”

After what felt like an eternity, Barcode’s chuckle reached her ears.

When Curry finally turned her attention forward, she found Barcode smiling.

“I just got an unexpected response, and I wanted to ask if you knew anything.”

“Ahaha… So, did I clear up the misunderstanding somewhat…?”

“Well, I trust you, Curry. We’re already in a cohabitation relationship, right?”

If Curry were to lie to her, Barcode wouldn’t know how she might react.

Curry was momentarily struck with a chill by her continued words, almost losing her senses.

Regaining her composure, she barely noticed that Barcode had walked up to the door.

“Shall I bring you some fruit?”

“Ah, yes… that would be great.”

Barcode left the room.

Left alone in the now quiet space, Curry fell deep into thought.

Ever since starting to live together at Barcode’s place, she had felt increasingly like a pet.

And just moments ago, she had learned that Crystal had rejected Barcode’s request to join.

“Hmm…”

No matter how she thought about it, it made no sense that Crystal wouldn’t want to recruit Barcode.

Neglecting to send an email was one thing, but outright rejecting someone who expressed a desire to join?

It was a reaction that she simply couldn’t comprehend, and once her three-day break concluded, she decided to investigate this further while enjoying her current leisure.

Knock, knock, knock—

“Curry! Here are your fruits. Oh, and I’ve brought some snacks for you to munch on when you’re bored.”

“Thank you!”

Upon receiving the bowl of assorted fruits and her favorite brand of chocolate, Curry started quietly indulging.

Compared to before beginning her cohabitation, she’d gained about 2 kg, but as someone who felt like a pet, she was blissfully unaware of that fact.

*

Crystal.

It was one of the largest MCNs in the country.

Due to its size, the number of broadcasters under contract was considerable, and so were the staff needed to manage them.

Though most of them were unprocessed gems, Crystal had the potential to craft those raw materials into dazzling jewels.

To recruit talents that would lead the future of the streaming media industry even at the cost of hardship.

This was Crystal’s recruitment principle, and indeed, it was this principle that allowed Crystal to grow to its current standing.

Naturally, with such a principle, Barcode the streamer was a top priority for recruitment.

With no need for processing, she soared into the world, asserting her existence.

Despite achieving the remarkable feat of gathering hundreds of thousands of subscribers in a short time, she herself had little interest in streaming—a rather odd contradiction.

The head of the creator management team, Baek Ji-hoon, was eager to recruit this unpredictable yet incredibly captivating streamer Barcode.

But,

“Don’t recruit her.”

“Huh?”

The CEO, Lee Seon-ah, directly prohibited the recruitment of streamer Barcode.

“CEO, streamer Barcode is currently being sought after by every other MCN out there.”

“I know.”

“So, it would be in our company’s best interest to recruit streamer Barcode…”

“Ji-hoon Team Leader? What did I just say?”

“…You said not to.”

Ji-hoon couldn’t make sense of Seon-ah’s decision.

Was it because her true intentions were completely laid bare?

While processing some documents, Seon-ah paused for a moment, turning her gaze forward.

“Of course, if we were to succeed in recruiting streamer Barcode, we could obtain huge benefits in marketing and advertising.”

“So it makes sense to recruit her…”

“But it doesn’t feel right. There’s no telling if Barcode would even act according to our intentions. Barcode has basically become a poisoned chalice.”

“…Understood.”

Despite the CEO’s explanations being impossible for Ji-hoon to fully accept,

the fact that the decision had been made and that he, as a mere team leader, could do nothing but comply remained.

Thus, when Team Leader Ji-hoon left the CEO’s office, Seon-ah, left alone, opened her desk drawer.

She didn’t even glance at the paperwork she had been processing but placed her smartphone on the desk instead.

On Seon-ah’s phone, a Mutube video played, showcasing highlights of the stick snack game between Barcode and Curry.

With their vibrant interactions illustrating a precious atmosphere, she stared with longing at the two, biting her nails.

Crunch—

Streamer Curry.

Seon-ah, a successful young entrepreneur, had considered Curry her top pick for recruitment long before founding Crystal.

Her influence effectively secured Curry’s recruitment, and after successfully bringing her on board, Crystal began to grow exponentially.

Though Curry wasn’t hugely popular at the time, her solid fan base made a significant impact on merchandise and marketing endeavors.

Having watched Curry as a viewer from the beginning, Seon-ah viewed her as a vital figure in revitalizing her MCN.

She was the streamer handpicked and personally processed by Seon-ah.

One whose essence remained completely untainted, colored solely by her influence was Curry, but suddenly a streamer named ‘Barcode’ appeared out of nowhere and wormed into her life, leading them to cohabitation.

Truthfully, Seon-ah knew better than anyone that Barcode had immensely contributed to Curry’s meteoric rise.

However, with colored glasses clouding her perceptions, Seon-ah began to rationalize inwardly.

Curry would have ascended even higher without Barcode’s involvement.

She wanted to spread the word that she was the one who processed that gem from the very start.

“This is irritating…”

Undoubtedly, Barcode’s presence had helped Curry, but seeing Curry in distress in the video made her unable to stand back and watch.

She had to remove that cunning vixen from Curry’s life somehow.

As the stick snack game highlight reached its peak, that thought crowded her mind.

Just then, an email arrived on her laptop.

After reading the email, Seon-ah let out a mock smile.

The response was a macro-style rejection reply to Barcode’s email expressing her desire to join.

To organize her dizzying thoughts, Seon-ah entered Curry’s Mutube channel and played the latest video uploaded the previous day.

A 15-minute highlight reel of Curry’s solo queue had her enthralled, and even though this was her fourth viewing, she felt no fatigue whatsoever.

For a while, Seon-ah’s office was filled with Curry’s voice, and using it as ASMR, she began to finish her remaining tasks.

*

Seon-ah, the CEO of Crystal.

For Barcode, the name Lee Seon-ah was a familiar one.

Back when Curry’s popularity was low, there existed a particular viewer who always engaged actively in the chat.

A user by the name of ‘Lee Seon-ah’ filled the empty spaces in the chatroom, watching Curry’s stream every single day.

She wasn’t sure if that viewer was the same as the CEO Lee Seon-ah.

“Interesting…”

An email arrived from an anonymous source.

The content of the email stated that CEO Lee Seon-ah had banned the recruitment of streamer Barcode.

There was no undeniable evidence like a recording, but with an attached employee ID image and asking about intention to join another MCN, the email seemed credible enough.

It appeared an insider had decided to join another MCN.

The email revealed an ugly calculation where if they made me a streamer of that MCN, I could receive better treatment there.

“What shall I do…”

The email didn’t explain why CEO Lee Seon-ah had prohibited Barcode’s recruitment.

But if indeed this Seon-ah were the same ‘Seon-ah’ and she knew my secrets…

I couldn’t just let it go.

I planned to spend even more joyful moments with Curry from now on.

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