[TS] Malicious Sniper

It was common for various streamers to face controversies.

Each time, most streamers would either mishandle the situation or make the right moves to turn a crisis into an opportunity.

However, there was almost no case of a streamer facing a controversy without offering any stance or clarification and refusing to go live.

Even though public opinion usually wouldn’t improve when a streamer remained unresponsive to a controversy, in the case of Barcode, the situation was essentially a ‘stupid misunderstanding,’ so public sentiment actually improved over time.

Title: So did Barcode really do something wrong?
Content: Shit, if someone didn’t know better, they’d think Barcode killed Curry’s family or something.

Title: So, you’re saying Nayun Queen = Barcode = Flower Shop Host?
Content: Just because you’ve been sniping for years doesn’t mean you can ignore the fact that you helped Barcode rise to popularity and donated nearly millions as the Flower Shop Host, right?

Title: Amazing K-Public Sentiment!
Content: When the controversy videos were flooding in, they turned Barcode into a witch using gaslighting magic, and now they’re doing a Udyr-level 180 shift, lol.

Title: Fact) These kids seem like pretentious scholars these days, yeah
Content: It’s annoying seeing them criticize each other without anyone’s official statements when it’s none of their business!

Title: Own Opinion) I want to be targeted by Barcode.
Content: How could such a beautiful woman obsess over me for years? She’s not just giving me cash; she’s helping me rise! I’m totally down for windmills and grand gestures.

Title: Just looking at this meme, Barcode is innocent.
Content: (Picture of Barcode in a swimsuit) Agreed?

Title: Forget about controversies already.
Content: When is Barcode going live again?

Title: Is there a streamer who still takes a break despite a controversy?
Content: A consistent woman… a woman who never loses her spirit… this is totally unrelated!!! Turn the broadcast on!!!

The controversy was something that would be naturally forgotten over time, but as other controversies began to erupt elsewhere, the Barcode controversy started to fade quickly.

Title: Crystal internal exposure revealed!
Content: (Link to an external site) If this is true, doesn’t Crystal have massive issues?

A single post uploaded to an SNS account started to spread across various communities.

That post contained allegations that Lee Seon-ah, the representative of Crystal, was giving benefits only to streamers she liked while disregarding the internal rotation.

It was a revelation that could definitely spark controversy, especially since the streamer involved was the recently popular Curry, the spread of the controversy happened quickly.

If things went wrong, Curry could fall from grace just like Crystal’s Lee Seon-ah.

Watching the situation unfold in real-time, I wasn’t worried about Curry at all.

– Curry came to me separately and asked me to keep it a secret, but I feel like I should tell Barcode. You know that Curry and I are both part of Crystal, right? Curry is going to issue a statement about the internal rotation controversy.

According to the message I received from Ain not long ago, it seemed like they were preparing something on that side as well.

Even without Ain’s message, I never thought Curry would fall from grace.

Curry was a streamer who understood public sentiment better than anyone, and he wasn’t the type to be brought down by something like this.

Even if this incident led to irreversible downfall, it wouldn’t matter.

I would take responsibility for it.

So, I waited in anticipation for how the Crystal-affiliated streamers would respond.

A video was uploaded to the Mutube channel of streamer ‘Aiki’, who has 500,000 subscribers.

Originally, Aiki was a streamer who made FPS games the primary content of their channel.

Now, Aiki streamed various games, but that’s not the important part.

A video uploaded on Aiki’s channel, which usually didn’t have game-related content, featured a black screen with white text in the thumbnail.

SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1ZXY3OUpHZHJ5SEdNU2pqSkRSOWtXYzdPQktyUE5HQ21UajBadm9XNUJVSw

As I entered the uploaded video, it revolved around revelations regarding Crystal and its representative Lee Seon-ah.

After that, as if it was a promise, all the Crystal-affiliated streamers who had been harmed by Lee Seon-ah uploaded exposure videos.

Eventually, with the upload of Curry’s exposure video, the existing ‘Barcode controversy’ was quickly overshadowed by the massive new controversies spreading everywhere.

With internal whistleblowers followed by accusations from affiliated streamers, Crystal was plummeting faster than ever before.

In the process, it was revealed that all the issue Mutubers who initially uploaded videos targeting Barcode were also contracting with Crystal, accelerating the downfall.

