Chapter 81 : MCN

I couldn’t determine if this was truly the optimal timing, even in that moment.

However, seeing Curry’s hands trembling under the desk made it clear—this was undoubtedly the right choice.

“Flower Shop Owner has purchased the Pocky Game item for a whopping ten million points!”

“…”

“Who would’ve thought someone would save up ten million points? I didn’t think it’d happen. Right, Curry-nim?”

“…”

[This is next-level madness lol.]

[Is this what ‘malicious’ looks like? Then what were all the other things I’ve seen…]

[Absolutely speechless, wow lol.]

[Curry, just what kind of battles have you been fighting…]

[She hid how many points she had, then saved up 10 million. What a legend LOL.]

After glancing at the chat reactions, I stood up.

“I’ll go grab the Pocky sticks, okay?”

“…Yes.”

Anticipating that this moment would eventually come, I had already stocked a pile of Pocky sticks on the dining table in the living room.

When planning the fictional marriage’s item list, I had assumed no one but me could ever save up ten million points.

But as the fictional marriage progressed, I realized that someone really might save up that many points.

This led me to buy the Pocky sticks in bulk, thinking we might end up playing the game several times.

After retrieving the Pocky sticks from the living room, I returned to the room to find Curry laughing.

It wasn’t the kind of laughter born from joy—it was the kind that came from surrendering to everything.

Would he let go completely, or would he, as always, find a way to overcome?

I had the ability to fix things if they broke, but for some reason, I wanted to see Curry overcome my teasing on his own.

“How about leaving only 3cm of the Pocky stick?”

“Whatever you want.”

I expected him to remain silent like before, but instead, Curry’s eyes lit up as he gave a definitive answer.

It was a familiar sight, one I’d seen countless times, and it made me smile naturally.

I opened the Pocky packaging, took out the contents, and removed the plastic wrap holding the sticks.

Holding the stick by its base with two fingers, I posed a question to the viewers.

“If the remaining length exceeds 3cm, we’ll have to redo it, right?”

[Of course.]

[Absolutely redo it.]

[Isn’t 2cm still too long?]

[It should be less than 1cm for the real thrill.]

[Knowing Barcode’s personality, she’ll eat the whole thing lol.]

Once the rules were set and everything was ready, silence fell between us.

The pace of chat messages slowed significantly, matching the tension in the room.

I was the one to break the silence.

“Curry-nim, will you come closer?”

“…Let’s do this.”

I slowly bit into the Pocky stick, and Curry swallowed nervously.

His expression seemed to ask, Do we really have to do this?

But with tens of thousands of viewers eagerly watching, Curry, as a streamer, had no choice but to proceed with this game that only brought him misery.

“Alright… Here I go.”

Resolute, Curry bit into the other end of the Pocky stick.

Crunching sounds filled the room as he slowly, very slowly, leaned forward.

The stick’s length gradually shortened, and the distance between us closed to the point where I could feel his breath.

Curry’s trembling gaze, unable to look away, was vividly clear to me.

Closer, and closer still.

Just before our lips touched, Curry continued to shorten the Pocky stick.

Just as our lips were about to touch—

“Phew…”

“Hmm…”

Curry and I pulled away at the same time.

“What about the Pocky stick?”

“Here… in my hand.”

I thought the Pocky stick would’ve fallen to the floor when we pulled back, but Curry had caught it in his palm beforehand.

Opening the desk drawer, I took out a plastic ruler and measured the remaining length of the Pocky stick, clicking my tongue in disappointment.

“Tsk.”

“Phew… 1.5cm… Success on the first try.”

[So boring.]

[What a letdown.]

[Why am I suddenly so mad? What is this?]

[Inferiority complex.]

[He basically kissed Barcode and then sighed.]

[Stop teasing us!!!]

[Ugh, this is so sweet lol.]

[This is what a fictional marriage should be.]

From the viewers’ perspective, the situation seemed sweet.

But between the two of us, only an awkward silence lingered.

As I pondered how to break the tension, Curry spoke first.

“Uh, you spent ten million points.”

“Yes?”

“…Wasn’t it too short and anticlimactic, or, uh…”

“Hmm…?”

Even as he spoke, his reluctance was evident.

I couldn’t help but wonder why he was trying to prolong a game that only caused him misery.

“This time, Barcode-nim should lean in.”

Forcing the words out, Curry’s eyes gleamed with a strange determination.

It was a look he only ever had in situations like being 2-2 in a Master promotion series.

Curry stared at me with that intense gaze, and I immediately understood his intent.

He wanted to humiliate me.

But things wouldn’t go his way so easily.

[When someone suddenly acts out of character…]

[Is this a death flag?]

[Why is Curry acting like this all of a sudden?]

[Has he finally decided to follow his instincts?]

[Talk less, act more.] – [Blocked.]

[Is this what gaslighting looks like?]

I took out another Pocky stick and placed it in Curry’s mouth.

Without changing the rules, I prepared myself and bit into the other end.

I hadn’t expected that slowly approaching while maintaining eye contact would feel this overwhelming and nerve-wracking.

I kept nibbling on the Pocky stick, but with my attention entirely elsewhere, I couldn’t even taste it.

“Phew…”

“Hoo…”

The distance between us closed to the point where our breaths mingled.

Just as our lips were about to touch, Curry closed his eyes.

