127: Chapter 126

Jang Wonyoung took a deep breath, trying hard to ignore the tightening sensation on her chin and the surprised gazes cast from all directions, and squeezed two words through her teeth in a tone that was both trembling and resigned to her fate:

" ... I ... * * will * * try ... "

Before she could finish, her excitement caused her head to move slightly too much, and the water bottle on top of her head wobbled violently!

" Ah! Be careful! " Kim Minju and Sakura exclaimed simultaneously.

Jang Wonyoung was so frightened she froze immediately, not daring to move her neck, like an exquisite doll that had been paused, with a precarious bottle on its head.

Jiang Zhiyu nodded with satisfaction and clapped his hands: " Very good! Very determined! Then, the level-breaking trial for ' Star Spring Guide ' Jang Wonyoung, now — — * * begins! * * "

" First, go find your first ' believer ' (customer)! Remember, * * the balance of the water bottle is the favor of the stars! * * "

With the mineral water bottle on her head, Jang Wonyoung, like a queen wearing a fragile crown (bankruptcy edition), began her epic (and extremely shameful) " Star Spring Does Not Tilt " trial path in the traditional market with an extremely stiff, cautious, and step-by-step posture.

Meanwhile, Sakura and Kim Minju, while feeling sympathetic, had alarm bells ringing in their hearts: PD Jiang's " trial " would definitely not target just one person! Who would be next... whose turn would it be?

The hustle and bustle of the traditional market seemed to have hit the mute button for that wobbling mineral water bottle on Jang Wonyoung's head at this moment.

She felt like she had become the most ridiculous focus of the entire universe; every breath tugged at the elastic band on her chin, and also affected the balance of the " Favor of the Stars " on her head.

Selling groceries? With this thing on her head, she walked like a penguin that had just learned to walk on stilts!

" Au, Auntie... would you like to take a look at these anti-scald gloves? They are a kitchen essential... "

She tried hard to squeeze out a sweet, though slightly distorted smile due to her stiff neck, and approached an auntie who was picking out kimchi.

Her voice was unconsciously very soft, for fear that a heavy breath would blow the water bottle over.

The auntie looked up, stunned for a moment, her gaze sliding from Jang Wonyoung's pretty little face to the mineral water bottle slightly reflecting in the sunlight on her head, then looking at the grocery basket she was carrying, showing a complex expression mixed with surprise, amusement, and " does this girl have some kind of problem ".

" Omo... child, isn't that thing on your head... heavy? "

" It's, it's fine... " Jang Wonyoung gave a dry laugh, having already cursed Jiang Zhiyu a hundred times in her heart.

She tried to hand over the gloves, but her arm movements were exceptionally careful, like a bomb disposal expert.

" The quality is very good, Auntie... "

Just as the auntie seemed a bit interested and reached out to take the gloves to look—

" Meow~! "

A deliberately elongated, dainty cat meow with an electronic voice-changing effect cut in abruptly.

Jang Wonyoung and the auntie turned their heads at the same time.

They saw something wobbling and " rolling " out from behind the canvas awning of the dry goods stall next to them.

It was a life-sized, pink and white Hello Kitty costume!

The round head was topped with a huge red bow, it had black bean eyes and no mouth, but at this moment, the entire doll was swaying left and right in an extremely uncoordinated, drunken-like posture.

The costume looked a bit old, the fur on the surface was matted, and there was even some market dust stuck to its backside.

This was not even the most outrageous part.

In the " hands " of this Kitty doll (actually controlled by the person inside the costume), it was holding a large ball of colorful, fluffy yarn. It seemed completely unaware of Jang Wonyoung's side, instead focusing on happily placing that ball of yarn on the ground, and then using its feet wearing huge doll shoes (actually human feet inside), kicking and rolling it forward, one by one, clumsily and persistently.

When the yarn ball rolled away, it would wobble after it, continue kicking, making a " thud, thud " muffled sound, having a great time.

Jang Wonyoung: " ... "

Auntie: " ... "

" Woof! Woof woof! "

Before they could recover from this bizarre scene of the Kitty rolling the yarn, another energetic (also with voice-changing effects), but obviously dog-barking sound rang out from the other side.

They saw a golden figure darting out from beside the fresh meat stall.

It was a staff member wearing a fluffy Golden Retriever costume!

Sticking out a red tongue, ears flopping, it looked cute and honest.

However, this " Golden Retriever "'s behavior was not honest at all.

Its (his?) mouth (the opening of the doll's mouth) was biting hard on a huge, plastic, meat-bone-colored toy bone, and it was shaking its head frantically, swinging the bone with a whistling sound, as if fighting some invisible enemy.

