Chapter 80 : Stick Candy Game

Even after the feedback, Rine continued to perform well.

While she didn’t undergo any further dramatic changes, it was clear her gameplay exceeded the expectations of a Gold-tier player.

Eventually, Rine’s rank shot up to Gold 2.

“In situations like this, a straightforward push might have been a better choice.”

“Ah… I panicked and rushed back to defend the base.”

I watched from the control room as Curry provided feedback to Rine.

Following the feedback, Rine went on a winning streak, and I quietly left the room.

My role was merely to assist Group B, which had been struggling.

As much as I wanted to teach Rine more, it wouldn’t have been polite to overstep Curry’s role as her original mentor.

Granted, it seemed ironic to start considering politeness after already provoking him earlier, but I decided to let it go.

We’d see each other again at home after the shoot, and there wasn’t any need to bother him further.

Besides, I’d already planned tomorrow’s stream to include a Pocky game, so that would suffice.

With that, the first day of the collaboration shoot ended smoothly.

The manager approached me personally to express their gratitude.

Perhaps because the scenes turned out well, the manager looked delighted.

However, standing beside the manager, Curry’s expression wasn’t as cheerful.

I glanced at Curry, but he deliberately avoided meeting my gaze.

Was he sulking?

He’s definitely sulking.

Confirming that Curry was in a sulky mood, I paused briefly to think.

I’d read plenty of books on how to soothe an upset friend, but having an actually sulking person in front of me left me clueless about what to do.

Judging by how he refused to even talk to me, financial bribery didn’t seem like it would work either.

I kept pondering what to do while continuing to follow behind Curry.

“Uh, Barcode-nim!”

Just as Curry was about to step outside, I heard Rine’s voice behind me.

Curry suddenly stopped walking and turned around.

Even though I was standing directly behind him, Curry’s gaze was fixed on someone further back.

“Would it be okay if we… did a collaboration stream together sometime?”

Rine’s earnestness made it clear how much she wanted to collaborate with me.

I glanced sideways and saw Curry staring at us with a hollow expression.

If he had truly let go of his feelings for Rine, he wouldn’t have reacted like that.

It was obvious he still had lingering emotions for her, so I gave the best answer I could in this situation.

“Why don’t we include Curry-nim and make it a trio stream? We can play games together, have some drinks…”

“But you two are in a ‘fictional marriage’ living arrangement… Wouldn’t it be rude of me?”

“Not at all. I find Rine-nim adorable and would love to get along well with you. Curry-nim, what do you think?”

Perhaps he hadn’t expected to be asked directly, as Curry froze for a moment before stammering out a response.

“Of course, I’d like that too. A trio stream sounds fun.”

“Curry-nim says he’s fine with it.”

“Ah, then I’ll definitely reach out later! Here’s my contact info…”

Rine handed me her contact information before leaving.

Curry, now roped into a collaboration stream with Rine and me, stared blankly ahead.

Seeing this, I decided this was the right move and smiled slightly as I grabbed Curry’s wrist.

“What are you standing around for? Let’s head home.”

“Oh, right. Let’s go…”

I led Curry out of the academy as he finally snapped out of his daze.

During the fictional marriage period, countless point bets had taken place.

Naturally, I participated in all of them and, after much effort, managed to accumulate ten million points.

Although I could start the Pocky game immediately, I was debating the perfect timing to use it.

It was an enormous amount of points that I might never gather again, and the time and effort it took to collect them were significant.

‘Should I use it during the collaboration stream with Rine?’

The collaboration stream with Rine was scheduled to take place after the Twitch and LoL Academy collaboration aired.

All three of us had agreed on this, and the airing date was set for next Friday.

While I felt impatient about waiting over a week despite already having ten million points,

I knew using them then would make Curry enjoy it the most, so I couldn’t decide easily.

“But why don’t you guys buy the ‘Act Cute for the Fictional Marriage Partner’ item?”

During my personal stream, I asked my viewers.

Strangely, none of them had purchased the ‘Act Cute for the Fictional Marriage Partner’ item.

I had expected it to be used at least once, but even after a considerable amount of time since the fictional marriage betting began, it hadn’t been bought, leaving me puzzled.

When I asked my viewers, their responses were unanimous:

[Why waste points on something like that?]

[The only things worth buying here are the Pocky game and collaboration streams.]

[Who’s going to buy that when we need to torment Curry?]

[Seriously, 250,000 points isn’t just pocket change.]

[Barcode-nim suits insults more than cute acts.]

As expected from viewers of this stream.

They only ever focused on tormenting Curry.

Still, wasn’t it strange that not a single person bought the ‘Act Cute’ item?

It definitely felt odd, but I decided to brush it off and instead read the purchase chat that had popped up in the chat window.

“Chase-nim has purchased the ‘Collaboration Stream with the Fictional Marriage Partner’ item.”

By now, I was accustomed to wrapping up streams quickly.

After ending the stream for the upcoming hour-long collaboration, I headed downstairs.

I entered Curry’s room and moved straight to the seat beside him.

“Curry-nim, I’ll be imposing on you for an hour, okay?”

“You’re the homeowner, Barcode-nim. If anything, I’m the one imposing.”

At first, when collaborations happened suddenly, there would be gaps in the broadcast’s sound.

