Chapter 73 : Precognitive Dream

The first day of their virtual marriage cohabitation had come to a successful close.

A passionate woman pursuing love and a man putting up an impenetrable wall.

The relationship between Curry and Barcode was a fresh concept that had never been seen before in a virtual marriage show.

Of course, from Curry’s perspective, putting up walls wasn’t just for show—it was genuine.

– Boss, this is insane! It hasn’t even been half a day, and the video already surpassed a million views!

“…So what’s your point?”

Even though the manager had brought positive news early in the morning, Curry couldn’t exactly greet them with a smile.

After all, the video that had hit a million views in less than half a day was essentially a permanent record of his most embarrassing moment.

– Boss, this is an opportunity! You know the times we thought we were going viral? That was nothing compared to this. The growth right now is on another level! So what I’m asking is—if you’re going to take the hit, you might as well go all in and embrace the chaos.

– Otherwise, you could flip the script and start messing with Barcode instead! Embarrass her, show a different side of yourself, and turn the tables!

Listening to the manager’s passionate speech, Curry couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.

Just take the hit completely? He was already lying in bed, questioning his very existence.

And if he didn’t want to be on the receiving end, he had to tease or embarrass Barcode instead?

But Barcode wasn’t the type to get flustered just because he tried to make her uncomfortable.

If anything, she would twist the situation to her advantage and find new ways to torment him.

“I’m hanging up…”

– Boss! Just keep what I said in mind—

Curry ended the call unilaterally and let out a quiet sigh.

Lately, dealing with his managers felt even more exhausting than having a nagging mother-in-law.

That said, he couldn’t completely ignore them either, because everything they said was ultimately for his own good.

“Haa…”

It didn’t feel right to just keep lying around, so Curry forced himself up.

Thinking he might as well check out the exercise equipment in the living room, he stepped out of his room—only to be met with a mouthwatering aroma that made him turn his head.

A delicious scent was drifting in from the kitchen.

Following the smell, he started walking.

“Hmm~ Hm~”

Hearing the familiar humming coming from the kitchen, Curry hesitated for a moment before continuing forward.

As he passed through the living room and reached the dining table, he spotted Barcode, fully focused on cooking.

She had an exotic appearance that made it hard to believe she was Korean, yet the sight of her in an apron, cooking, didn’t seem out of place at all.

Was this really the same Barcode he knew from yesterday?

The same Na-yeon Queen who had been up to her antics for years?

Watching her cook made his resentment fade little by little, and only the good memories they shared seemed to stand out.

‘No, no. Snap out of it.’

He couldn’t let himself be fooled by her act.

Considering how many times he had fallen for her facade in the past, the answer was obvious.

Whatever she was doing now was just another tactic to mess with him.

“Curry, did you sleep well?”

“Ah, yeah.”

For a moment, Curry almost blurted out “No” in response to Barcode’s question.

Fortunately, he managed to change his answer before the words left his mouth.

If he had been imagining things, so be it, but for that split second, he thought he saw both a straight face and a smile flicker across Barcode’s expression.

“Can you help me carry the food?”

“Got it…”

Curry followed Barcode and helped move the finished dishes.

As he glanced around while setting the table, he noticed that the cameras—and the young housekeeper from yesterday—were nowhere to be seen.

That meant there were no plans to stream this morning’s meal.

In other words, he was about to have breakfast alone with Barcode.

“S-So, where did the housekeeper go…?”

Curry was curious about the housekeeper’s whereabouts, but—

“Curry.”

What greeted him was Barcode’s deadpan face and a cold voice.

“You’ve been asking about our housekeeper since yesterday… Do you have a thing for younger girls?”

“Huh? No! That’s not it! I was just curious, that’s all!”

He hastily explained himself, but Barcode’s sharp glare was so intense that he couldn’t help but lower his head.

“Hmm…”

Even though his words were completely truthful, all he got in return was a skeptical hum.

“The food’s going to get cold. Let’s eat first. We can talk later.”

“…Okay.”

It seemed like she had no intention of pressing him further for now, as she picked up her utensils.

And just like that, their meal—or rather, Curry’s meal—continued in heavy silence.

Since Curry had skipped dinner last night, I made sure he ate his fill this morning.

Now, the question was—what should I do for today’s stream?

Other than occasionally doing outdoor streams together, we had agreed to mostly handle our own broadcasts while living together.

The duration of our virtual marriage wasn’t set in stone, but one thing we had agreed on during negotiations was to base it on the audience’s response.
“Sis! Look at this!”

“Yeah, I’m looking.”

“Unbelievable! Over 1.2 million views in less than half a day!”

Right now, the public reaction to the virtual marriage broadcast was nothing short of explosive.

The blackmail-worthy video of Curry’s past, uploaded to MuTube, had already surpassed a million views in under twelve hours.