Also, during a live stream, Curry testified that Crystal completely ignored an email from Barcode, which severely damaged Crystal’s image beyond repair.

Throughout this whole process, the person who caused the situation was…

“Ah, isn’t it not dead?”

…focusing on the recent survival game craze.

*

After a long time following the wars of controversy between Barcode and Crystal, the streamers belonging to Crystal had largely escaped to other MCNs.

As a result, Crystal lost both its image and its MCN functions.

Now it was just a matter of Barcode returning to streaming and safely navigating the ‘malicious sniper’ controversy, but Barcode, who was effectively at the center of the controversy, had ducked out for over three months, spiraling into a different kind of downfall.

Typically, a downfall isn’t something one chooses, but in many respects, it was quite impressive how she managed to do so.

Naturally, in Curry’s streams that followed, discussions about Barcode filled the chat.

Unable to ignore it any longer, Curry explained his relationship with Barcode during the show.

He mentioned that he had known Barcode was Nayun Queen since before their mutual collaboration, and while it was strange at first when he found out the truth, over time they had returned to a better relationship.

In that way, the controversy surrounding Barcode seemed to resolve itself as the involved parties reached an understanding.

And now.

{ CurryFan1 has donated 1000 won. }
– Get yourself together, you bastard.

“Ah, thank you, CurryFan1. I’m all set thanks to you.”

[‘If you’re missing ‘her’, hit that dislike button, lol]
[Dislike]
[This dude just caught love sickness late, for real]
[Exactly, should have fixed this earlier, lol]
[But I would have acted like Curry too]
[How can Nayun Queen be the same person as Barcode? lol]

Every time Curry saw ‘Barcode’ and ‘Nayun Queen’ flooding the chat, he felt dizzy.

Previously, he had once done a tarot reading stream, and during that session, when asked what he was thinking, he responded with, “I’m thinking about Ba… no, the banana I had yesterday… ah, shit.” This really took everyone by surprise.

From that moment, a meme formed suggesting that when Curry was out of sorts, he was thinking about ‘her’.

While it was true that he frequently drifted off thinking about ‘her’, Curry was determined to deny it as much as possible.

“Ah, come on, stop teasing me. That was just a mistake!”

[Yeah, sure~]
[Let’s go with that, haha]
[Curry’s words are law, right?]
[Hahaha, this dude’s banter is so funny.]
[The guy who’s serious about his mistake… scary!]
[‘Isn’t the biggest mistake of your life missing ‘her’?]
[That statement is spot on.]

Whether he wanted to deny it or not, the viewers took Curry’s claims with a grain of salt.

Feeling a futile irritation at their responses, Curry pushed through the broadcasts, ignoring the rising chats.

“This round, I’m definitely ranking up to Master.”

[Season 213471 Master declaration.]
[I’m so used to hearing this that it no longer resonates with me.]
[I hear it more often than my mom’s nagging, yeah.]
[If using ‘her’ power, could we reach ‘Grandmaster’?]
[Totally possible, lol.]
[I miss Barcode… please save this beast…]

Currently, Curry was battling to rank up to Master.

The first match ended safely in a win, but after two eerie consecutive losses, he found himself in a win-loss-loss situation.

To ascend to Master, he needed to win this game and the next; losing this one would plunge him back into hell.

Determined this time to escape the inferno dubbed ‘Diamond’, Curry focused earnestly on the ban-pick phase.

Comparing the compositions of both sides, he picked the optimal champion, and now the only thing left was for the opposing fifth pick to choose.

With the countdown approaching ten seconds, the choice of the opposing fifth pick was none other than Yone.

[Huh?]
[No way?]
[Is that ‘her’?]
[How do you handle sniping in a promotion match? Ah, lol.]
[Is she here to regain her initial spirit?]

Naturally, the chat exploded with excitement, and Curry, with shaken eyes, gazed at Yone’s portrait.

If Barcode, who had been gone for three months, had officially sniped him in his Master promotion game, what kind of reaction should he display?

He thought he had perfectly settled his feelings about her, but facing the opposing Yone as Barcode stirred a whirlwind of emotions in his head and heart.

As the tense atmosphere hung, the game began, and Curry quickly checked the opposing Yone’s nickname.

[Thought She Was ‘Her’, But Nope!]

