Chapter 5: Hey, hey, are you crying?

[Suha!]

[You started the stream early today.]

[Suha becoming more diligent? You can’t stop this.]

“This is Suha~~ Hello everyone, good morning… or maybe afternoon? Anyway, I hope you’re having a great day. What did I do during the break? I rested at home. Who would I meet? I told you I don’t have a boyfriend. I explained this last time, and you’re asking again. Again.”

Suha started her stream today, earlier than usual. She just felt like it today.

Although there were a few naughty chats, everyone warmly welcomed her. Fans who waited only for Suha, existed for Suha and were drawn in by Suha.

Recalling the days she had worked hard to create content and stream diligently, Suha shivered with an unknown sense of fulfillment.

[What are you going to do today?]

“Today… if nothing special comes up, I guess I’ll play EOW. Yeah, looks like I’ll be playing EOW.”

[Again with the EOW.]

[EOW domination period on.]

[I love EOW, love EOW, love EOW, love EOW, love EOW, love EOW…]

The viewers’ enthusiasm wasn’t great. Suha clicked her tongue at their heated reactions.

But there was nothing she could do.

Suha wasn’t the type to run her stream radically without preparing content, and forcing other content wouldn’t match her energy.

If the streamer herself doesn’t enjoy the content, the viewers won’t either.

Today, it was inevitable that she’d play EOW. Suha spoke firmly.

“I’m going to play EOW today. Even if you beg and cry, it won’t work.”

Suha had learned through past experiences that she needed to be firm in moments like these.

Being swayed by others only led to discomfort for her regular viewers, who might leave feeling uneasy.

With a stern expression, she waited for the chat to settle down.

Once the chat quieted, she tossed a carrot as if being generous.

“But tomorrow, I’ll really prepare different content. We’ve been playing EOW for a while now.”

[Our great Suha.]

[EOW is still fun, though.]

[Haha, I wanted to watch EOW from the start.]

[It’s like homemade food—delicious, but some people are just being fussy.]

The mood in the chat recovered as if it had never been heated. Suha was now familiar with such moments of audience management.

As the game started, Suha exclaimed energetically.

Now was the time to raise the tension.

“Alright, let’s dive right into matchmaking. Today, I’ll push my main account a bit.”

[Let’s go, let’s go!]

[Serious rank grind on.]

[Suha’s focused expression… Ahh…]

[Defeat is inevitable.]

The viewers watched Suha’s competitive match with different levels of anticipation.

But their expectations started heading in an unexpected direction.

“I think our team composition is better, right? The enemy agents seem so random. A retired soldier, an assassin, a mercenary, and…”

Suha was excitedly comparing the compositions of her team and the enemy team.

Unlike her team’s well-balanced setup, the enemy team was a chaotic mix of agents. Suha giggled at the thought of an easy win.

Suha, who was reading through the enemy agents, suddenly stopped talking.

At the same time, the chat also froze for about a second.

[Who the hell is that?]

[Isn’t that the guy from last time? A hacker.]

[The username looks a little different.]

[Is it a secondary account?]

[Is he a hacker too?]

[YouTube highlights incoming.]

-Molilru (Sniper)

“The same agent, similar to last time. The difference is, back then, it was a silver-tier secondary account, and now it’s a diamond-tier main account.”

Encountering a hacker was never a pleasant experience. Memories of being helplessly defeated flashed through Suha’s mind.

“No way~ It can’t be. Maybe a viewer who saw my stream made their username like that on purpose?”

[These trolls are really something lol, mimicking a hacker because they’ve got nothing better to do.]

[Suha gets stream sniped a lot.]

[The struggles of a popular streamer…]

It made sense. There were always viewers waiting for Suha’s matchmaking just to snipe her.

Of course, those stream snipers weren’t welcome, but Suha hoped it was one of them.

‘Better a sniper than a hacker.’

She could always hide the map.

Suha, accustomed to dealing with stream snipers, quickly covered the map that showed her team’s and her own position, informing her viewers.

“Alright, everyone~ You know the drill, right?”

[Haha, here we go again.]

[Fake pings on.]

[Fake briefings to avoid sound hacks.]

She started giving fake callouts, one of the typical responses when dealing with stream snipers.

It wasn’t just to hide her team’s ultimate status and positions, but also to deceive the sniper who might be listening to the sound.

Stream snipers weren’t particularly skilled either. Suha had beaten snipers a few times before and began to show some confidence.

“Should we go to A or B~ You have no idea where I’m going, do you?”

With a higher-than-usual level of excitement, the viewers were also enjoying themselves.

Their team composition was strong, and as long as her team performed well, it didn’t seem like winning would be hard.

