Chapter 65 : Barcode Crisis

The bathrooms in Curry’s house were located in the living room and the master bedroom.

Though it was called the master bedroom, it was actually the room Curry used for streaming.

The bathroom in the living room was conveniently close to the guest room.

So, as soon as I woke up in the morning, I headed to the living room bathroom, the closest one.

Washing up in the morning had become a habit for me.

I had already prepared a change of clothes and the necessary toiletries.

Still, I thought it might be rude to shower without permission.

I decided to at least ask the homeowner for their consent.

But when I checked the stream, Curry was fast asleep on camera.

It was too early in the morning to go into his room and wake him up.

Feeling grimy from not washing up properly after last night’s drinking stream, I couldn’t hold back and decided to shower.

“Ahhh…”

The only thing I never got tired of was showering with hot water.

Moments like these, free of distractions, were perfect for unwinding, and I thoroughly enjoyed such killing time.

I had just warmed up my body under the hot water and was about to shampoo my hair when—

Clunk.

The sound of the door opening reached my ears.

Through the dense steam, I saw the silhouette of someone.

“Huh?”

“Uh, uh?”

The silhouette belonged to Curry, his voice laced with confusion.

The door closed quickly after that.

“Heh~”

Though unintentional, I now had an excuse to tease him.

Humming to myself, I couldn’t help but feel amused.

Truthfully, I had left the door unlocked on purpose, thinking this might happen.

But I didn’t expect Curry to actually open the door, even with the sound of the shower running.

Of course, the thick steam would have obscured his view of me showering.

But the important thing wasn’t whether he saw me clearly or not.

What mattered was that Curry had opened the bathroom door while I was showering.

“Interesting.”

Curry hadn’t yet clarified the misunderstanding about confusing Barcode with Nayeon-Queen as the same person.

And now, he had opened the bathroom door while I was in the middle of a shower?

From Curry’s perspective, this situation must feel like absolute hell.

But, naturally, that wasn’t my concern.

Ssshhhhh—

Drip-drop.

After finishing my shower, I dried myself with a towel.

I thought about how to best tease Curry so that the story would spread as an epic prank.

It was such a delightful dilemma that I couldn’t stop smiling.

Once I had changed into the clothes I brought, I opened the bathroom door.

“…What are you doing?”

As soon as I opened the door, I saw Curry kneeling on the floor.

When I asked what he was doing, Curry bit his lip and then bowed his head to the ground.

“I’m so sorry!”

“Hmm…”

Understanding everything from just one apology, I let out a nasal hum.

It had become a habit to hum when I was in a good mood.

“What are you apologizing for?”

“For… opening the door while you were showering…”

“Is that all you did wrong?”

Curry cautiously lifted his head and met my gaze.

When I shot him a sharp look, he averted his eyes.

“And for mistaking Barcode for Nayeon-Queen, that jerk, and thinking they were the same person…”

“Why did you think that? That I was the same person as him.”

“Well… The accents were similar, and there were no overlapping streaming times…”

“Hmm… But yesterday, when that guy stream-sniped you, I was clearly sitting right next to you.”

“I must’ve been out of my mind. Our precious chairman would never do something like that!”

Curry raised his head and gave me an awkward, forced smile.

It seemed like he was trying to lighten the mood and ease the tension.

Unfortunately for him, I had no intention of letting this entertaining situation go.

Glare.

“There’s no way that could happen. So why did you have such an unreasonable suspicion, Curry?”

“…I have no excuses. It’s entirely my fault.”

“Do you think an apology makes everything disappear? Like it never happened?”

“I’ll accept any punishment you deem fit…”

Pretending to be angry, I watched as Curry quickly waved the white flag.

“Any punishment, huh… Do you even know what I might ask for?”

I had to act angry and sulky, but my lips kept twitching into a smile.

Forcing them back down, I tried to maintain a cold, expressionless face, though my stiffened muscles warned otherwise.

“As long as it’s not something physically impossible, I’ll accept anything…”

“Then, let’s do a fake couple stream together.”

“…What?”

“A fake couple stream. Unless you’re so against doing one with me that you’d rather die…”

“N-No, not at all! I was just caught off guard, that’s all.”

“So, you’ll do it? The fake couple stream.”

Was it that difficult for Curry to accept the punishment?

He hesitated, unable to answer.

At first, I couldn’t understand his reaction.

But if he still suspected Barcode and Nayeon-Queen were the same person…

Then his response made sense.

No matter how harmless a florist might seem, Curry must have felt the weight of Nayeon-Queen’s past deeds more heavily.

Thinking about it this way, his hesitation was understandable.

I considered giving him a more conventional punishment instead, but then—

“Since I did say I’d accept any punishment… I’ll do it. I’ll stream as a fake couple with you, Barcode.”

“Is that a promise? You can’t take it back later.”

“Yes… I, Curry, solemnly swear to do a fake couple stream with Barcode.”

Satisfied with his sincere promise, I reached out my hand.

“Now get up. You’ve got a climb to finish, don’t you?”

“…Thank you.”

Curry took my hand and stood up. Together, we moved back to the streaming room.

Curry’s climb to Grandmaster was progressing smoothly.

On the first day, he finished at Master rank.

By the next morning, he achieved a five-game winning streak.

It was a triumphant march, and at this pace, it seemed possible for him to reach Grandmaster by the end of the day.

[Is Curry actually going to hit Grandmaster?]

[Turning a beast into a human—Barcode Sensei, who even are you?]

[This guy never got results like this with other Challenger coaches.]