Immediately after, a second Golden Retriever doll also rushed out from the same direction, with a clear target — diving straight for the bone in the first Golden Retriever's mouth!

The two " Golden Retrievers " immediately entangled, staging an absurd " Battle for the Bone ".

They used the clumsy " paws " of their costumes to slap and shove each other, trying to snatch the bone from the other's mouth.

The movements were exaggerated and funny, like two giant, fluffy yellow marshmallows fighting, occasionally emitting " woo woo " threatening growls (voice-changed version).

" Yah! Let go! Mine! "

" Woo woof! It's my bone! "

(Faintly, one could hear the muffled, suppressed-laughter conversation of the staff members inside the costumes)

In the struggle, one " Golden Retriever " suddenly shook its head, and the toy bone flew out with a " swoosh ", landing squarely and softly with a " slap " on the shoulder of Jang Wonyoung, who was carefully maintaining her balance nearby...

Although it didn't hurt, the sudden impact and shock made Jang Wonyoung shudder, the mineral water bottle on her head wobbled violently with a " click-clack-click ", and the remaining air in the bottle made a rapid " buzzing " sound, looking like it was about to tip over!

" Ah! " Jang Wonyoung was scared out of her wits, no longer caring about any trial rules, and subconsciously wanted to reach out to steady it.

" You cannot steady it! " Jiang Zhiyu's voice exploded like a thunderclap nearby, with unquestionable severity (and suppressed laughter).

Jang Wonyoung's hand froze in mid-air, relying entirely on her strong core strength (and survival instinct) to abruptly stabilize her body, her neck aching, barely managing to steady that about-to-topple " Favor of the Stars ".

The water bottle wobbled a few times at an extreme angle, and finally slowly returned to vertical, but the spring was still slightly vibrating.

The " culprit " Golden Retriever doll glanced at the bone that had flown out, then looked at the shaken Jang Wonyoung, and actually didn't go to pick up the bone; instead, together with the other Golden Retriever, it cast its " gaze " (the doll's black glass bead eyes) towards Jang Wonyoung, making low " woo woo " sounds in its throat, and slowly surrounded her.

The Kitty rolling the yarn ball over there also stopped the game at its feet, holding the ball of yarn, tilting its huge head, and " looking " in Jang Wonyoung's direction.

The three young girls, along with that auntie buying groceries, were all bewildered by this sudden, extremely bizarre " doll encirclement ".

Sakura had originally been worried about her " Rice Cake Ball Instant Kill Array " future, but at this moment, looking at the two Golden Retrievers who, because of fighting for the bone, had started to fiercely poke the toy bone into each other's costume mouth openings, their movements as childish as three-year-olds fighting, and then looking at the Kitty that was focused on rolling the yarn ball, as if the world had nothing to do with it, a strong sense of absurdity dispelled her fear. Her mouth twitched, and she couldn't help but mutter:

" PD Jiang... you just said... they are ' very evil '? " Sakura pointed to the yarn ball rolling on the ground, and the two Golden Retrievers currently poking each other's throats (costumes) with bones, " Are you saying the doll staff members rolling the yarn ball on the ground are very evil? Or the ones fighting over the bone over there... Yah! Staff-nim! Why are you fighting over a bone? "

Before she could finish, one Golden Retriever doll seemed to be poked in a hurry, so it simply threw away the bone (the plastic bone made a light sound as it hit the ground), and directly pounced to pin the other one down with its doll " body ". The two huge plush toys immediately rolled into a ball, kicking up a small cloud of dust, their movements clumsy and funny, completely devoid of any " evil ", only full of comedy.

" However... " Sakura paused, watching the two rolling dolls, and honestly stated her impression, " That bone hitting someone... is hilarious. " (Referring to the accidental comedic effect of it hitting Jang Wonyoung just now.)

Kim Minju was already holding her forehead, feeling that her " Balanced Arbitrator " persona had completely failed in the face of such a scene.

She looked at the two Golden Retrievers rolling together, then at the doll that had finally approached while rolling the yarn ball, but because the yarn ball was stuck under a vegetable basket, had started to butt it with its big Kitty head, and finally couldn't help but raise her voice, trying to communicate with reason:

" Staff-nim! What on earth did PD Jiang tell you!?! Can you please stop playing with the yarn ball first!! Like this... how can Wonyoung continue the trial! " She pointed to Jang Wonyoung, who was frozen in place, with the water bottle on her head, and was vaguely surrounded by the three dolls acting out of line.

