[TS] Malicious Sniper

Barcode thought there wouldn’t be much excitement during this broadcast time slot, which he usually doesn’t stream at.

To his surprise, the viewers’ reactions were hot, causing the chat to become so crowded it was hard to see the messages.

You could argue this reaction was predictable from the moment he mentioned a pension trip.

No matter how fun mindless point gambling is, eventually it gets stale.

League of Legends, point gambling, and the occasional curry and barcode collab.

Aside from that, there was hardly anything entertaining, and even that got overused like old soup.

Moreover, Barcode’s solo queue streams were more about observing skill than having fun, unlike curry’s.

“Hey guys? Can you calm down a bit?”

From questions about if he’s really announcing marriage…

to outrageous ones about whether wedding invitations could be purchased with 5 million points.

He had no choice but to take action as bizarre questions kept popping up.

Trying to maintain his composure, he quietly asked the chaotic chatroom to calm down.

And just like that, the chatroom calmed down… or so he thought.

He couldn’t tell who they took after, but instead of calming down, the viewers started flooding the chat even more after his request.

Having no choice, he asked Ji-hye for help.

Only after Ji-hye restricted all chat did things begin to settle down.

Once the atmosphere calmed a bit, he sighed.

Maybe because he cut right to the chase, the viewers thought he and curry were going on a pension trip tomorrow.

I can’t believe I created such a misunderstanding by casually saying that.

Once words are out, they can’t be taken back, but he could manage the situation.

“Uh, everyone? It’s not that we’re going tomorrow. We just scheduled it.”

[Huh?]
[Are we not going tomorrow?]
[Am I the only one being serious?]
[So when are we going? So when are we going? So when are we going?]
[Got tricked. Ugh.]

As he denied the rapidly distorted story, the once fiery atmosphere froze instantly.

While it could lead to a drop in the streamer’s mood, it was better than the chaotic atmosphere spiraling out of control.

Well, it wasn’t like he was someone whose mood dropped easily.

“The date isn’t set in stone, but probably next week? At the latest, we should go within two weeks.”

“And it’s not just the two of us… My manager and Liné will be going with us too. So to sum it up, we’ll be four people.”

With his explanation, the somewhat lukewarm viewer reactions began to fill with emotion.

It was clearly excitement and anticipation about what would happen during the four-person trip.

“What about today? Well… I’m planning to do some solo queue for the first time in a while.”

The viewers cheered at the long-awaited solo queue stream.

Since the gambling was introduced, he had only been streaming point gambling.

While he personally found it extremely enjoyable and fulfilling, it was likely hard for the viewers to watch.

In fact, after he started streaming the mindless point gambling, his average viewer count had dropped.

Of course, he didn’t feel sad just because the viewer count went down.

On the contrary, the viewers lost from his stream seemed to have increased curry’s average viewer count, so he felt proud.

Like a pet owner who watches their furry friend grow up, it had long since become a daily routine to see curry’s growth and smile about it.

[What tier is Barcode in right now?]
[I checked, and it said Diamond 1.]
[Why is Barcode’s tier so low?]
[Spotting clueless newbies incoming!]
[The newbie is cute for real.]
[Hey, keep the raunchy jokes to a minimum.]
[Even pros are struggling in Diamond 1 right now LOL.]

As I read the chats coming from viewers, I started the matchmaking.

As one viewer put it, the current Diamond 1 tier was like hell.

Due to the reset from the beginning of the new season, all the top players and pros were clustered in this tier.

Only by breaking through the fierce competition here could one climb to the higher tiers.

I filled the broadcast sound by reading some eye-catching chats and responding.

As a streamer himself, he knew how bored viewers became if the broadcast went silent.

As the chatting continued, a particularly striking chat caught his eye.

“When are you going to challenger, Barcode? Well, I’m not in a hurry to get there right away.”

[If you just think about it, does that mean you can hit rank 1?]
[BREAKING NEWS: Barcode declares ‘If I set my mind to it, everyone else is beneath me.’]
[It is a bit hot if Barcode is below that…]
[Just absurd… absurd…]
[With Barcode’s skills, it’s only natural to have that kind of confidence.]
[Barcode’s specs summarized: Rich, Challenger, Crazy looks, Model-like physique, Curry CEO.]
[Curry CEO? You gotta admit it.]
[Something is boiling inside me, is this normal?]
[That’s anger management issues, get a grip.]
[‘That’ feeling LOL.]

Watching his words get twisted in an instant made him speechless.

Other streams seem to have viewers who listen to their streamer and follow the rules well.

Why on earth are these malicious viewers flocking to my stream? I just couldn’t understand.

While engaging in conversation, the matchmaking was completed, and I began hiding my pick screen.

I didn’t mind being targeted, but I didn’t want to be too easy to hit.

More importantly, if I didn’t cover my pick, my ally’s most-picked champion might get targeted in the ban.

For a streamer, hiding your pick was a basic courtesy and rule.

Once the ban phase was over, I turned back to the broadcast screen to shift to my pick screen and glanced at the chatroom.

Since I was the fifth pick, I still had a while before my turn, so I thought I’d read the chat. But the atmosphere in the chatroom felt off.

Words like “Opera” and “Drill” that I was familiar with kept popping up, and soon I figured out what was happening.

Opera was the ADC from team Lanis, and Drill was the support from the same team.

From the incoming chats, it was clear that Opera and Drill were on the enemy team.

Encountering current pros in matchmaking was common, but the amount of time they were mentioned in the chatroom felt unusual.

