Chapter 58 : When will we meet ?

The sudden appearance of Barcode completely flipped the atmosphere of the already chaotic chatroom.

Only two days had passed since the shocking fan meeting incident, and Barcode hadn’t even turned on the stream after the platform war ended.

Naturally, the viewers, who were eager to hear the behind-the-scenes stories or directly hear the details from the person involved, reacted with excitement.

[Barcode! Barcode! Barcode! Barcode! Barcode!]

[The president has entered!]

[Is this real?]

[Streamer Barcode, turn on your stream already!!!]

[Perfect streamer, except for not streaming]

[Why would a rich person stream seriously? Haha]

[So this is… ‘The dignity of the president’?]

“…First, I’ll kick out the people who don’t belong.”

Even though he wasn’t a challenger, Curry kicked out the people who entered.

To an outsider, it might seem like the treatment of the president was harsh, but most viewers knew how much Barcode bothered Curry, so no one blamed Curry.

For a while, Curry had been kicking out people whose tier didn’t match, and before long, ten challengers gathered. After passing the room leader position to Barcode, Curry moved to the observation seat and checked the records of the people who had entered.

It was essential to confirm, just in case they had used a “proxy” account.

“It doesn’t seem to be a problem…”

Curry hesitated while looking at Barcode’s record.

To the viewers, Curry’s actions appeared to be a small act of rebellion against the president who tormented him, but in truth, Curry was secretly conveying his true feelings to Barcode, who was watching the stream, in a way that no one would notice.

‘I know you’re the same person as NayeonQueen.’

Curry paused for a moment while staring at Barcode’s record, then finally spoke.

“President, let’s get started.”

Curry asked Barcode, the current room leader, to start the game. Before long, they were moved from the private waiting room to the game lobby.

The game mode was set to private selection.
There was no separate banning process, and until the game started, each player’s picks remained hidden.

In other words, no one would know what champions the opponent chose until the game actually began.

What was important here was that certain champions couldn’t be banned.

This meant that Barcode could eventually pick ‘Yone.’

[Is the mysterious Yone master finally here?]

[Legendary Yone with a 100% ban rate]

[100% win rate and 100% ban rate]

[The Wandering Swordsman broke the 100% win rate]

[No one doesn’t know that]

[Wow, but this is seriously exciting]

During the platform wars, Barcode’s ‘Yone’ had a 100% ban rate.

Because of this, those who had only watched the platform wars without following Barcode’s personal broadcasts couldn’t help but be curious.

Just how terrifying is Barcode’s Yone?

Just how good is Barcode at playing Yone?

Those who became curious about Barcode’s Yone went to her Twitch channel. However, since Barcode didn’t leave any replays, it was impossible to check.

Those who wanted to satisfy their curiosity had no choice but to head to Barcode’s YouTube channel.

Of course, many viewers hadn’t gone through this process, so there was a large group of people who were caught up in the excitement of finally being able to see Barcode’s Yone.

Curry covered both sides of the waiting room screen with black curtains.

If the champions were revealed through the stream, the purpose of blind picking would be meaningless.

So, while secretly watching what picks the challengers on both teams had chosen, Curry spoke up.

“Our president picked something interesting.”

[What’s interesting?]

[What do you mean by interesting?]

[What the f*ck?]

[No way, is he watching alone?]

[Obviously Yone Definitely Yone]

[Even if we can’t see it, we know what’s happening]

[If you didn’t pick Yone, I’m unfollowing you, Curry]

After being relentlessly tormented by NayeonQueen, Curry, who wasn’t in the best of spirits, recovered by teasing her viewers. For a brief moment, Curry had a bit of an understanding of how

NayeonQueen must have felt while tormenting him, and he shook his head.

No matter how fun it was to tease and mess with others, NayeonQueen had crossed a line.

Tormenting someone consistently for such a long time, at such an extreme level, was crossing the line.

NayeonQueen was a perfect woman in every way except for the fact that she tormented Curry. That level of torment was so intense that it was impossible not to dislike her.

Well, if she had only been teasing without any ulterior motives, Curry wouldn’t have thought much about it. But it was the fact that NayeonQueen had been wearing a mask and sending large donations and support that made Curry feel a psychological rejection.

As Curry continued to seriously think about NayeonQueen, she realized that both teams had finished their picks.

The game started, and there was a 3-minute wait before she could watch it in spectator mode.

During that time, Curry decided to kill time chatting with the viewers, pushing thoughts of NayeonQueen out of his mind.

While continuing a long stream of meaningless chatter, a particular chat caught Curry’s attention.

“…You want me to tell you about the fan meeting behind the scenes?”

Reading the chat asking him to share behind-the-scenes stories about the fan meeting, Curry paused for a moment.

She wondered whether the viewer wanted a story related to the ‘fan meeting,’ or a story about ‘Barcode.’

After thinking about it, it seemed like they were more curious about the latter. Curry kept quiet and chose not to say anything.

[Read the unfavorable chat, and now you’re keeping quiet]

[That’s so rude…]

[The streamer who deceives their fans should die]

[The trickery of the millionaire streamer…]

[Ah, someone like me should just die]

[Explain yourself before your reputation plummets, Curry]

A sigh escaped Curry as the mood in the chatroom showed signs of turning sour.

When the chatroom was filled with “falling into ruin” comments, it felt like a form of agitation, like stirring the pot.

Once one person mentioned it, others would follow. If it wasn’t dealt with early, it would just be tiring. So Curry reluctantly started to share the fan meeting story.

However, she couldn’t possibly tell any stories related to Barcode.

The only memories related to the fan meeting with Barcode were of being tormented, so there was nothing good to share.