That confidence was shattered less than a minute into the game.

When you commit a crime, you face the consequences.

That’s been true for a long time.

Normally, I’m the one who gets punished, but this time was different.

Bang!

The distinct piercing sound of a high-caliber sniper rifle echoed.

At the same time, the kill feed lit up.

Molilru / Sua.

Another kill. He was intentionally targeting the streamer ‘Suha.’

In between, he also helped out teammates in danger whenever possible.

It was possible because the sniper rifle had the longest range of all the weapons in the game.

Some called it a flashy but weak weapon, but to me, nothing was more comfortable.

The teammates were amazed by my overwhelming sniping skills, and one of them seemed unsure if I was the hacker circulating in the community.

They had been suspicious since the pick phase, but I managed to avoid their doubts and carry on.

I wasn’t about to give up such a perfect opportunity.

I even made a new account and ranked up to Suha’s main account’s tier.

In the past, I wouldn’t have been able to rank up this fast, but with my current body, it was different.

‘Maybe I can easily hit Challenger too.’

Challenger, which had been hard to maintain even when I was preparing to go pro. With this body, I could possibly reach the upper ranks of Challenger.

But that was only if I could play the game normally.

For now, clearing my name from being labeled a hacker was my priority.

‘She must have realized by now.’

I had made it obvious. She should know by now.

That I was purposely targeting her. And that I was the player she had faced before.

All I wanted was something small.

Just for her to acknowledge that I wasn’t a hacker.

It was frustrating to be misunderstood, but what could I do? People can only see as much as their skills allow.

I didn’t even expect a full apology.

“Ah.”

Lost in thought, I instinctively shot and killed Suha right after she respawned.

I thought this was enough, so I was about to stop targeting her and play normally.

She had just come out of the base…

It was unfortunate.

That’s why habits are so scary.

The game was already leaning towards victory.

I felt that even if I didn’t focus, things would be fine, so I turned on Suha’s stream.

I was curious about what she was saying on her stream.

Was she explaining that I wasn’t a hacker? Maybe saying something like, “Oh, after meeting him again, it turns out he’s not a hacker. He’s just really good at the game.”

That hope was shattered the moment I tuned into Suha’s stream.

“Aaaaargh!! Damn hacker! Why are you only targeting me?!”

[Ultimate rage moment LOL.]

[Streamer rage mode activated.]

[A rare, once-a-year outburst.]

[Who said EOW streams were boring? This is gold.]

[Definitely a stream sniper.]

[Thank you, hacker hero ㅠㅠ.]

Suha’s face was red with anger, huffing and puffing, while the viewers were thoroughly entertained.

Some didn’t even care whether I was a hacker or not.

“Thank you..? This isn’t what I wanted at all.”

I only wanted to prove that I wasn’t a hacker.

There was no other reason for me to go through all this trouble.

But it seemed Suha saw it differently.

“Are you mad because I called you a hacker? Is that why you’re sniping me? Yeah, that’s it, right? That’s why you’re targeting me.”

[Well, wouldn’t you be mad if someone accused you of being a hacker?]

[What else are you supposed to do if you get called a hacker?]

[You’ve angered Mr. Molilru, Suha.]

[Apologize now.]

[You… You used hacks first!!!]

[Suha’s heroic sacrifice led to catching a real hacker. Well done, Suha!]

[Suha will not forget this moment.]

[Send the stream VOD to Watchdog. He’ll get banned instantly.]

“Right? He’ll get banned, right? I’m sacrificing my rank points for this!”

Suha’s eyes glinted as she read the chat while furiously trying to control her agent, her head nearly exploding.

She looked like she had some sort of vendetta.

But that wouldn’t happen, right? Since I’ve never used hacks, I wouldn’t get banned.

At this point, I felt stubbornness creeping in too.

“Why won’t she acknowledge it?”

Hmm, maybe I didn’t teach her well enough. Different people need different levels of punishment to be enlightened.

The game ended in victory, and I queued up for another match.

I kept watching Suha’s stream, matching my queue with hers.

And so, the next game.

“Aaaaargh!”

And the game after that.

“No!”

And the one after that.

“Please… stop.”

Even when she hid the game screen to queue, I managed to snipe her perfectly, haunting her.

Hiding the screen didn’t matter, as she couldn’t hide her gaze. Of course, I matched the queue timing perfectly by watching her eyes.

I kept meeting her on the enemy team, using different agents to torment her.

Stream sniping was turning out to be more fun than I thought.

At some point, I forgot my original goal and just got absorbed in this.

Now I was thinking about which agent to use to torment Suha in the next match.

And, just as I was having fun with the game—

“Hiccup!”

I made Suha cry.