Team Lanis, Opera, and Drill had achieved significant accomplishments in multiple ways, so they were likely being discussed a lot.

Team Lanis.

They were a team that had only been active in the B-League but rose rapidly to the finals because of their skilled coach.

The problem was that right before the World Championship, their representative apparently fired the coach for some ridiculous reason.

During that process, a player from Team Lanis attempted to bury the coach with malicious intent.

There were multiple controversies, and the players involved in those were none other than Opera and Drill.

Nonetheless, they were still openly active, and the reason was simple.

The achievements of making it to the semifinals of the World Championship allowed them to continue their activities unabated.

In the pro world, skill was prioritized over discussion about player character or controversies.

If the controversy wasn’t big enough to cover them up, they could indeed silence with their skills as pro gamers.

Naturally, I had no intention of meddling in this matter.

After all, our territories were different, and more than anything, I risked getting involved in annoying trouble if I acted like I knew too much.

Also, since I hadn’t confirmed whether the real Opera and Drill were on the enemy team, I tried to keep my comments to a minimum.

I wasn’t really interested, to begin with.

I sent a message to my new manager, who was well-acquainted with League of Legends, asking him to remove all chat that crossed the line.

Before I knew it, it was time to pick, and I picked Yone, who could be said to be my identity.

My opponent was Zard, the representative champion of assassins.

The matchup of Yone against Zard was around even, so it wasn’t bad.

In fact, how many people are there who can beat Yone with Zard? I thought to myself.

Yet here I was in a Diamond 1 tier filled with pros and monsters fresh at the start of the season, so I couldn’t drop my guard.

The game started, and I immediately checked the enemy ADC and support’s nicknames.

While I had hoped it might not be the case, sure enough, the enemy ADC and support were Opera and Drill.

Besides them, there were notable names for the enemy top and jungle, and even the mid-laner had suspiciously absent stats from the previous season.

The lineup looked dangerous, and thinking I wouldn’t be able to engage in casual chit-chat with the viewers, I preemptively said:

“I’ll be focusing this match, so I may not talk much.”

Breaking my focus from the chatroom, I started to concentrate on the game.

In the early invasion phase, the enemy team deeply invaded our red jungle.

Thanks to the ward that our support had cleverly placed in the brush below red, the enemy’s positions were exposed.

Mememebogool asked (Thresh) to note RNS Opera (Kai’Sa).

Mememebogool asked (Thresh) to note RNS Opera (Kai’Sa).

With an urgent ping on the enemy champion, our Thresh’s grab hit the enemy Kai’Sa.

At that moment, everyone piled in, but due to the enemy Ornn’s E skill, three of us got airbored.

In the end, I did get the first blood, but it resulted in a 2-for-3 trade, and the early skirmish came to a close.

The silver lining was that I secured two kills, but most of our spells were burned, putting us in a precarious situation.

Particularly with the enemy ADC’s spells all intact, the bottom lane was bound to remain in a tough position.

Hoping they’d hold out, I started my lane phase.

Having secured two kills, I controlled the lane proactively.

But the enemy Zard was farming minions safely from a distance with Q.

The sight of him playing so defensively was frustrating, but as a melee champion, Zard was bound to have gaps.

Most importantly, Yone was a champion specialized at closing distances, so my ambushes worked pretty well, allowing me to secure kills.

[Our ally has fallen.]
[Enemy double kill!]

Just as predicted, our allies handed over kills to the enemy team’s bottom lane, and the balance of the game was rapidly deteriorating.

The enemy team had a strong lineup, while our team, aside from me, was composed of complete locals who were just plain average.

Since the moment the new season started, they were either pushing through with numbers or barely hanging by their innate talents, residing here temporarily.

Naturally, they couldn’t keep up with the competition, and with all but one lane crumbling, the chat room quickly filled with 15 gg.

I had a rough feeling it would be an unwinnable game from the invasion phase, but seeing it unfold this way left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Not from frustration over losing, but from the disappointment of feeling like I wasted my time.

Before the mid-lane even ended its laning phase, all other lanes crumbled, and having the game ‘handed’ to me, I fought till the end but, of course, no miracle of defeating all five opponents happened.

[Defeat]

After tasting defeat right from the first game, I brushed off my disappointment and moved on to the next game.

When playing League of Legends, these kinds of matches come up more often than you think, so my mentality wasn’t shaken.

I continued the solo queue stream until Curry turned on her broadcast.

Occasionally fulfilling viewers’ requests to open point gambling.

Before I knew it, Curry started her stream, and I wrapped up mine by hosting her.

“Ugh…”

Was it because I hadn’t exercised during the couple’s living arrangement?

Or perhaps because I streamed for over half a day after a long time?

My body was craving sleep intensely, and as I prepared to watch Curry’s stream, I lay down in bed.

After sending Curry a message saying I was heading to sleep first, I closed my eyes.

*

The next morning.

While lurking through the League of Legends community, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

All the community posts related to me were plastered on the main page.

To check what was going on, I clicked the most upvoted post.

Title: Summary of Barcode-related controversy.txt

Content: This morning, during a broadcast by Temple from Team Lanis, Opera and Drill were caught badmouthing Barcode. Drill said that Barcode is a one-champion overly pompous player who will never climb to Challenger this season, and Opera stated that Barcode doesn’t have the skills to climb to the upper ranks of Challenger and is just scraping by. Each person can judge whatever, but it’s all trash and nonsense. [Video Link]

Upon reading that post, I immediately grasped the situation.

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