On Twitch, under the name Ninima, she primarily played RPG games but recently started venturing into FPS games.
With her cute, round appearance, sweet high-pitched voice, and contrasting high-energy personality, she steadily grew a solid viewer base.
She collaborated frequently with Yoon Gae, a noisy but likable streamer, to increase her audience and recently gained significant traction through her collaborations with Baraa.
Viewers knew Ninima as someone with a few hobbies: gaming, bickering with Yoon Gae, and drawing.
“Mhm-hm-hmm~”
Lee Ye-eun, who streamed as Ninima on Twitch, was gently swaying her body to the song playing in her headset while drawing.
The drawing depicted what she thought was the cutest moment she had ever seen—Baraa drunkenly acting cute to Chocoa.
“Kyaaaa!”
Before becoming a streamer, she had sustained herself by taking art commissions, and her satisfaction grew as she admired how well the piece was turning out.
Stretching, she realized her back had started making suspicious sounds after sitting in her chair for hours—from last night’s stream to hours of indulging in her hobby post-stream.
Bang!
Jumping onto the bed, a wave of fatigue and warmth overtook her body.
Click.
With her drawing tools and streaming setup turned off, Ye-eun enjoyed her new hobby in her dark, silent room.
This new hobby involved watching and exploring content about her favorite, Baraa.
She sifted through short clips posted by others and searched for videos about Baraa on NewTube.
Despite Baraa having been a streamer for less than six months, multiple clips and videos—sometimes even dozens—were uploaded daily, which Ye-eun devoured eagerly.
“Hmm?”
While scrolling through everything, she stumbled upon a strange post in the Siege community as she watched videos of Baraa playing Lesik.
[Summary of the Baraa Controversy!]
“…What is this…”
The baffling title and rapidly increasing view count struck her with a powerful mix of curiosity and unease.
“What is this about…”
It didn’t take long for her to open the post.
However, it turned out to be nothing more than baseless, inflammatory content, leaving her both relieved and annoyed as she went back to browsing the community.
But soon, she started encountering an alarming surge of posts targeting Baraa.
Flicking the lights on, she hurriedly sat in front of her computer, reading post after post as they flooded in.
“What the hell is all this nonsense…”
By the time posts mentioning Aro and Eun-ah appeared, Ye-eun was in complete denial.
“There’s no way… Strawberry genuinely liked Baraa, and her younger sibling seemed happiest when with Baraa. Absolutely… she’s not a bad person, that much I’m sure… No, it’s impossible.”
To be honest, the extent of what she truly knew about Baraa was limited.
What she knew came only from the small snippets shown during streams and the honest, unguarded moments she had witnessed when she was drinking.
But that sincerity was visible even on her broadcasts.
Her knowledge was limited, but she was convinced—instinctively, intuitively, and out of her hopes.
Believing in her, she stayed up until the early hours of the morning, pouring her genuine thoughts into a comforting message she knew he might see despite the hurtful words circulating.
***
Lee Su-yeon POV
When Eun-ah unnie and Aro left the room, the once bustling and slightly chaotic space became eerily silent.
Even though it was dinnertime, Su-yeon couldn’t think of what to prepare.
Her younger sister hadn’t eaten much that day and was likely hungry.
Her thoughts grew increasingly complex.
Foremost in her mind was Chocoa’s comforting gesture, but she couldn’t ignore the worried gazes of those around her.
“Sigh…”
She powered on her computer and sat in her chair.
With a slightly anxious heart, she picked up Strawberry and placed her on her lap, stroking her fur.
The computer booted up in an instant, and her well-organized screen displayed Twitch’s purple interface and Discord notifications.
Not knowing what to prioritize, she instinctively moved her mouse and started her stream.
It was much later than her usual streaming time.
Her title was left blank, only her basic profile and the name “Baraa” were displayed.
She lowered the chat window, stroking Strawberry to steady herself.
Baraa’s stream had gone live.
Unlike her recent consistent and lengthy streams, this sudden evening broadcast felt out of place.
The camera wasn’t on, and there was no chat displayed on the broadcast screen.
However, viewers were already present.
Even though Baraa wasn’t looking at the chat, it filled rapidly with comments within minutes.
Baraa gave no reaction, merely spinning her mouse around.
“Meow~”
“Hm..? You’re awake?”
It was unclear if she was even wearing a headset, as her soft voice was barely audible, even at maximum volume.
Her voice was still the same high-pitched, gentle tone as always.
But after that brief moment, her voice wasn’t heard again for nearly an hour.
