Chapter 54 : Interview

Barcode and the flower shop owner are the same person.

The viewers’ reactions were hotter than ever upon learning this fact.

Especially those who knew who the “flower shop owner” was.

Viewers from Yellow City were shocked by this incredible twist.

[Wow, Curry is so lucky, damn damn damn]

[Go die, go die, go die]

[You deceitful bastard, you deceitful bastard, you deceitful bastard]

[My head is spinning from the betrayal]

[Not a sweet guy, but a sweet girl]

[A rich, beautiful woman has been supporting him for years? What the hell]

[Earth writer, you bastard, where did you sell the plot]

[You all knew, didn’t you? This is a scam against the viewers, you trash]

Looking at the tone of the flower shop owner’s donation messages, one might have thought, “Could it be?”

But no one from Yellow City ever thought the flower shop owner was a woman.

After all, female viewers in Yellow City were rarer than legendary Pokémon.

A rare existence like that, who could casually donate hundreds of thousands of won?

It was an unrealistic story, so they naturally assumed the flower shop owner was a man.

But now that the flower shop owner’s identity as Barcode was revealed, the chat room was ablaze and impossible to manage.

Limit to one chat per minute. Enable follower-only mode (30 days). Activate various chat management bots and automatic blocking for messages over a certain length. Despite using all these chat management features, the speed of the messages didn’t slow down; it only got faster. Watching all these reactions, I took a sip of my drink. If I had stayed a bit longer, I could have teased him in various ways. Unfortunately, Curry couldn’t stay in one place for too long.

-Guys, you might think I’m lying, but I didn’t know Barcode was the flower shop owner either. [Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar] [Dirty deceiver, dirty deceiver, dirty deceiver] [Updating the wiki in real-time, currently dating, lol] [I liked him because he said he was single, but now I’m disappointed] [Every time he opens his mouth, lies come out automatically] [Viewers were just convenient ATMs to him]

Before I even shared a drink with him, Curry was already drunk. He drank more in that state, so his judgment must have been impaired. Normally, he would have quickly calmed the angry viewers. But in his current state, it seemed impossible.

‘Should I help a bit…?’ Rather than drinking alone in the chairman’s special seat.

Helping Curry, who was in a state of confusion, and enjoying the situation didn’t seem like a bad idea. I raised the glass I was tilting and drank its contents before standing up. Counting the soju bottles on the table, there seemed to be about three. I had probably drunk about two of those myself, yet strangely, I didn’t feel drunk. I then descended the stairs to the first floor where Curry was.

The fans were enjoying a lively atmosphere at their respective tables. But Curry was alone in a corner, trying to explain himself to the angry viewers. It was clear his explanations weren’t working. I muted the stream I was watching and approached Curry.

“No, really everyone…” “Hello, Curry’s viewers.” I interrupted Curry’s faltering explanation and greeted the camera. Although this was technically my first outdoor broadcast, my experience with cam streams made it neither embarrassing nor unfamiliar. Curry gave me a look that said, ‘What are you doing?’ but I ignored it and spoke softly to the camera.

“I’ll answer all your questions, so please calm down.” As I smiled and spoke, the intensity of the chat began to decrease. When I could somewhat read the incoming messages, I turned my gaze to Curry. Given his state, he seemed unfit to handle the situation.

“It seems like viewers have many questions because of me. Should we do a separate interview or stream together?”

I turned my body so my face wouldn’t be visible on camera and looked at Curry with a half-threatening expression. Given the situation, Curry would have to follow my lead even without this pressure. But seeing Curry’s helplessness, I couldn’t resist the urge to tease him.

“Yes, let’s do that…” “Good choice.”

Curry couldn’t hide his trembling eyes and answered with a slightly shaky voice. Before heading up to the second floor, I took the camera from the manager and led the way. Curry seemed to avoid being alone with me, but soon enough, we were alone again. We sat back in the chairman’s exclusive fan meeting room. After setting up the camera in a suitable position, I took out my phone to check the incoming chat messages.

Among the many questions, I picked a few to read aloud.

“Is Barcode really the flower shop owner? Yes, that’s correct.” “Why did you keep it a secret during the last collaboration? There was no reason to reveal it.” “What is your relationship? Hmm… I think it’s a typical streamer and fan relationship.”

I turned my gaze to Curry, who was trying to calm himself, and continued my response.

“I wonder what Curry thinks of me…?”

[This is a green light, Curry]

[Confess, damn it, confess]

[All the shippers are here, lol]

[She’s openly flirting, damn, lol]

[I’m bad at dating, but if you don’t confess now, you’ll regret it]

[How much must she like him to donate that much?]

[This is true love, I swear]

[Curry, you lucky bastard]

[Mom! My dream is to become Curry!]

I trailed off, wanting to make Curry uncomfortable.

The chat started filling with the reactions I had anticipated.

Messages that Curry would rather not see.

Curry read the chat but couldn’t respond.

Even in this situation, Curry managed to maintain his composure.

After a long silence, Curry cautiously spoke.

“I feel the same as Barcode. I think it’s a typical streamer and fan relationship.”

[???]