But after collaborating as often as eating meals, conversing on air had become entirely natural.

“Shall we duo together again, Curry-nim? It’s been a while.”

“…I’d prefer to decline.”

“Oh, come on. We’re already collaborating—wouldn’t it be disappointing not to play together?”

“…”

[LOL, no kidding]

[Yeah, not playing together would definitely be disappointing…]

[Curry’s face looks like the power just cut off lol]

[I can already see Curry getting roasted in the future.]

[There’s no one more savage in Curry’s room than the chairman.]

[So, did you two do it?] – [Blocked.]

Logging in with my secondary account, I joined Curry’s queue.

Without a word, Curry started matchmaking, and I began recalling a recent incident as I searched for conversation topics to fill the stream’s sound.

After finishing my personal stream, I had been bored and decided to try sniping Curry’s stream with a different account.

However, the account named ‘LonelyGourmet’ was no longer on my sniper account’s friends list.

I sent a friend request during Curry’s broadcast, but the request didn’t appear on Curry’s screen.

In other words, not only had he unfriended me, but he had also blocked me.

At the time, I was furious, but now I wasn’t.

Recently, there had been so many pleasant things happening that the initial flash of anger had largely dissipated.

Of course, that didn’t mean I had forgiven Curry for the audacity of unfriending a ‘Flower Shop Owner.’

“Now that I think about it, Curry-nim isn’t on my friends list anymore.”

“Really? But I’m friends with all of Barcode-nim’s accounts.”

“Not the Barcode account. I mean the ‘Flower Shop Owner’ account.”

“…”

Trying to let it slide, huh.

“Would it be okay for you to accept my ‘friend request’ again?”

In front of tens of thousands of viewers, could Curry really decline my request?

Could he refuse my plea to re-add the friend request made under the name of none other than the ‘Flower Shop Owner’?

“…”

Curry looked at me with an exasperated gaze, and feeling a thrilling satisfaction from that look, I smiled.

It was fine for Curry to hesitate, but my patience wasn’t exactly limitless.

If he kept stalling, I’d have no choice but to say, “I think Curry-nim blocked me.”

“…Alright.”

Before I could drop that bombshell, Curry gave me a definitive answer to my request.

Technically, all my accounts were already friends with Curry’s Barcode account, so it wasn’t strictly necessary.

Still, the sniper account had its own history, and not having it on Curry’s friends list felt oddly incomplete.

Since we were in the middle of duo queue, we agreed to handle the friend request later.

Once the match started, I picked something fun like mid Janna and enjoyed Curry’s reaction.

Throughout the game, I didn’t play recklessly, but I wasn’t exactly giving it my all either.

Surprisingly, the one holding the chaotic game together was Curry.

“Barcode-nim, please! Why did you buy Luden’s Echo?!”

“Hmm… I thought it’d be good, but it’s not as great as I expected.”

“Do you need to eat poop to know if it’s poop or miso?!”

“Why not? It might not be poop, after all.”

“Arghhh!!”

Curry let out a frustrated scream but somehow managed to carry the game forward.

In the end, our team, with a better late-game composition, won the final team fight and secured the victory.

After a grueling 40-minute battle, we gained 20 LP, but Curry looked more defeated than happy.

“Shall we queue up for the next game?”

“Save me… Please… Anyone…”

“Now, now. Let’s avoid making misleading statements.”

I covered Curry’s mouth with one hand while using the other to click the matchmaking button.

Just as our happy duo queue was about to continue—

{ rine9901 has donated 100,000 KRW. }

• Barcode-unnie, you’re so pretty!

A donation popped up on my side.

[?]

[Is that really Rine?]

[Is this legit?]

[She streamed recently, so yeah.]

[That’s her account.]

[But donation nicknames can be changed.]

[Mods!!! Investigate!!!]

Rine’s sudden appearance.

Though it wasn’t confirmed yet, I checked the donation list to be sure.

“Donor ID: rine9901… Is this really Rine-nim?”

[Oh, it’s real lol.]

[What’s going on?]

[Rine’s grown up, donating to Barcode’s stream now.]

[This isn’t an impersonation?]

[Isn’t Rine Curry’s mentee from the collab?]

[What’s this love triangle…]

Judging by the chat’s reaction, it seemed to be the real Rine.

As I pondered what to say to her sudden appearance, Curry, who had been sitting in an OTL pose, leaned toward me.

“Did Rine-nim donate?”

Was this the same person who had been looking so defeated just moments ago?

Curry’s voice and expression brightened noticeably, making it clear he was a huge fan of Rine.

Just seeing Rine appear had improved his mood so much that I couldn’t help but think, He’s really her die-hard fan.

But considering we were collaborating and living together in a fictional marriage, his interest in someone else didn’t sit well with me.

As I contemplated how to paint Curry’s face with the color of despair, I smiled.

Logging into my Flower Shop Owner account on my smartphone, I navigated to the channel’s product list and purchased that item at the very bottom.

[Flower Shop Owner has purchased the ‘Pocky Game with the Fictional Marriage Partner’ item.]

After completing the purchase, I slowly turned my head to the side.

“…”

Curry’s expression, one that words couldn’t possibly describe, came into view.

Ah, this is too much fun.