Chapter 59 : Reality Merger Content

Barcode’s statement about ‘meeting’ clearly implied a real-life hookup.

Viewers with any sense could not have missed this fact.

However, Barcode’s words, “When shall we meet?” had plenty of room for misunderstanding.

[DeceiverBetrayerDeceiverBetrayerDeceiverBetrayerDeceiverBetrayerDeceiverBetrayer]

[Subscribing is a crime lol Subscribing is a crime lol Subscribing is a crime lol]

[So that’s why you didn’t tell us.]

[Did you enjoy going on dates behind our backs, you f*cking Curry?]

[Haa… Those who are single should not watch broadcasts and just go die ㅠ]

[I’m going to save a high school girl at the convenience store in front and go to another world.]

Barcode’s explosive remarks, which were impossible to handle, instantly turned Curry’s broadcast chat room into a living hell.

Curry, who couldn’t bear to look at the chat room overflowing with the resentment and malice of all the single people, desperately avoided looking. If his mentality wavered any more here, it was obvious that he would be branded a ‘deceiver’ without even being able to do any damage control.

“Um, Barcode-nim.”

“Yes?”

He called out to Barcode in an attempt to clear up even a little bit of the misunderstanding, and Barcode responded with a bright voice.

Because of whom was he in this difficult situation? The very person who started the fire was enjoying watching it from the sidelines. He was dumbfounded, but since getting angry here would only backfire, Curry carefully continued speaking.

“We’re not seeing each other privately, are we? If you say that, the viewers will misunderstand…”

“Don’t you remember on the day of the fan meeting? After it ended, we went out just the two of us for a second round…”

Ding-

He disconnected the call at the fastest speed in his entire life.

But Barcode’s words, “second round,” had already been broadcast.

Resigned to whatever would happen, Curry turned his gaze to the chat room, which he had desperately tried to ignore.

[Just the two of them for a second round? Just the two of them for a second round? Just the two of them for a second round? Just the two of them for a second round? Just the two of them for a second round? Just the two of them for a second round? Just the two of them for a second round?]

[Was I the only one who was sincere again? Was I the only one who was sincere again? Was I the only one who was sincere again? Was I the only one who was sincere again? Was I the only one who was sincere again?]

[I’ve been fooled by the popular kids’ games again. I’ve been fooled by the popular kids’ games again. I’ve been fooled by the popular kids’ games again.]

[I feel like I’m going crazy. I feel like I’m going crazy. I feel like I’m going crazy. I feel like I’m going crazy. I feel like I’m going crazy.]

[Explain yourself, you b*tch. Explain yourself, you b*tch. Explain yourself, you b*tch. Explain yourself, you b*tch. Explain yourself, you b*tch.]
Could such a variety of spamming coexist in one chat room?

There were so many different types of spam in the chat room that it made one wonder if this was even possible.

What should I do to resolve this situation? While thinking about it, Curry called Barcode again.

“You were the one who hung up first, and now you’re calling me back?”

For some reason, Barcode’s voice sounded excited, as if she was enjoying herself.

Was it her happiness to put someone in an awkward situation like this?

Though she couldn’t understand or empathize with her, Curry needed an explanation from her, at least for this situation.

“Barcode, when did we ever go for a second round, just the two of us?”

“Hmm… Did we? I was drunk at the time, so…”

Barcode’s response, while seemingly agreeing, still left room for doubt. It was a very clever way of phrasing things.

Depending on how it was perceived, Curry could be seen as a scumbag who took a drunk woman to a second round, or since Barcode’s memory was unclear, Curry could be seen as the one being wronged in this situation.

“No, at the fan meeting, I was more drunk than you were…”

“Then, Curry, do you remember? Did we or did we not go for a second round?”

“1”

“You can’t give a definite answer, can you?”

Curry silently blamed himself for not being able to answer Barcode’s question.

It was true that she had blackout drunk, and her silence was only going to lead to more misunderstandings.

She subtly scanned the chat room, and now, the situation had escalated to a volcanic eruption.

His mind spun faster than ever, but she couldn’t come up with a solution to resolve the situation.

“Enough with the jokes, and please tell me why you called…”

“Do you not like talking to me, Curry?”

“No, it’s not that I dislike it, but…”

“Then why did you try to hang up? You hung up on me just a moment ago.”

With Barcode’s relentless questioning, Curry had to force himself to keep his composure, trying to hold on to her fraying mental state.

Just like the saying, “If you enter a tiger’s den, as long as you’re sharp, you’ll survive,” the most important thing in a crisis was maintaining a calm mind.
“First, I need to proceed with the broadcast, so I’ll finish up the internal content and contact you again afterward.”

“Hmm… I can see through your intentions, but I’ll wait as if I’m being fooled. If you don’t contact me…”

“I promise I’ll contact you, please…”

“Alright.”

*Ding*

Having successfully reached some sort of agreement with the “tiger,” Curry let out a sigh of relief. He had managed to survive the immediate crisis, but it didn’t mean all the dangers were behind him.

Like the butterfly effect, where the flap of a butterfly’s wings can cause a storm on the other side of the world, Curry didn’t know how the cries he’d just dodged might return as something even worse.

It was still a situation that couldn’t allow him to relax, and he needed to maintain his composure.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s all calm down for now.”

She spoke up to soothe the angry crowd, but of course, a single sentence couldn’t calm the viewers who were already furious.

In fact, it only seemed to add fuel to the fire.

However, Curry was a seasoned pro streamer who had experienced this kind of situation countless times.

She was the kind of streamer who knew exactly how to manage public opinion.

