Chapter 6
1.
『‘Heukrangi’ has started streaming.』
-Heukha, heukha~~~
-Welcome, Heukrangi lol
-Hi
-You're fucking late;;
As the short opening song ended, a black animal character appeared in the center of the screen. It tilted its head slightly and blinked.
『594 viewers……』
“Ah, can you hear me?”
-Heukrangi finally crawls out of her cave
-Taking a break during the tournament, for fuck's sake; have you lost your mind?
-For real lol
The character on the screen grimaced.
“Did I take a break because I wanted to? Some crazy bitch used hacks during a scrim. That’s a natural disaster!”
-Whoa;;
-What…
-Fact) That’s true
The beast on the screen shrugged.
“You know it’s awkward to find a teammate or a substitute before the results come out. And when everything suddenly got put on hold because of the hacking issue, I felt like I was going crazy, too. So since things had already gone this far, I took a day off.”
She took a sip of milk, then spoke again.
“So, are the results out? Peanut Man said they’d come within 24 hours if he asked them directly.”
-Haven't heard anything yet, I think?
-Seems like Peanut Man's waiting too?
-Guess they'll be out soon lol
“What a mess, all because of one clueless bitch. How many people is she making miserable? Fucking bitch. I hope I never see her again.”
Heukrangi let out a deep sigh and logged into Nova Syndicate.
“Well, I did take a day off. Let’s play one ranked match to get my feel for the game back and warm up my hands. The results should be out by the time we finish. Sound good?”
-Agreed
-Huh, what?
-Hey, Bullet's online?
-What the fuck???
While she was waiting for a ranked match, the chat went wild.
“Bullet, that bitch is online right now? Seriously?”
Heukrangi's eyes went wide. She checked her friends list, and sure enough, Bullet was playing in a private room.
“She really is.”
Her voice turned icy.
“Is she crazy? Everyone's suffering because of her right now, and she's playing in a private room?”
Sharp fangs poked out from between the character’s lips.
“She's completely lost it, hasn't she?”
Heukrangi's eyebrow twitched. She glared at the screen as if checking her friends list again, then spoke.
“But why hasn't she been suspended? Didn't they say they'd take action right away?”
She tilted her head.
-Who knows
-Why don't you try messaging her???
-Were you two close???
-If you were close, why not message her?
“Hey, you have to talk to someone to get close to them. She didn't make any of the calls we needed during the scrim, and it pissed me off so bad. Ah, I'm getting mad again just thinking about it.”
-Heukrangi really went after Bullet like a cat after a mouse lol;
-Honestly, it was so damn frustrating…
-I almost felt bad for her
-Watching that gave me PTSD;;;
💸 [Nickname: Anonymous] has
🪙 donated 10,000G!
💬 100,000 won if you message Bullet.
“Seriously? That's easy.”
Without a moment's hesitation, Heukrangi moved her cursor over Bullet's profile.
[Heukrangi Is the Best : Hey, what are you doing???]
“I did it, right? Give me the 100,000 won.”
The animal character grinned and held out its hand.
-She actually did it;
-100k won for typing one message, for fuck's sake;
-Beginner-level 100,000 won, damn;;
-She's such a fucking bitch lol
“What? I'm a victim too. So I can do at least this much.”
Heukrangi shrugged shamelessly.
“And she won't even reply, right? When I messaged her before, she just ignored me.”
[Bullet Is the Best : Can't you tell? I was practicing for the tournament.]
Contrary to her expectations, a reply came back almost immediately.
“Huh?”
Heukrangi stared blankly at the message Bullet had sent.
“Hold on, she messaged me? And with something this brazen?”
She let out a quiet exclamation. The character on the screen gaped too, looking completely dumbfounded.
“This is actually kind of surprising.”
-That reply is so damn rude lol
-What in the world is going on…?
“Is she acting tough because she thinks she's about to get suspended? No. If that were the case, she wouldn't say she's practicing for the tournament.”
She gave a small laugh.