“What the hell.”

[Hahahahahaha]
[Hahahaha, this dude is insane, lol.]
[That’s completely ridiculous! Hahaha.]
[The fact there’s no Yone in the most-played section is comedic gold.LOL.]
[Could that be Barcode?]
[Schrödinger’s Barcode!]

Curry’s genuine irritation towards the rival Yone’s name and his response became a hilarious scene.

The main character, Curry, seemed dumbfounded, just letting out a hollow laughter.

However, as one viewer pointed out, there was a chance that Yone really could be Barcode, so he had a glimmer of hope.

[Our team is being massacred!]

In just 13 minutes into the game, Yone had secured solo kills against their mid-lane three times, which definitely ruled out the possibility of her being Barcode.

Barcode at least wouldn’t purposely throw or abuse the game.

So, that Yone must be an imposter, and Curry reprimanded himself for getting hopeful.

[How dare you impersonate ‘her’?]
[How dare you tarnish Barcode’s name?]
[How could you be outplayed by a local?…]
[Fact: The imposter is also a local.]

[Looking at it this way, Barcode Yone absolutely shines.]
[How can the first Challenger be compared to such a local dumbass? LOL.]

If the imposter displayed a remarkable carry performance, he might have received nicknames like Unlucky Barcode or Masked Barcode, but unfortunately, ‘Thought She Was ‘Her’, But Nope!’ went down in infamy as the top moron sniper in the viewers’ minds.

Eventually, the promotion match’s fourth game ended in victory for him, making it 2 wins and 2 losses, and now he just needed to secure one more win to escape from hell.

“Everyone, I’ve said it before, right? I’m not someone who belongs here. Do you see the new sprouts? They’re all crimson red!”

Curry, intoxicated with victory, uttered some strange words, but the viewers just rolled with it.

As the moment of clarity came, Curry returned to a dazed state, but not long after, a thought sparked in his mind as he smiled softly.

“Barcode, are you watching the stream right now?”

[???]
[Is he finally going to confess?]
[What’s this, a video letter?]
[Sweet Curry’s gone mad!]
[Big things coming, big things coming, big things coming!]
[Wow wow wow.]

Unexpectedly bringing up Barcode, Curry’s continued speech had viewers buzzing with anticipation.

However, contrary to their expectations, what came next shocked everyone.

“You promised you’d grant me a wish last time, right? I’m about to use that now.”

With a grin, Curry moved the mouse and hovered over the matching button.

“Please snipe me. This time, I’m going to win.”

As the words left his mouth, Curry hit the matching button.

Moments later, he got matched up.

Glug.

With tension mounting, he swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth and hit the accept button.

He scanned through the chat for the allies’ nicknames, but unfortunately, Barcode wasn’t among them.

Did he regret pulling this stunt? He thought so, but he didn’t let go of the small glimmer of hope he was harboring.

The ban-pick phase unfolded, and just like before, the rival fifth pick chose Yone.

[This time for real?]
[Is Barcode actually here?]
[If it’s an imposter, then killing them would be no problem.]
[If she had any sense, she’d avoid the sniper match, lol.]
[Prepare the ‘Custer Call’, teacher.]

Having experienced this once already, his hopes weren’t that high, but a glimmer of ‘what if?’ made his heart race for no reason.

This feeling of fulfillment filled the void within him.

He silently wished this feeling wouldn’t turn into disappointment, and thus the game began with hesitant anticipation, and Curry quickly checked the opposing Yone’s nickname again.

[Nayun Queen mk 2]

“Ugh…”

[So boring.]
[I’m seriously going to kill that sucker today.]
[Imposter, pay attention to your surroundings!]
[Host, can we have a ‘Custer Call’ for old times’ sake?]
[This must have lost her mind! something something]

[Whoa.]
[That was self-censored, but why does it still show up?]
[Seeing it shows it’s even funnier! LOL.]

Just as another imposter made an entry and the stream atmosphere neared chaos.

Ding ding~ ding ding~

The Discord notification rang out loud, and Curry immediately checked the nickname of the person calling.

[Barcode]

Upon seeing that name, Curry absentmindedly accepted the call.

“Hey, Curry. You’re not having regrets, right?”

Her clear voice chimed in his ear, causing Curry to smile.

“No. Absolutely not.”

fin

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