During that time, Baraa hadn’t spoken a word.
She merely read through NewTube comments, posts about herself, and community threads in complete silence.
She read words that harshly criticized both her and those around her.
Baraa finally broke her silence roughly an hour and thirty minutes into the broadcast.
Having read through nearly all of the posts, she realized that there wasn’t as much as she’d initially feared, perhaps because Siege was the only active community involved.
She got up briefly to fetch a cup of water.
Returning to her chair, Strawberry rubbed her head against his hand.
Click-click.
Turning on the camera, her small figure appeared in the top right corner of the screen.
It was a setting she occasionally used while gaming, but since the atmosphere wasn’t suitable for games, she expanded the camera view to full screen.
“Sigh… Where should I even begin?”
Although she hesitated to display the chat, he decided it was necessary and opened it on the screen.
Noonaaaaaaaaaaa!!! I trusted you, damn it!!!
Explain
Yourself
LMAO
Explanation
Are you not ashamed? LOL, spamming garbage like this and then showing up here, huh?
Is that true?
No
As expected, it was chaotic. It hadn’t mattered earlier because I wasn’t watching, but now that I was, I turned on slow chat mode and began to speak.
“An explanation… sigh, sure, I’ll give one. But.”
In an instant, Baraa’s usual image shifted dramatically. His gaze sharpened, his demeanor grew cold, and the chat fell silent.
He blinked his piercing red eyes and spoke.
“Stop messing with the people around me, damn it.”
LOL, here comes the real personality
Exactly, dragging family into this crosses every line
He hardly ever cursed. In fact, he had avoided bad language so much that it was almost unnatural. But this time, he did.
“My younger sister is just a high school student. If you don’t want to ruin your life, delete those posts immediately. Why are you cursing out Chocoa? What exactly did she do to you? If you don’t like me, just don’t watch my streams. My managers do their jobs well. Both of them are working hard, so I don’t think they deserve your hate.”
She took a sip of water and thought about what to say next.
“I’m not someone weak. While I might lack some strength, I have stamina, and most importantly, I think I have a strong mentality. I’ve lived a fairly tough life, learning responsibility a bit earlier than others. Even when I worked part-time jobs, I got cursed at occasionally, but I did find a definite way to deal with those who insult others.”
She calmly stated the facts, explaining clearly that neither she nor the workplace were at fault. Most people would have no choice but to agree when faced with the truth, but for those who only cared about their feelings and continued to curse… she reported them to the police.
“First of all… the most common one… my appearance.”
Taking out two well-laminated ID cards from her wallet, which he always carried just in case, she prepared to address this point.
“This one… was taken about two years ago. And this is the updated one I got recently. I couldn’t even believe it myself, but this is the medical report on my hair and eyes.”
Su-yeon held in one hand an older ID showing her with black hair and black eyes, which clearly resembled her, and in the other, a new ID issued by the hospital alongside a lengthy medical report regarding her hair and eyes.
She obscured most of the details on the IDs with his fingers, but her name was visible on the report. However, Su-yeon didn’t seem to care and kept it in view for a few seconds before putting it away.
“If you’re curious, you can pause the stream and read it later. What else was there? Animal… abuse?”
Lowering his head, he saw Strawberry’s tail swaying in his partially obscured vision.
Lifting Strawberry onto the desk, the cat immediately climbed back onto his lap, curling into a loaf shape.
“…Think whatever you want. This is all I can do to prove my case. If anyone still wants to argue, feel free to take it up with the police.”
Explain
?? Was the hair and eye thing real???
LOL, look at all the jerks who were spewing nonsense go silent as soon as she mentioned the police
To check if slow chat mode was the issue, she turned it off, but no one demanded further explanations or hurled insults anymore.
“…Alright, I think that’s it for today’s stream. I’ll be heading out now.”
? Where are you going?
“Nowhere, just late for dinner.”
After ending the stream, she noticed the Discord message she hadn’t read earlier.
Ninima: I was browsing the community late at night and saw a sudden increase in strange posts, so I wanted to let you know! I read through a few of them, and they’re all nonsense, so please don’t dwell on them too much! It doesn’t seem like just one or two people are behind this, so if it gets too overwhelming, don’t read them. Just let the manager or me know! I know this is sudden, but really, don’t let it get to you too much, even if you read them…!
“Strawberry, I think I’m lucky to have good people around me. Chocoa, my sister, Eunah unnie… Let’s eat.”
It was a late dinner, past 9 PM.