“I’ll finish up the internal conflict and then explain everything. I’ll call Barcode. Is that alright?”

[ 0 =]

[Enough]

[Everyone, ‘Enough’]

[Stop spamming!]

[Part 2 of the broadcast is going to be hilarious ]

[If you end the stream like this, it’ll be legendary]

Having successfully negotiated with the viewers, Curry resumed the content that had been paused.

Well, “resumed” was a bit of an overstatement, as the internal conflict was already over. The only thing left was the MVP selection through a viewer vote.

In reality, the MVP of this internal conflict was already decided, but still, following the original rules would avoid any unnecessary comments and keep things clean, so Curry decided to open the vote.

“Alright, we’ll close the vote at 10,000 votes.”

To ensure an accurate voting percentage, they closed the poll at 10,000 votes.

It took less than five minutes for about 10,000 viewers to cast their votes.
The public voting graph clearly showed Barcode’s overwhelming first place.

“Barcode has taken about 9,000 votes and has been selected as the MVP.”

With more than 90% of the votes, Barcode had become the MVP.

When selected as MVP, a special ‘Curry merch’ set is awarded as a reward.

The reward for winning the internal conflict had been better, and the MVP reward was more of a bonus, in essence.

“With that, we’ll wrap up the New Year’s internal conflict for this year.”

[So now, time for the explanation]

[Everyone, please take your seats]

[Take your seats]

“Make sure to speak well, Curry.”

With the New Year’s internal conflict content coming to an end, all that was left was the explanation.

Every detail of the brief conversation with Barcode had turned into a controversy.

Curry, feeling like a condemned prisoner awaiting execution, switched his Discord status from offline to online.

She really didn’t want to make the call, but she had already promised, so there was no way around it.

With trembling hands, she moved the mouse and clicked the call button. After a few beeps, Barcode answered the phone.

“Well then, time to start part 2 of the broadcast, right?”

Her voice pierced into Curry’s ear, and she sighed deeply.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After confirming the end of the New Year’s internal conflict on the broadcast, not long after, Curry called.

I picked up the phone joyfully and delivered the announcement for part 2 of the broadcast on his behalf.

Of course, Curry probably hadn’t wanted to start part 2, but that’s exactly why I made sure to emphasize it this way.

So she couldn’t escape.

If Curry had decided to end the stream at this point, she might not have been able to stream again ever.

Knowing this, I spoke with a voice full of excitement.

“By the way, you somehow didn’t run away, huh?”

“…What do you think of me?”

“If it’s the Curry I know, I thought you’d end the stream right away.”

“If I did that, I might really be in trouble, so I just couldn’t.”

While speaking, Curry tried his best to hide his emotions, but there was a slight tremor in his voice, and the hand visible on the camera was faintly shaking.

Having figured out roughly what state Curry was in, I decided to shift the topic. I didn’t feel the need to continue explaining the controversy.

“Actually, the thing about going for a second round with you was just a joke.”

“Sigh… So the whole ‘going for a second round just the two of us’ controversy was a prank from our ‘president’?”

[The prankster flower shop owner]

[Honestly, I knew it was a joke all along]

[Wasn’t this about bringing up the reality collab story?]

[Curry’s reactions are too good, I couldn’t help but mess with him, haha]

[So when are the two of you having a virtual couple moment?]

After quickly putting the awkward topic to rest, I observed the viewers’ reactions. It could have come off as rude, but thanks to the usual image, there wasn’t much backlash.

I gave Curry, who was struggling to catch his breath, a moment of respite before diving into the main topic.

“I have one request, Curry.”

“…Yes. Let’s hear it. What request does our president have?”

Curry mocked me openly, but since I was in a good mood, I decided to let it slide.

“Would it be possible to give a different reward, instead of the usual MVP reward?”

“A different reward? I wonder if I can give you what you’re asking for…”

Curry questioned whether she could provide the reward I wanted, but I knew that she was more than capable of giving it.

The reward I wanted wasn’t anything material.

“What’s your schedule like before the new season starts?”

“I don’t have any schedule.”

“Then that’s a relief.”

“What kind of reward are you asking for…?”

Ignoring the fear in Curry’s voice, I continued in a low tone.

“I was watching Mu-tube and came across an interesting video. It’s called ‘Kenwang’.”

“Ah… ‘Kenwang,’ you say?”

“Yeah. I saw it for the first time, and it seemed really fun.”

I smiled brighter than ever as I spoke. Originally, my plan for the collaboration was to become Curry’s mentor and relentlessly tease him, but the bizarre Youtube algorithm led me to discover a new possibility through the content called ‘Kenwang.’

“I’ll be your mentor, Curry, and we’ll do Kenwang.”

“What kind of Kenwang… Are you serious?”

“LoL and Kenwang. These two keywords can only mean one thing.”

“You have to try it. Even if it’s just preseason.”

“The thing you kept singing about…”

“No way, Grandmaster in Kenwang…”

“Challenger?”

“…I could reach that, yes.”

I easily suppressed Curry’s rebellious tone and held back my laughter as I continued.

“You might even get there earlier than you think. Grandmaster.”

“Or maybe much later. In that case, Barcode will have to stick around for a while… huh?”

Curry, realizing something was off a little too late, shut his mouth.

Had she glimpsed a tiring future? On screen, she wore an expression as if she had given up on everything.

“Until you reach Grandmaster, I’ll have to stay at your place, right?”

If it takes more than a day, I’ll have to sleep at your place.

I didn’t say the rest out loud, but the meaning was probably clear to him.

For a while, silence filled the call.

“…Crazy.”

Curry, having fully understood the concept of the reality collab, let out a gasp of admiration.