[TS] Malicious Sniper

I carefully went over the information I received before the collab with Curry.

As Curry’s call connected, the opening time began with simple questions.

I was curious about the questions, but I didn’t bother to ask Curry.

There didn’t seem to be a need to stick to a script for something that wasn’t even a legit broadcast.

Besides, knowing in advance would ruin the fun and genuine reactions would be lost.

I prepared for the collab while considering Curry’s position as much as possible.

But during my preparations, I belatedly realized one critical issue.

I didn’t have an account in the Diamond tier that I needed for the collab with Curry—a very serious problem.

DUN DUN DUN

“I shouldn’t have mentioned that I had a Diamond smurf…”

Curry had asked if I had a Diamond smurf, and I had said yes.

The problem was that those Diamond smurfs were actually the accounts used to target Curry: Nayun Queen and Nayun Princess.

The maximum number of accounts that one person could create was five.

Nayun Gongdu, Nayun Queen, Nayun Princess, Barcode, and the targeting account.

I had already used up all the accounts I could create under one name evenly until now.

The date that Curry had announced for the collab was next Sunday.

Could I really get an account in the Diamond tier by then?

I didn’t want to commit any illegal acts, so I thought about the possibility of changing the nickname of an existing account, but…

“No, that’s too risky.”

I was already branded as an “evil sniper” with my user ID plastered all over various stat sites.

Even if I changed the nickname, people would quickly figure out that Barcode’s smurf was the account of an evil sniper.

Was I really left with no choice but to obtain an account?

Just as I was contemplating this…

One fact suddenly popped into my mind.

I had once asked the Night Move side, who had helped me with identity laundering, a question about accounts, and they told me that Goliath Games, being a game company and not a government office, wouldn’t know if I was dead or not.

They explained that unless relatives submitted a death certificate or other documents requesting account deactivation, there were hardly any cases where an account would be deactivated.

Currently, the owner of the account I was using was “Son Minwoo.”

Very few people knew about my past, and if they did, they likely forgot.

I didn’t know anything about my father except that he worked in virtual currency.

On the day of his funeral, no one came to pay their respects.

I was the only one who could call myself family to my father, and my past self resembled him.

A type of person who didn’t bother to build relationships and indeed didn’t have any.

Because of this, Son Minwoo was a missing person who hadn’t been reported—still alive, as there was no family or acquaintances left to report him.

Thus, there was no reason for the account under Son Minwoo’s name to be deactivated for a long time, or even forever.

And now, I had a new identity as Choi Nayun.

Separate from Son Minwoo’s name, I could create five additional accounts under Choi Nayun’s name.

Once I extended my thoughts to that point, I immediately created an account under Choi Nayun’s name.

Once the account was created, I couldn’t suppress the laughter bubbling up as I logged into League of Legends.

I named it Barcode, skipped the tutorial, and moved to the main screen.

As soon as I got to the main screen, what caught my eye was the level of this account.

Level 1.

To duo with Curry, who had fallen to Diamond in the preseason, I needed to reach level 30 and Diamond within at least a week.

I hired a farming party with money and started playing normals in a five-person queue.

I repeatedly played normals manually, like a crazy person.

As a result, I reached the minimum level of 30 to rank within three days.

Now all that was left was to hit Diamond.

For a Challenger like me, reaching Diamond within four days was an incredibly easy feat.

*

Since my first stream, I hadn’t turned on the broadcast during the preparation period for the collab.

While I was busy leveling up my new Diamond smurf, I also didn’t stream because…

If I, the streamer who had been missing for a week, suddenly showed up again with Curry?

Of course, it would draw immense attention to Curry, and as soon as Curry’s broadcast started, a crowd of viewers flocked to it.

“Hello everyone, it’s Karah…”

I ended the stream right as Curry began to greet viewers.

After that, I turned off the microphone and cleared my throat.

I entered the call room early and waited for Curry’s mic to turn on.

A short while later, the familiar voice of Curry lit up his nickname.

“Are you the famous ‘Unknown Yone Master’ Barcode, who carried games against the Showdown player?”

I wondered, does Curry really know?

Does he know that the person he’s collaborating with…

Is the very sniper who used to torment him?

The mere idea of the situation was hilarious, so I held back my laughter and spoke.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Nice to meet you! I guess it makes sense since you’re a Challenger, but you sound really confident in your response.”

Upon hearing my reply, Curry smoothly continued the broadcast.

“I know that Barcode is famous as the ‘Unknown Yone Master’. Do you know that you’re referred to by this nickname?”

“Of course. Just yesterday, I even saw a post titled ‘Barcode’s Voice is So Good’ on a certain community board. I’m quite interested in League of Legends news.”

“…Ahaha! Well, of course, a renowned Challenger must have an interest in League!”

Curry was momentarily flustered by my words.

But as a professional streamer, he quickly navigated his way through it with smooth talking.