[He can’t even take what’s given to him]

[Did he really lose his balls?]

[We told him to lose his balls, but this is too much]

[Barcode, our streamer is bad at dating, please give him another chance…]

[Shippers, cut]

[Curry only cares about his viewers]

[After what happened at the tournament, would he really date? lol]

Curry’s expression grew darker, but I didn’t care.

It wasn’t noticeable on the broadcast.

Even if it was, viewers would think his dark expression was due to the alcohol.

I decided to give Curry some time to recover, as his condition was worsening and I wouldn’t be able to tease him further.

“What do you like about Curry that made you become the chairman? The same reasons as you all. He’s witty, cheerful, and just seeing him makes me smile.”

As the teasing atmosphere reached its peak, I placed my arms on the table and rested my chin on my hand, looking at the camera.

[Oh my, oh my]

[Hehe… Nuna…]

[That decadent charm is insane]

[I just made eye contact with Barcode Nuna]

[I’ve never seen Barcode smile like that]

[At this point, it’s reasonable to suspect]

[How can you hold back a smile when the person you like is right in front of you, lol]

[Get rid of all the delusional shippers!!]

I made sure the viewers misunderstood the situation appropriately and then shifted my gaze to the side.

Curry, feeling dizzy from the alcohol and the current situation, was holding his forehead with one hand.

Though it wasn’t visible from the camera angle, he was biting his lip behind his arm.

I’ve always known, but his mental strength is truly impressive.

I wondered if this would break his spirit, but seeing Curry’s eyes full of anger, I felt a chill.

I could still tease him more, it seemed.

“When will you do an in-person collaboration with Curry? Well… if you think about it, isn’t this an in-person collaboration right now?”

“Yes. I think so too. Really.”

Curry, seemingly sobered up, answered in his usual voice.

It felt like he was determined not to be swayed by me, but it was amusing.

“On second thought, maybe it’s not an in-person collaboration. Since it’s a ‘fan meeting,’ it’s not really a collaboration.”

“We’re streaming together in the same place, so I think this counts as an in-person collaboration.”

“…It seems like Curry doesn’t like me. I participated in this fan meeting as the flower shop owner, not as the streamer Barcode…”

Sad thoughts… Sad thoughts…

I tried to evoke as much sadness as possible and spoke slowly.

“Was I just sniff an ATM to you, Curry sniff…? Sob, sob…”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant! An ATM? I’ve never thought of you that way, flower shop owner!”

Curry’s desperate words showed his sincerity.

Even though it was revealed that Barcode and the flower shop owner were the same person.

The fact that the flower shop owner had supported and encouraged Curry all this time didn’t disappear.

But from the perspective of the viewers, who were unaware of the truth, the current situation seemed like a shortcut to downfall. A situation where a streamer openly showed dislike for a female chairman who had genuine fan devotion. Curry, realizing too late that viewers saw the situation that way, hastily tried to explain himself.

[What a real piece of trash]

[Even if he has a reason, this is too much…]

[You need to know how to separate public and private matters]

[How could you make the chairman cry? Seriously]

[It’s so bad that not even the usual spam is coming through]

[Honestly, considering what he went through, I get why he dislikes her, but…]

The chat had long since turned cold. The situation was so severe that even the usual spam wasn’t appearing. Since it would be hard to recover if the situation worsened, I composed myself.

“I’m really sorry. It might sound like an excuse, but…”

“Then will you do an in-person collaboration?”

“What? Oh, I have to. How could I refuse?”

“Hehe. Then it’s settled. I’ll let it go.”

Ignoring Curry’s bewildered expression, I turned my gaze to the camera.

I was teary-eyed until a moment ago, but seeing Curry’s bewildered expression brought back my smile.

“I successfully secured an in-person collaboration with Curry as you all wanted. How was my acting?”

[Wow, my head’s spinning]

[What kind of acting skills are those?]

[We all got fooled]

[I thought there’d be a controversy added to Curry’s wiki, lol]

[The acting was too realistic, it was uncomfortable]

[Are we really getting an in-person collaboration?]

[This fan meeting is truly legendary]

[People who missed this broadcast are losing half their life]

Successfully securing an in-person collaboration from Curry, I stopped talking, feeling satisfied.

Rather than getting overly excited about my success, I thought observing Curry’s reaction would benefit both me and the broadcast.

“Haa… You really surprised me, Chairman.”

Curry sighed in relief and spoke playfully.

With Curry’s demeanor, the tense atmosphere began to ease.

Though it felt like he was forcing himself to act calm, I was the only one who noticed.

For a while, I engaged in casual conversation with Curry, pretending everything was fine, and enjoyed the rest of the fan meeting.

The long and enjoyable fan meeting finally came to an end. I had fun, and it left many good memories. After saying goodbye to Curry, I left the pub. I had drunk a bit too much, and I could feel the alcohol kicking in. But I wasn’t so drunk that I couldn’t walk. I stepped onto the street and flagged down a passing taxi. Feeling like it was a productive day, I got into the taxi and headed home. …

The black car parked on the road started its engine. The black car began following the taxi that had just left.