Of course, I had no intention of letting our lips meet, so I let go of the Pocky stick.

To prevent the remaining piece from falling to the floor, I caught it with my hand.

Curry must have had the same thought, as our hands overlapped in the process.

But there was no time to dwell on that, and naturally, I ended up holding Curry’s hand.

“…What does this mean?”

“Sorry?”

“Never mind.”

After putting some distance between us, I measured the remaining length of the Pocky stick.

“3.1cm…”

Whether it was divine mischief or fate, the remaining length of the Pocky stick exceeded 3cm by just 0.1cm.

It wasn’t intentional, but regardless, what was done was done.

We had no choice but to continue, and this time, it was Curry’s turn to lean in.

Both of us were already exhausted in more ways than one.

Perhaps Curry didn’t want to prolong the Pocky game any further?

He boldly bit into the Pocky stick, and while our lips almost touched again, he managed to leave 1.3cm, successfully ending the game.

{ rine9901 has donated 100,000 KRW. }

You two look so good together! So, when’s the real wedding happening!?

“Oh, Rine-nim has donated again… Thank you so much.”

Donations didn’t hold much significance for me.

That didn’t mean I lacked financial sense, though.

Normally, I wouldn’t have reacted, but since the donor was Rine, I clumsily mimicked the reactions Curry usually gave.

After reacting to the donation, I considered wrapping up the stream, but a brilliant idea came to mind.

“Rine-nim asked when we’re going to have a real wedding. What do you think, Curry-nim?”

“…”

Curry’s expression seemed to ask, Are you even human?

But I had long since mastered the art of maintaining a shameless smile, so I waited patiently for his response.

Ignoring a question from the fictional marriage partner in front of so many viewers would ruin the mood entirely.

Aware of this, Curry swallowed a sigh and reluctantly forced out an answer.

“Well… we’re just enjoying the content purely, without any ‘personal’ feelings involved.”

“Really? But I do have ‘personal’ feelings.”

“…Everyone knows Barcode-nim is just saying that for the sake of entertainment, right?”

“It’s not even a white lie.”

“Why are you doing this to me…”

“Because… it’s fun?”

My shameless response left Curry momentarily unhinged.

For a second, I wondered if he had truly lost it.

But seeing him subtly glance at the chat to gauge their reactions, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

If he were going to break from this level of teasing, he would’ve done so long ago.

Reminding myself once again how entertaining Curry was, I checked the remaining collaboration time.

Whether the timing was good or bad, there was no time left for the stream.

Deciding this was the perfect moment to end, I opened my mouth to deliver the closing remarks.

“Everyone, that’s it for today’s stream.”

[Already over?]

[Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go!]

[How did four hours fly by like this?]

[Give me my time back.]

[Five-star entertainment.]

[Bye-bye.]

Feeling sorry for the disappointed viewers, I typed the hosting command into the chat.

“I’ll host Curry-nim, so don’t feel too sad.”

[Let’s gooo!]

[Time to mindlessly hop over.]

[We’d go even without the host lol.]

[Can’t resist tormenting mentally exhausted Curry.]

[Something big is coming.]

[Returning to where it all began… Is this what salmon feel like?]

Pressing ‘Enter’ to input the hosting command, tens of thousands of viewers flooded into Curry’s stream.

Glancing over, I saw Curry staring at his broadcast screen with a troubled expression.

Adjusting my position so I was visible on camera, I struck a fighting pose before standing up.

“Curry-nim, please work hard enough for the both of us! Fighting!”

“…Such a truly invigorating cheer. Really.”

“Are you being sarcastic?”

“Yes. I’m being sarcastic.”

“Hmm… I see.”

I gave him the most irritating smile I could muster, and judging by Curry’s trembling, it had the desired effect.

Once again, I had my fill of teasing Curry before leaving the room and heading upstairs.

Ah, tonight’s going to be a great sleep.

Humming to myself, I flopped down on my bed.

MCN.

Commonly known as agencies that distribute and support the content of Mutubers, streamers, and BJs.

Most large-scale broadcasters belonged to an MCN, and Curry was no exception.

“Hah…”

Sorting through the endless emails in my inbox, I let out a sigh.

Out of 100 emails, about half were related to MCN offers.

Initially, I went through them one by one, but now I had resorted to blocking senders that spammed multiple offers.

I could understand sending an email twice, but to flood my inbox with three or more messages crossed a line.

“Block. Block. Block.”

Since my channel blew up on Mutube, I had been receiving these MCN-related emails regularly.

Disliking anything troublesome, I had never paid attention to MCNs before.

However, lately, I started thinking that joining one might be more beneficial, if only to stop these endless solicitation emails.

Convinced it wasn’t a bad idea, I decided to check which MCN Curry was affiliated with.

Curry belonged to an MCN called Crystal, and even with some focused research, it seemed to have an excellent reputation.

I checked my trash folder to see if I had received any emails from Crystal, but strangely, there was nothing from them.

Well, it wasn’t too unusual for an MCN not to reach out.

I sent them an email expressing my interest in joining and went about my day while waiting for a reply.

Three days later, Crystal responded.

The reply was a rejection—firm and unyielding, leaving no room for negotiation.

“Curry…”

Convinced that Curry had meddled in this, I headed down to his room on the first floor.