[TS] Malicious Sniper

I gestured quietly for Curry, who had just walked in, to be quiet.

Despite her cosplay appearance suggesting she had a lot to say, she quickly shut her mouth when she saw my gesture—she looked like a loyal puppy to her master.

“Come sit next to me.”

Without uttering a word, I gestured a few times to the empty seat beside me, and Curry cautiously moved over.

Sitting beside me, Curry glanced back and forth between me and the monitor with a complicated expression.

I currently had the broadcast running.

Of course, the camera and the microphone were off.

With just the waiting screen and the opening song playing, my appearance wasn’t visible on the broadcast.

But why was I dressed in a masquerade cosplay of Ebling? Well, it was to tease Curry while also taking care of her mental state since she always matched well with me.

Besides, she saved me during our last pension trip, so I thought it wouldn’t be too much to offer such service.

Of course, the outfit was quite revealing, making me feel quite embarrassed.

But seeing Curry, who looked even more embarrassed and unable to hold her gaze, boosted my confidence.

I reached for the microphone and cautiously opened my mouth.

“Ah, hello everyone?”

[Baha]

[Why are you streaming at this hour?]

[Didn’t you just go to a cosplay ad with Curry?]

[So you turned on the stream to tell us about the cosplay ad.]

[So what’s up with the Barcode cosplay?]

[You cosplayed as pop star Ara, right?]

[Streamer!!! Turn on the camera!!!]

As the viewers urged me to turn on the camera, Curry vigorously shook her head.

Watching her intently, I hovered my mouse cursor over the camera program’s icon, in and out, finding it amusing.

After a few repetitions, Curry seemed to realize that I had no intention of turning on the camera and pouted, turning her head away.

But not long after, she reverted back.

“Today, I’m not really feeling League of Legends, so maybe I’ll share some stories instead?”

[So you turned on the stream just to share stories, huh? Haha.]

[Why would Barcode stream without Curry and not play League of Legends?]

[For real lol.]

[This is totally a predetermined result, right? Haha.]

[Curry sharing stories with Barcode is a rare treat… so when are you turning on the camera?]

“Ah, my camera is broken. I’ll turn it on later.”

I made up an excuse not to turn on the camera and continued with unexpected storytime.

“Shall I start with the events from the pension trip? It was a bet with Curry: who can last longer in the jjimjilbang…”

I began spinning tales from the pension trip, having plenty of stories since I wasn’t in outdoor streaming mode that often.

As I shared the pension trip stories, I glanced to my right to observe Curry’s reaction.

…

She looked like she wanted to speak right away, but I raised a finger to my lips again to keep her quiet.

But this alone left me uneasy, so I opened a notepad in the empty spot of the non-streaming screen.

I carefully tapped on the keyboard, trying to make minimal noise.

[Just watch quietly. If you make noise and get caught, I’ll kick you out and end the stream to change my clothes.]

Curry’s shoulders trembled once she read what I wrote on the notepad.

Despite her conflicting expressions of embarrassment, her gaze was still fixated on my body.

Her rationality and honest instincts clashed, leaving her in a troubled state.

“Let’s wrap up the pension stories here and move on to ad tales.”

I smoothly transitioned the conversation, slowly reclining my hands behind my head.

I crossed my legs again and looked at Curry with a subtle gaze.

A tremor shook her eyes as they met mine, and I relished her awkward state.

“The weather was cold, you know? I was exhausted. But thanks to you, I made it to the hospital safely for treatment.”

While sharing the story of how I fainted during a night walk at the pension, I cared for Curry’s mental state.

Seeing her fidgeting, it hardly looked like support but more like torture.

‘Actually, I’m enjoying this.’

My original intent was to care for Curry’s mental state after dealing with the likes of me, but there was something satisfying about watching her squirm like she was being tortured.

Thus, I forgot my embarrassment even more and struck a pose to make things awkward for her.

[Curry, when Barcode fainted, didn’t you do something bad? I really don’t know.]

[Oh ho.]

[Don’t cross the line, you guys.]

[Curry is a chaste one, so please don’t slander her, everyone.]

[Oh ho haha.]

[Stop with the bad words.]

[Please let me be reborn as Curry in the next life.]

“When Curry saw Barcode faint, didn’t she do something bad? Seriously.”

I read that comment aloud and turned to Curry beside me.

“Well, who knows? Maybe she really did…”

With a mischievous look in my eyes, I gave Curry a playful glare, and she shook her head frantically.

Thinking I had hit the jackpot, I picked up my phone and continued quietly.

“Shall we call and confirm if you did something bad to me back then?”

[Go go go go go.]