[When Barcode noona herself tutors you, of course your skills improve, lol.]

[It’s like having a pretty college girl tutor you or something.]

[Worst analogy, lol.]

By lunchtime, his record after reaching Master stood at eight wins and one loss.

Even that single loss was due to a deliberate troll trying to sabotage Curry’s climb.

After such a productive morning, Curry and I started lunch.

Sticking to the stream’s “24/7 climb” theme, we ate at the desk where the computer was set up.

“So, what do you think? This is sushi from a place I often order from.”

“Hmm… It’s okay, I guess? I’m not very picky, as long as it’s edible.”

As we neared the end of the meal, I leaned on my hand, feeling a little bored.

“Curry.”

“Yes?”

“So, when are we doing our fake couple stream?”

Curry froze. The chat exploded into chaos.

[?] [????]

[Knew this was coming.]

[Curry, this guy can’t fix his habit of betraying us.]

[Why’d you do it? Why’d you betray us? Why’d you lie? Why’d you betray us?]

[The world’s unfair, and I’m a single, miserable loser…]

[This is nuts…]

[Don’t young folks do any push-and-pull these days?]

I watched the fiery chat with satisfaction.

When I glanced sideways, Curry was looking at me with a troubled expression.

“Uh… Barcode, what do you mean all of a sudden…”

“Didn’t we agree to this? The fake couple stream.”

I answered with a gentle smile. The stream began to lag.

Even with all chat restrictions in place, the broadcast computer couldn’t handle the flood of messages.

“Why are you doing this to me, seriously…”

“Fufufu.”

Curry’s quiet muttering was so endearing that I couldn’t help but laugh.

Though I felt a little sorry and guilty, the joy filling my heart outweighed those emotions.

Eventually, the server couldn’t handle the load.

The overwhelming traffic forced the broadcast to end abruptly—a ridiculous turn of events.

“Good luck!”
“…Sigh.”

I sent a message of encouragement, just as “The Florist” had done for years.

Perhaps he couldn’t bring himself to express anger or frustration.

With a heavy sigh, Curry began preparing to restart the stream.

Time passed, and night deepened.

Since lunch, Curry had skipped dinner and continued his ranked games nonstop.

Thanks to his efforts, he achieved over a 70% win rate and climbed to the upper echelons of Master rank.

“Just one more win, and you’re at Grandmaster?”

“Yeah…”

Currently, the Grandmaster cutoff was 300 LP, and Curry sat at 289 LP.

Ranked scores typically updated between 11:45 p.m. and midnight.

“It’s 11 p.m. now… If you lose this game, it means an extension until tomorrow.”

“Ugh… No way… That’s the one thing I can’t handle…”

Curry’s condition had deteriorated to the point where it was hard to tell if he was human or zombie.

When I mentioned the possibility of extending the stream another day, his exhausted body reacted strongly.

Seeing the flicker of life return to his dull eyes made it clear: he desperately didn’t want to keep going.

I wouldn’t have minded dragging it out for another day, but…

Could a child truly enjoy playing with a broken toy?

Feeling genuinely concerned for Curry, I focused entirely on supporting him.

It went beyond mere advice or coaching—I felt like I was practically playing the game for him.

All for Curry to finish his final climb in style.

But the game wasn’t easy.

His extreme fatigue played a part, but the higher LP bracket also meant tougher opponents.

These weren’t just your run-of-the-mill challengers anymore.

Even so, Curry faced it all without a single complaint.

How badly must he want this to focus so intensely?

I had a fleeting urge to tease him, but this time, I pushed it aside and committed fully to guiding him to victory.

[The enemy team has slain Baron Nashor!]

[Your team has slain the Elder Dragon!]

The enemy took Baron while our team secured the Elder Dragon.

In this tense moment, with the game hanging in the balance, the enemy support made a fatal mistake—wandering alone into our vision-controlled jungle.

Capitalizing on the opportunity, we picked off the support and dominated the ensuing team fight.

[Victory]

“AAAHHHHHHHHH! GRANDMASTER!!!”

The grueling 40-minute game ended with Curry’s triumphant climb to Grandmaster.

“Hah…”

Alone in the now quiet streaming room, Curry let out a long sigh.

Miraculously, he had won his final game and completed his climb to Grandmaster.

The marathon streaming session was finally over.

The journey had been anything but smooth, but achieving Grandmaster in just two days was something to be proud of.

The stream had thrived, and though it was preseason, reaching Grandmaster was still a remarkable feat.

“It’s all thanks to the boss…”

It wasn’t an accomplishment he could’ve achieved alone.

It was only possible because of Barcode.

Sure, Barcode could be mischievous—often—but they also did a lot to help him.

He’d even mistaken Barcode for that bastard Nayeon-Queen at one point, but Barcode had let it slide with just a “fake couple stream” as punishment.

After finishing their collab and seeing Barcode off, Curry thought the only thing left was to enjoy some well-earned rest.

Just as he was about to settle in for the night—

“Huh?”

Curry noticed a familiar yet unfamiliar smartphone sitting on his desk.

“The boss left their phone behind…”

What should he do?

After a moment of thought, Curry got up from his chair.

“Yaaawn~”

Stretching, he picked up the phone and stepped out of his apartment.

Barcode couldn’t have gone far yet, so Curry decided to return the forgotten phone.

He headed down to the first floor and exited the building.

When he had bid farewell earlier, Barcode had walked toward the front gate.

Recalling this, Curry jogged lightly in that direction.

In the distance, he spotted Barcode.

But something was wrong—Barcode had dropped something and was now being dragged away by an unidentified figure.