Lots of unjust criticism
After leaving the booth, I looked over the photos.
The freshly printed pictures from the machine were full of Ga-young unnie’s various expressions.
Suppressing my laughter as much as possible, I slipped the photos into my pocket and pulled my hat down again.
Next, we headed to a dessert café.
Rather than her leading me there, it was closer to me guiding her inside.
“Do you like sweet things?”
Ga-young unnie, seemingly visiting for the first time, glanced around the place.
Unlike the calm and warm atmosphere of the café I usually knew, this one had a light and refreshing vibe, filled with lively people.
Most of the customers inside were women, while the few men looked exhausted as if they had been dragged here by their girlfriends.
“I don’t eat a lot, but if my sister brings something like this home, I devour it in no time. Last time, she brought macarons…? Those were gone in five minutes, and it was two whole bags.”
“Really? It’s my first time in a place like this, so everything feels… new.”
Staring at the numerous desserts displayed behind the glass at the counter, I felt an urge to take a photo, but I didn’t even have a phone for that.
The desserts were quite different from what I had known or imagined before.
As expected, they looked incredibly sweet, but they were also so beautifully crafted that they seemed annoying to make.
Maybe it was just because they were on display, but regardless, they were diverse and stunning.
“What do you want to eat?”
“Uh… I had a big lunch, so I’d like something light.”
“Then… could we get two café lattes and your recommendations for one dessert each?”
***
Eun-ah POV
While the dessert café employee struggled with the sudden, massive challenge, Eun-ah and Joo-hyuk were brainstorming plans and fell into a dilemma.
“Just telling her outright feels like too much, doesn’t it?”
At Joo-hyuk’s suggestion, Eunah tapped her finger lightly on the desk and spoke.
“But isn’t it better than hiding it and letting it pass until the end…? And anyway, it’s not true. Look at the rumors spreading right now. They’re insane. Plastic surgery, false advertising, fraud, programs, helpers, account boosting—none of it’s true! I’m sure about the helpers and account boosting! You know the rest isn’t true either.”
“Still… lies can ruin a person. Ugh… This reminds me of something from the past, and it sucks.”
Eunah spun her chair in circles as if trying to shake off the thoughts.
“Do you not want to show her?”
“…I don’t know. I really don’t know what’s better for her.”
As Eun-ah sat dejected, unable to make up her mind, Joo-hyuk tried to explain with a reason he could be confident in.
“For now, the one thing I’m certain of is that she has to go live.”
“That just means you want her to talk about it.”
“Even if she doesn’t talk about it, she has to stream. If she stays silent until the end, what are those people spewing nonsense going to think? They already started with baseless accusations, and then she stops streaming? It won’t end. If she keeps staying silent, even those who believed her might start to wonder, ‘What if?’ I think it’s better to address it quickly and move on.”
“That’s true… If she doesn’t stream, they’ll assume she’s guilty of something. So… she’ll have to talk about it.”
Eun-ah drew out her words, then sighed as if making a decision.
“Maybe I should get her drunk and then have her talk…”
She briefly imagined a drunk Su-yeon, then shook her head.
“Where is she, anyway?”
After preparing measures to handle backlash and finalizing plans, they arrived at Su-yeon’s place, only to find it empty.
It was unusual for her to be out with the time approaching 5 p.m.
“Should I… call her? Oh.”
Eun-ah could only regret her hesitation.
***
Lee Su-yeon POV
Chocoa and I sat in our chairs, chatting for over thirty minutes.
Unexpectedly, Chocoa brought up the topic of streaming first.
We discussed things that could be improved, the streams she wanted to do, and related lighthearted topics.
But that lightheartedness faded as the desserts disappeared, bite by bite.
“…Why didn’t you stream today?”
“Huh? Oh, like I said earlier, Eun-ah unnie told me not to.”
“That’s it? Did she tell you anything else?”
“Anything else?”
When I responded as if I had no clue, Chocoa lightly tapped her empty glass with a fork, looking as if she was debating something.
Does Chocoa know what’s going on?
In this situation, where it felt like I was the only one left out, my curiosity only grew.