[Lol, this isn’t a scary story.]

[Curry, startled from her nap!]

[Public investigation on bad deeds!]

[If she’s found guilty, will Curry get handcuffed immediately? Haha.]

I gestured for Curry to move away from me.

In an ordinary house, this would have been impossible impulsive behavior. However, my house was anything but ordinary, and my room was larger than a typical living room, so it was fine.

Following my gesture, Curry scooted to the corner of the room and pulled out her phone.

As soon as I saw that, I dialed her number.

Beep beep beep—

Beep beep beep—

Click—

After a few rings, Curry picked up.

-Hello.

Curry’s voice coming from the phone was quite muffled.

Was she trying to act like she had just woken up from a nap?

I decided to play along, trying to suppress my laughter as I began my act.

“Curry, I called because I have a question to ask.”

-What do you want to ask?

“Remember when we went to the pension trip with four people? Do you recall what happened when I went for a ‘walk alone’ with you?”

-Umm… Ah, yes. Barcode suddenly fainted. I remember I froze for a moment before calling 119.

She seemed to spill more than I intended, as if refusing to let me question.

But I called for this specific purpose, and if I didn’t ask something at this point, it wouldn’t be me.

I could see Curry letting out a sigh from a distance.

-Did I do something like that?

“Could be! You know, I was completely defenseless, unconscious, and you were the only one awake, right? The scene just paints itself!”

I knew very well Curry wasn’t that kind of person.

Still, I didn’t hesitate to ask.

I caught a glimpse of her sighing from afar.

-Did I really do something like that?

“Well, it’s possible, don’t you think?”

-…

“Hehe, just kidding! You’re not upset, are you?”

Thinking this was enough teasing, I tried to shift the mood to something serious.

From a distance, I saw Curry release a sigh of relief and look at me weakly as she spoke.

-I was actually watching the broadcast.

“Oh, you were watching? Boring.”

As a pro streamer, Curry quickly picked up on my intentions and lightened the atmosphere with her quip.

I responded in kind, mixing a chuckle into my voice as I returned her playful banter.

[Curry has no streaming sense, seriously.]

[But really, you didn’t do anything? Can’t believe you didn’t?]

[Does Curry’s inner ambition actually exist?]

[Guys, somehow stop torturing Curry! Haha.]

[Just pretend you don’t know! Haha.]

[These idiots keep piling on the discomfort for Curry!]

[Of course, this is a den of troublemakers.]

After chatting with Curry for a few minutes, I hung up the call.

As I was about to wrap up, a long message from the chat caught my eye.

[But why aren’t Curry and Barcode dating? It seems like they’ve done everything except kiss. Are they enjoying this middle ground between flirting and being a couple? Are they even betting on who confesses first?]

“Why aren’t Curry and I dating? Someone’s really overthinking this.”

I sighed, giving up after reading aloud what seemed like a typical ‘over-immersion’ comment.

It’s not like I hadn’t seen such comments before, but lately, they’ve been popping up quite frequently.

I had intended to ignore it, but since there were so many newly arrived viewers who were like this, I thought I should clarify things.

Taking a moment to gather my thoughts, I slowly opened my mouth.

“I don’t love Curry as a romantic interest; it’s more of a fan appreciation kind of like. It’s like versus love.”

If I liked Curry, that might be different.

But I certainly didn’t love her.

I could confidently state that much.

“And to be honest, there are things I did to Curry; how could that ever turn into love? That would be devoid of conscience.”

If someone else had experienced what I’d done, how would they react?

They’d probably end up hating or despising me.

What’s the difference between the heinous things done to me and what I did to Curry?

I recognized the fact that I, as a person, was somewhat broken.

So while I approached Curry, I never overstepped my bounds.

Someone like me didn’t fit with someone like her.

“In the first place, I’m not interested in dating anyone. If anyone is drinking kimchi soup, please spit it out on the floor.”

Even before becoming a woman, I had no interest in relationships with others.

Moreover, I wasn’t interested in dating, nor did I care about others’ relationships.

Even if there were rumors about famous celebrities dating or someone broke up, it was the same.

“Maybe Curry feels the same way? Despite what happened with Nayun Queen, maintaining our current relationship must mean she likes me, like a florist.”

The relationship between us was literally like, not love.

Somewhere in that middle ground between flirting and dating, just as the over-immersed commenter suggested.

Among its stages, that one fit us best, and that was an unchanging truth.

“Seems like Barcode thinks of me like that?”

It should have been that way.

“But I don’t think of Barcode that way.”

Before I knew it, Curry, who had moved closer, dropped a bombshell.

A massive bombshell that I couldn’t handle.

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