A new response I hadn’t seen as a sniper made me involuntarily smirk.

“Actually, before we start playing together, I prepared several questions…”

“But?”

“…It seems I don’t have to ask them after all, right?”

“Hmmm… I’m actually curious about the questions you prepared, though?”

I turned the tables and asked.

Were you really not going to ask me anything?

A moment of silence revealed Curry’s struggle.

Did he not expect me to come at him like this?

I could clearly see the panicking expression on Curry’s face.

“Are you really not going to ask me?”

“Umm… If you want me to, then I should, right? Haha!”

As he spoke with disappointment in his voice, Curry’s awkward response reached my ears.

Curry, who had managed to squeeze out a dry laugh, reluctantly asked his question.

“Barcode, you set an unprecedented record of 50 wins without a loss since Yone’s release and then suddenly quit solo queue. Can I ask why?”

“At that time, I got so tired of winning too much that I just quit.”

“Quitting out of boredom! That sounds really confident, and maybe even arrogant. But hearing it from Barcode, who set that unprecedented record, it doesn’t sound odd at all.”

“Hehe, thanks for the compliment.”

I expressed my thanks with a smile, like it was no big deal.

I could already see Curry furrowing his brows.

“We should slowly transition from the question time to the game!”

“What about the next question? If I made a mistake or something…”

“No, that’s not it! Actually, I didn’t prepare any questions at all. They were just improvised questions to maintain the broadcast’s reality.”

“Oh, I guess you have no curiosity about me, huh? Lying to that extent… was your invitation to collab really…”

“No way! That’s not it! It’s just that my questions that I came up with on the spot were dull. It’s not that you made a mistake, it’s my fault!”

“Is that so? Then, I’m glad.”

Honestly, the conversation between the two of us had become tense.

…Or rather, it was Curry, who was hosting this collab, who was struggling to breathe.

Once that brief talk ended, Curry invited me to the game.

After accepting the invite, Curry, who used to be a Master (formerly Diamond 1), initiated the match.

Of course, during the matchmaking, there was bound to be silence, so Curry turned to me to keep the broadcast lively.

“Yone and Yasuo’s performance has skyrocketed lately due to the changes with Guinsu. However, I heard Guinsu was nerfed recently with a hotfix. What tier do you think Yone is currently, Barcode?”

“Tier 1.”

“Usually, other masters will declare their champion as Tier 1 regardless of their actual performance…”

“Nope. Setting aside my love for Yone or whatever, Yone is definitely Tier 1.”

I cut off Curry’s words and asserted.

Even though Guinsu’s nerf was applied through a hotfix, its status hadn’t dropped.

A measly 10 damage nerf at the first core didn’t affect Yone at all.

Is the price now 200 gold more expensive?

It was worth buying Guinsu at 3000 gold instead of 2800 gold.

A legendary item that outperformed mythic items, and it was even 600 gold cheaper than the average mythic item.

With Yone and Yasuo, who could bring out this overpowered item’s performance to over 100%, they could be seen as solid Tier 1s in the current preseason meta.

While I chatted with Curry about this and that, we quickly matched for the game.

It didn’t take a minute to get a match, which might have had the smell of targeting, but I didn’t care.

My goal was to torment Curry as much as possible during this collab, not to win the game.

“If Yone gets banned, I’m dodging, so make sure to behave.”

Curry’s firm determination that he wouldn’t forgive any targeting bans was palpable this time.

Did that resolve get communicated to the opposing team?

Yone didn’t get banned.

As a champion who’s considered broken, Yone had a high probability of getting banned, regardless of targeting.

But since he didn’t get banned, it seemed like there were “actors” on the other team.

“Luckily, Yone survived. I’ll pick him first.”

Curry, as the first pick for the Blue Team, took Yone before I could.

But did Curry think I was going to pick a champion from all roles?

Of course, I could, but to pick first without my agreement…

It wasn’t so much infuriating as it was an opportunity to mess with him, so I spoke up.

“I don’t really have many top champs…”

“Eh? Oh, what should I do then… Do you have Aatrox or maybe any of my main champs?”

“Nope… I only have mid champs.”

“Then… I guess I’ll have to dodge…”

“Just kidding.”

“Oh… I see.”

Curry’s voice sounded like he had resigned.

How long had it been since the stream started that he was already losing his energy?

Worse situations were yet to unfold repeatedly.

Thus, the picking phase continued for both sides.

The enemy chose Darius as their top champion.

“Please pick Jake.”

“Jake… Jake… um…?”

“Stop messing with me.”

“Oh, was that too obvious?”

I chuckled softly as I picked Jake.

I could somehow hear Curry’s sigh from afar.

Finally, the enemy’s fifth pick revealed Jayce, concluding the banning and picking process.

I confirmed that the enemy mid was a Seraphine and adjusted my runes.

And then, the first game of the collab began.

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