“Hey… do you want to see this?”
After a long deliberation, Chocoa held out her phone to me.
***
“I’m home~”
Hearing movement inside as soon as I opened the door, I greeted the house.
From the room came the sound of a commotion.
“What are you doing?”
When I entered the room, I found Eun-ah unnie, Min-young, and Aro, all wearing serious expressions.
“Oh, uh, um…”
“I can start the stream now, right?”
“What…?”
As I took off my hat and set down the dessert bag, Eun-ah unnie stammered in confusion.
“Anyway, I’ve figured out what’s going on.”
“Unnie…”
“Go back home. This isn’t a conversation for you to be part of.”
Min-young hesitated for a moment before returning home.
Seeing Strawberry sprawled out and sleeping soundly, it seemed like they had played together well.
“Are you… okay?”
“Well… I wouldn’t say I feel good, but I don’t feel terrible either.”
“Teacher, did you meet someone outside by any chance?”
Aro, with a sharp sense, probed me.
When I stayed silent, Aro spoke again.
“Teacher wouldn’t go to a PC café, and your phone is right here… The only explanation is that someone must have told you about this.”
“Just shut up, will you…!”
Eun-ah unnie jabbed Aro with her elbow and spoke softly.
“Yes, I heard it. I know what people are saying, and I understand why you tried to hide it.”
I didn’t want to recall it in detail—the battlefield.
The only thing that lingered in my mind was Ga-young unnie’s heartfelt encouragement.
The community was on fire.
It was blazing like never before, split into two factions waging war over one person.
What used to be a peaceful place for sharing information and casual gaming moments had turned into a battlefield where people tore each other apart.
[Barraa is getting exactly what they deserve, lolol]
-That trash, I knew this would happen, lolol. All these controversies blowing up, lolol, it’s hilarious. Look at all this crap: school bullying, animal abuse, Photoshop, full-body plastic surgery, prostitution—they’ve done it all, lolol. You’ve got to admit, doing all that takes some skill.
-Some airhead here again, lolol. Nothing’s been proven, but you’re all hyped, huh? When the explanation comes out and nothing happened, you’ll be like, “Oops, never mind,” lol.
-Yeah, but she still hasn’t explained anything yet, right? Looks like she’s about to delete their account today because it’s true.
[Barraa would never do something like that.]
-Seriously, does Barraa look like someone who would bully others? Come on, if she had full-body plastic surgery, wouldn’t she look different? Didn’t you see the photos of Barraa with black hair working part-time? Seriously, these idiots hate on her just because her face and personality are the opposite of theirs. And I don’t get why they only attack Barraa with such garbage reasoning, but why drag her friends into this too?
-Lolol, you have no evidence either, lol. Seriously, anyone can tell she’s faking her personality, and you still believe it? And do you really think someone can naturally have white hair and red eyes, lol? How much are you going to defend her until you wake up?
[Barraa’s account boosting and cheating evidence.]
-Hello, I attended the same school as Barraa. First of all, my Lesik rank is Diamond 2. Barraa was a well-known bully at school who extorted money, assaulted others, and verbally abused them. A few months ago, she gave me her game account and forced me to boost her rank. I raised it to Platinum 1, and whenever she dropped a few tiers, I would boost her rank back up. Recently, she said she was worried about getting caught and started using illegal programs. I hope Barraa, who has been deceiving her viewers and hiding behind anonymity, comes forward with an explanation.
-You endured well, sniff sniff. Reading this brought tears to my eyes. The rest of us will handle it for you!!!
SwimmingSooyoung – What school did you attend?
Gunkoo – Can you tell us the account name? For Diamond players, there are so few that I’d probably recognize it.
-You can’t share that kind of info, don’t you know that? I’m so disappointed. Unsubscribing now.
This was just a glimpse of the filth.
Meticulously orchestrated by someone, these attacks extended not just to the community but to the streams and videos of any broadcaster even remotely associated with Barraa.
Someone who knew this mess better than Barraa’s manager or anyone else, the one who uncovered the starting point of all this, was silently watching the situation unfold without starting a stream.