“Besides, if that were what she wanted, she would've cursed me out. Honestly, I have been giving Bullet a pretty hard time. I didn't have anything personal against her, though….”
-Yeah, right lol
-You were looking down on small streamers like crazy, and now what lol
-You were using her as an emotional punching bag, for fuck's sake;;
-You used her to vent and now you're saying it wasn't personal? Come on;;;
“…Shut up.”
Heukrangi yelled, as if to hide her embarrassment. The truth was, she'd been pretty harsh to Bullet.
But at the time, she really couldn't help it. Watching Bullet play without making a single call had been so frustrating she thought she was going to lose her mind.
“More importantly, I could tell she was shameless from when she disappeared to run an errand for tofu. Does she not know what a mess this is?”
-She probably knows?
-She'd have to be an idiot not to
-For real lol
[Heukrangi Is the Best : You're going to get suspended. So how are you planning to compete in the tournament?]
Heukrangi couldn't resist her curiosity, so she sent a message right away.
[Bullet Is the Best : Are you a flat-earther?]
“…What the fuck are you talking about?”
The out-of-nowhere message made her furrow her brow.
[Heukrangi Is the Best : I am, but… what does that have to do with this?]
-Does this bitch actually believe in flat Earth;;
-FYI) Heukrangi has actually attended an international flat-Earth conference…
-She's fucking ignorant;;
-Flat-Earther caught lol
“What? Have you guys seen it?”
Heukrangi snapped back.
“Have you guys gone into space on a rocket and seen for yourselves whether the Earth is round? I only believe what I've seen with my own two eyes.”
[Bullet Is the Best : If you look at the circumstances, can't you tell from the fact that I haven't been suspended that I didn't use hacks?]
A reply came in while she was arguing with her viewers.
[Bullet Is the Best : Or are you someone who refuses to believe and denies even what you've seen with your own eyes?]
“Hmm.”
Heukrangi fell silent.
[Heukrangi Is the Best : No, I believe it. But maybe they just haven't suspended you yet?]
“No reply. Did I hit a nerve?”
-Wow… you really hit the nail on the head…
-That was a really profound thing to say…
-Right on the mark. Few people can dig as deep as you do
“Ugh, fuck. The chat's going nuts again.”
She wondered if Bullet was going to run away just like that.
Ding—
Just then, a That'sCord notification suddenly rang out.
“What? Who is it?”
Heukrangi checked the notification without much thought. Her eyes widened.
The sender was none other than Bullet. That was surprising enough, but the message itself was even more so.
“…Account Investigation Results?”
-Account investigation results?
-Did she get suspended?
-Finally?
After reading the entire image Bullet had sent, Heukrangi went blank for a moment. She looked even more dumbfounded than before.
“She really didn't use hacks? That really was her skill? No way. Oh my god….”
Heukrangi murmured quietly. Her voice was so soft that someone sitting right beside her wouldn't have heard it, but the viewers heard every word.
-???
-Bullet didn't get suspended?
-For real…?
-Huh???
-So what happens now???
-What the fuck is going on;;
[Bullet : Aura said she'll go live this evening and explain everything, so for now, just keep it to yourself, Heukrangi.]
Another message from Bullet came in a little later.
“Ah.”
With that short exclamation, Heukrangi's eyes wavered. She realized she'd made a mistake.
“Ah, I mean, well, uh… fuck….”
She hurriedly muted her mic and switched the stream to the standby screen.
[Heukrangi : Um, I accidentally revealed on stream that you weren't suspended… I'm really sorry…]
“Ah, why did I make that kind of mistake? This is driving me crazy.”
Heukrangi slapped her own mouth with her palm.
She'd caused controversies more than once by saying or doing things without thinking. That's why she'd been trying to be careful, but she'd made another mistake like this.
[Bullet : Hmm….]
A short reply came back from Bullet. At that one word, Heukrangi's shoulders hunched.
“No, but….”
She'd been a little cowed, but soon her lips jutted out in a pout.
“Honestly, shouldn't you have told your teammates first? If you just turn on your stream this evening and announce it out of nowhere, how are we supposed to understand and accept it?”