However, the dolls had no reaction to her shouting.

The Kitty was still struggling with the stuck yarn ball, and the Golden Retrievers had finished their ground struggle, stood up again, shook off the dust on their bodies (although it couldn't be seen on the costume), and once again cast their " attention " towards Jang Wonyoung, starting to slowly approach while swaying from side to side, continuing to make that " woo woo " sound in their throats that had no deterrent power and only made people feel amused.

Kim Minju realized in despair that there was no reasoning with these staff members who were immersed in Jiang Zhiyu's bizarre script.

She sighed: " As expected, everyone... no, were they all infected by PD Jiang and went crazy!?! "

Jang Wonyoung was angry, scared, and amused at the same time.

She was angry at Jiang Zhiyu's endless pranks, scared that the water bottle on her head would actually tip over and the trial would fail (although she was extremely resistant to this trial in her heart), and amused because these " Star Demons Claws " surrounding her were simply too comical.

She looked at the Kitty still butting the yarn ball, and couldn't help but mutter: " I knew PD Jiang was not a good person! Always coming up with these strange things! "

Although the voice was small, it was clearly captured by the " keen-eared " Jiang Zhiyu.

Jiang Zhiyu, who had been standing behind the rice cake stall watching the show, suddenly changed his expression, instantly switching from his previous keen interest to an expression of seriousness mixed with a hint of " heartache ".

He looked at Jang Wonyoung with a sharp gaze (in his own opinion).

Jang Wonyoung felt a chill from his look, and subconsciously shrank her neck — this tiny movement caused the water bottle on her head to tremble slightly, and she quickly froze.

" Wonyoung, " Jiang Zhiyu's voice deepened, with a sense of " you have disappointed me so much, " " How can you say that? It seems... the whispers of the Star Demons Claws have already affected you! Their seemingly cute and funny behavior is precisely to paralyze your mind and make you lower your guard! "

He waved his hand, pointing to the three dolls acting bewilderingly: " Look! They have already started to act! Encirclement tactics! "

As if to verify his words, the two Golden Retriever dolls were no longer slow, but suddenly accelerated, left and right, wobbling but with a clear target, " pouncing " towards Jang Wonyoung. Although their movements seemed slow and ridiculous due to the clumsiness of the costumes, they did indeed form a pincer movement.

The Kitty also finally gave up on the stuck yarn ball, opened the " arms " of the costume (actually just fluffy fabric), and made a gesture similar to a " hug " but actually more like wanting to tackle something, approaching from the front.

Jang Wonyoung was terrified, wanting to run, but the water bottle on her head limited her agile movement, forcing her to only take small steps backward, while trying desperately to stabilize her center of gravity, the scene appearing disheveled and funny.

" Wonyoung is in danger! " Jiang Zhiyu suddenly shouted, his tone anxious, but his eyes were surprisingly bright, as if he had seen a long-awaited plot point.

He suddenly turned to Sakura, who was already dumbfounded, and said in an excited tone as if he had discovered a new continent: " Sakura! It's a big problem! Look! Wonyoung is affected by the evil aura of the Star Demons Claws, the trial is hindered, and she is in crisis! Your worry, your heart to protect your companion, has become strong enough to trigger a Star Resonance! "

Sakura looked blank: " Ah? Me? Resonance? "

" That's right! " Jiang Zhiyu nodded heavily, his expression extremely serious (and absurd), " Just now, I felt the power of the ' Saintess of Sakura ' within you, because of your deep worry about Wonyoung's situation, produce a violent fluctuation! This means that your exclusive ultimate move has already shown signs of partial unlocking! "

Sakura: " ... Huh?! " A premonition more ominous than seeing dolls fighting swept over her.

" Now! It's now! " Jiang Zhiyu stepped forward, staring at Sakura with burning eyes, and commanded loudly in an inciting tone, as if he were a protagonist in a hot-blooded anime: " Sakura! You cannot hesitate anymore! Wonyoung needs you! To protect your companion, to repel these seemingly cute but actually treacherous Star Demons Claws — please shout out the name of your move, awaken the sleeping power, save Wonyoung, and defeat them! "

After speaking, without waiting for Sakura to react, Jiang Zhiyu took a deep breath himself, then focused his energy into his dantian, used all his strength, and roared towards the noisy sky of the market, earth-shatteringly, the name that made Sakura lose sleep at night and feel so ashamed that her soul left her body: " Rice Cake Ball Instant Kill Array !!! "

The loud voice echoed in the market, drowning out the hawking for a moment, attracting more people to look over.

Sakura: " ... "