Curry disliked self-deprecation, and talking about Barcode would be like self-flagellation.

“So…”

[Wow, this guy’s lost his touch]

[Did we really ask about that?]

[He’s telling the fan meeting story though…]

[Even when we tell him to do something, it’s all wrong…]

[What the heck, he’s been streaming for so long but…]

[Just speak your true feelings!!!]
Watching the chaos unfold in the chatroom in real-time, Curry checked the remaining time.

“Ah, exactly three minutes have passed. Let’s start watching the game.”

It was the perfect moment to switch to spectator mode.

The loading screen appeared, and the picks for both teams were revealed.

“Our president’s pick was Yone!”

[I’m losing my mind]

[Why the hell is he dodging it? Why is he dodging it?]

[It’s weird seeing Barcode play Yone]

[Is this the legendary Yone master we’ve been hearing about?]

[The Yone he supposedly used to dominate Showdown too ]

Having successfully shifted the focus of the chat, Curry switched to spectator mode. She needed to erase the word “story” from the viewers’ minds.

With more enthusiasm than ever, Curry began the game commentary.

He explained the early game with such intensity that the broadcast sound was nearly drowned out.

His efforts to engage with the viewers were so sincere that, thanks to him, no more chat messages related to the fan meeting appeared.

The game and commentary progressed smoothly for a while.

As the laning phase neared its end, Curry, who had been commentating fervently, slowly began to lose words.

[So this is the real ‘Barcode’ who mastered Yone?]

[There’s a reason his ban rate is 100% ]

[The opposing mid-laner is really unlucky]

[He’s at his peak, maybe even better than before]

[Info: Barcode won the Platform War without ever picking Yone]

[Honestly, I thought it couldn’t be that good, but it’s on a whole other level]

Barcode’s Yone completely dominated the game on its own.

By the 10-minute mark, Barcode had already taken down the first tower and shattered the laning phase.

Yone alone had earned over six kills, and the opposing mid-laner was beyond repair.

Normally, in situations like this, viewers would start suspecting that the opposing mid-laner was either too weak compared to a Challenger or perhaps using a smurf, alt account, or even stolen accounts, but none of those kinds of comments appeared in the chat.

That’s because everyone had seen how Barcode’s Yone had utterly torn apart the opposing mid-laner. It was clear: the opposing player’s skill wasn’t lacking for a Challenger—Barcode’s Yone was simply on a whole other level, and the rumors about it weren’t exaggerated at all.

[The character ‘Lonely Swordsman’ gets reevaluated at this time]

[How did Lonely Swordsman even beat Barcode’s Yone?]

[How did you win once against that monster? ]

[Even if you lost 59 out of 60 times, if you win once, you still win oo;]

[Lonely Swordsman… What kind of battle did he even fight alone?]

[Watching this live makes me a legend, haha]

Seeing Barcode’s Yone massacre even other Challengers, Lonely Swordsman started to get reevaluated in real-time. Though he had lost 59 out of 60 games, he was the one who had handed Barcode both his first and last defeats.

Meanwhile, Curry couldn’t even offer commentary while watching Barcode’s Yone in action.

Well, to be precise, she didn’t *comment*—she couldn’t help but react every time Barcode’s Yone made a highlight play.

Curry was a streamer with immense passion for the game “LoL,” and he had high regard for players with great skills in the game. He had even tried to recruit the former “Wandering Swordsman” and the mysterious Yone master, but both had declined his invitation at the time.

“Really impressive… No.”

Curry, who was secretly amazed inside, shook his head. The one playing Yone now was Barcode, and Barcode was Nayeon Queen.

He reminded himself not to be misled by appearances. Keeping a tilted gaze, Curry continued watching the game.

That being said, she wasn’t biased in his commentary.

[That person could never play Yone like that ]

[Honestly, Barcode and Yone might be one and the same]

[Man and woman, united…..]

[Even my grandpa would say this is a mid-lane difference]

[Why is your grandpa even watching this? Hahaha]

[This is just dizzying]

[The opposing mid-lane must be ready to quit at this point, seriously.]

[Playing like this in front of 20,000 people… ]

The flow of the Challenger internal match was dominated by Barcode’s Yone.

Barcode’s Yone allowed for no variables and didn’t even give the enemy a chance for a comeback.

It was hard to believe that this was the same person who once threw out reckless plays as Iveling.

Before long, the balance of the game completely collapsed under Barcode’s Yone.

What everyone had expected to be the fiercest match in the Challenger internal match ended up being the fastest to finish.

The game ended as Yone’s red sword cleaved through the Nasus.

“Wow… she’s really insane.”

Unable to hold back his reaction, Curry let out a gasp.

He didn’t hate the person—he just disliked them, but the skill was undeniable.

As he remained in that stunned silence for a while, continuing to admire the game in his mind,

Ding~ Ding~ Ding~

The sound of a Discord call rang out.

Curry checked who had called  on Discord.

[Barcode’s call request]

Should I pick up or not?

Curry hesitated for a moment, glancing at the chatroom that was already flooded with “Who is it?” messages. She let out a quiet sigh.

If she didn’t pick up in this situation, there was no doubt the rumors would start.

Not wanting to deal with that, Curry reluctantly answered Barcode’s call.

“Curry, it’s me.”

His voice sounded exactly as expected.

Perhaps something good had happened, as the  cheerful voice felt oddly annoying.

What on earth could this woman want?

Curious to hear the reason, Curry silently waited for Barcode to speak again.

“When should we meet?”

Out of nowhere, Barcode dropped a bombshell.

A bomb so large that Curry couldn’t possibly have prepared for it.