And the video Ji-Hye had edited overnight, showing the process behind the making of that dark history, had already exceeded 1.2 million views.

With more videos being uploaded to the channel, they had also received approval for monetization, making it a perfect source of pocket money.

“By the way, are you going to stream with Curry again today?”

“Not sure? Technically, I didn’t stream with Curry yesterday. I just made a guest appearance on his stream…”

They had agreed in advance to collaborate once every two days.

But yesterday’s situation was hard to categorize.

It hadn’t been an official collaboration, yet it had drawn more attention than a proper one.

She could insist that it counted, but she also had to consider Curry’s mental state after having his embarrassing moment immortalized on her channel.

That was the reason she had avoided bringing up Ji-Hye during breakfast—she was worried about Curry’s condition.

“Then how about this?”

After some thought, Ji-Hye brought her laptop over.

She played a video and showed it to me, revealing a familiar Twitch interface.

Just as I was wondering what she wanted to ask, she pointed to the chat window.

The chat messages scrolling up had either a red or blue mark next to them.

Even though I usually didn’t pay much attention to details like that, I knew what those were.

“Point gambling?”

“Yeah. What if we use this to create a collab-related event?”

“Content… Content, huh…”

Since I’d never really thought about content while streaming, this was a tough question for me.

The thought of how to turn point gambling into content kept swirling in my head.

Seeing me struggle, Ji-Hye hesitated for a moment before speaking up.

“You and Curry usually stream around the same time, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Then I’ll coordinate with Curry’s managers and plan a proper event!”

Ji-Hye confidently stated her idea, her gaze fixed on me with determination.

With her eyes shining with anticipation, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.

I gave her a nod of approval and left the room.

Beep-beep-beep—

Just as Curry was about to start his stream, his phone rang, making him pause.

Ever since the virtual marriage stream, his manager had only ever called him with stress-inducing news, so he didn’t want to pick up.

But since his manager never called for trivial reasons, Curry answered—though not without making his displeasure clear.

“What.”

– Boss, you’re about to start your stream, right?

“…Are you spying on me? Do you have CCTV in my room or something?”

– Just a lucky guess. Anyway, Barcode’s manager reached out.

“Reached out?”

At Curry’s question, his manager launched into a long-winded explanation.

The summary was simple:

Both channels would run point gambling while they streamed individually.

The rewards, which could be purchased with channel points, would be tied to their virtual marriage collab.

It was basically a “Virtual Marriage Gamble” event.

The idea sounded more polished than he expected.

But for a hastily thrown-together event, it had too many holes.

Since Curry was a professional streamer, he couldn’t just ignore those gaps—even if he hated the idea.

“If a viewer earns a massive amount of points but doesn’t spend them on rewards, the event just ends there.

Shouldn’t we offer real-life prizes like vouchers or gift cards for those who redeem specific rewards?

And doing it for just one day feels like a waste.

If we’re going to do this, we should keep it running for the duration of the virtual marriage.”

– Wow. You act like you hate it, but deep down, you actually enjoy living with Barcode, don’t y—

Click—

Before his manager could finish, Curry hung up the call.

He let out a long sigh.

How had his life fallen this far?

Bzzz— Bzzz—

The moment the call ended, his phone vibrated again.

A new message had arrived from his manager.

The long message listed the rewards viewers could purchase with channel points.

[ Curry’s Channel Rewards ]

100,000 Points / Call the virtual spouse. (10 minutes)

500,000 Points / Act cute for the virtual spouse. (Only valid during a call or when in the same room.)

1,000,000 Points / One-hour collaboration stream.

5,000,000 Points / Speak in the spouse’s preferred tone. (15 minutes, only valid during a call or when in the same room.)

10,000,000 Points / Pocky game with the virtual spouse. (This was suggested by Barcode’s manager.)

(Barcode’s channel rewards will be the same.)

(Since Barcode streams significantly less than you, their reward costs have been reduced by 50%.)

After reading the message, Curry covered his face with one hand.

The sheer number of points required was ridiculous.

But considering the large audience, it made sense.

If they only rewarded viewers with real-life prizes for redeeming these rewards, the event could actually be groundbreaking.

Normally, Curry would have welcomed such a fresh idea.

But the last item on the list—costing a whopping ten million points—was a deal-breaker.

He wanted to believe no one would ever accumulate that many points.

But he knew better.

With point gambling in play, it wouldn’t be long before someone did.

And when that happened…

He would be forced to play the dreaded pocky game with her.

What had once been a nightmare was now on the verge of becoming reality.

Curry seriously considered escaping Barcode’s house.

“Dear God…”

Why have You forsaken me?

Curry desperately sought divine intervention.

But, of course, no voice answered.

Resigned to his fate, Curry moved his mouse.

[ Curry is now live! ]

Curry’s stream started.

[ Barcode is now live! ]

Barcode’s stream followed right after.

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