She knew she was in the wrong, but she still felt a little aggrieved.
“Isn't that a bit inconsiderate of us?”
[Bullet : Didn't Aura say she'd told you in the group chat?]
“What?”
Heukrangi hurriedly opened her messenger. A bright red notification count was sitting above the group chat.
[300+]
Her expression froze as soon as she saw the number. She hadn't even checked the messages, but she had a pretty good idea what they were about. Probably Bullet.
“Ah… she did tell us….”
Heukrangi let out a deep sigh and closed the messenger. Just as she leaned back in her chair, a question suddenly crossed her mind.
“Wait a second… how did she answer what I said?”
A That'sCord notification rang out.
[Bullet : Because I hacked your phone and am watching you through its camera and microphone.]
“Eek!?”
The message had arrived as if she'd heard Heukrangi's mutter, and Heukrangi reflexively scooted away from her desk.
[Bullet : Just kidding.]
[Bullet : Actually, you only switched your stream mic and screen to standby. You left your virtual avatar on.]
[Bullet : Your avatar's a little… well, its mouth moves really well, at least.]
“Wha—!?”
As the messages kept appearing one after another, Heukrangi hurriedly checked her stream. Sure enough, the black animal character was still there on screen.
“Ah, fuck….”
-Just noticed now lol
-So where the hell did Bullet go, you idiot
-What are they talking about???
-What is it, fuck, hurry up and tell us
-They're sticking with Bullet all the way!??
『8,494 viewers……』
At the same time, she saw that the chat had been overrun with trolls. They'd probably swarmed in after hearing the news about Bullet.
“Ah, I'm so fucked.”
Heukrangi felt cold sweat trickle down her back.
“What do I do…? How am I supposed to fix this…?”
Just then, another message came in from Bullet.
[Bullet : Heukrangi, do you feel bad about what you did to me?]
[Me : I-I do feel bad….]
[Bullet : Then could you help me out?]
“Help you?”
She tilted her head and sent a reply.
[Me : I can help, but what exactly do you need?]
[Bullet : We have a scrim with another team this evening. But if things stay like this, it'll obviously turn into a huge mess.]
“Hmm, true.”
Heukrangi nodded without realizing it.
[Bullet : So while everyone's here, I want to explain things before they leave.]
“Explain things?”
[Bullet : I'm going to start streaming now, so please do a collab with me. And host my stream, too.]
She was puzzled, but sent a reply for the time being.
[Me : All right. I'll cooperate for now.]
“I have no idea what she's planning to do. Still, it's a relief she said it was okay….”
Heukrangi had thought Bullet would hold a grudge, since she'd said so many harsh things to her. But from her attitude today, it seemed like she didn't, which was a relief.
‘She's a little weird, but she's a good person….’
『Bullet has started streaming!』
When the notification came that Bullet had started streaming, Heukrangi turned on her mic.
“Um… Bullet's going to do a clarification stream now, so I'll send you over there. I'll talk with her over there, too. See you.”
With that, Heukrangi immediately sent her viewers over to Bullet's stream.
『‘Heukrangi’ hosted ‘Bullet’ with 10,094 viewers!』
-All right, let's go~~~
-Cheating bitch lol
-Is this a festival? No, it's a funeral
-Down
-fall
-down
As expected, Bullet's chat was already a complete shitshow before the stream had even started.
“How is she planning to fix this?”
Heukrangi tilted her head and got a cola from the fridge. Her throat felt dry for no reason.
Soon, a song ended, and just as the viewer count passed 12,000, the standby screen switched over.
“Pfffft—!”
The moment she saw the screen, Heukrangi spat out the cola in her mouth.
“Cough, cough…!”
Even as she choked, she looked up at the monitor. She thought she might have seen it wrong.
[General] Good riddance to that cheating bitch lol
Floating in the middle of the screen was a sentence she knew all too well. No, she couldn't help knowing it. Heukrangi herself had written it!
“Ah, cough… fuck….”
If only I'd been more careful about what I said….