135: Chapter 134 Q&A

As if responding to her "call," a person wearing an amusement park staff uniform (but with a name tag that read "Production Team") and holding a giant prompt board squeezed out from the nearby crowd, quickly showing the board to Kwon Eunbi and Choi Yena (and the camera).

The prompt board had large, eye-catching characters written on it:

[Star Demons Claws Variant: "Soft Baby"]

[Characteristics: Low intelligence, slow movement, condensed from negative emotions and excess sugar from the amusement park (made up by PD Jiang). Hobbies: Grilled sausages (especially delicious ones).]

[Weakness/Traits: Loves music and rhythm. When they hear simple, cheerful music they like, they enter a state of "appreciation" and "joy," swaying their bodies to the beat. During this phase, defense (?) decreases, and they will not counterattack when struck.]

[Hint: Use song and dance to attract and "control" them!]

Kwon Eunbi and Choi Yena looked at this ridiculous setting description, speechless for a moment.

"Soft Baby"? Hobbies are sausages? They even like listening to songs? Could this setting be any more childish?!

And, "attract and control with song and dance"? They were idols, sure, but singing and dancing for a group of disgusting (though brightly colored) "Soft Babies"??

After the initial shock, Yena (in the duck headgear) was quickly drawn to the content on the prompt board. She was even a bit excited: "Unnie! Look! They like music! This feels super interesting! Doesn't it seem like a special monster from a video game?"

Kwon Eunbi glared at her (though it couldn't be seen through the lion headgear): "Where's the fun in that! They're coming to steal the sausages!" She watched the army of "Soft Babies" getting closer, already smelling a strange mixture of plastic and artificial flavoring, and her scalp felt numb. "So... are we going to use... a finishing move... to defeat them?"

When she mentioned the words "finishing move," Kwon Eunbi's tone became extremely strained and shameful. That "Lion Charge Duck Punch"... just thinking about it made her limbs feel numb.

But right now, there seemed to be no other way. Kwon Eunbi gritted her teeth and said to Yena, "Yena! Get ready! Let's try... that!" She signaled for Yena to prepare to coordinate the combined technique she might (extremely reluctantly) use.

Then, Kwon Eunbi took a deep breath, trying hard to recall IZ*ONE's songs, attempting to respond with her idol instincts. She cleared her throat (it sounded muffled inside the headgear) and, facing the group of "Soft Babies" that were "puji-ing" closer, she sang the chorus of "FIESTA" while performing a few simple dance moves.

"La la la la la la la~ FIESTA!"

The singing came through the lion headgear slightly distorted, and her movements appeared clumsy because of the plush gloves. Beside her, Yena was stunned for a moment before quickly joining in the song and dance, her duck headgear bobbing up and down.

However—

"Puji?" "Bolu?"

The "Soft Babies" seemed to pause for a moment. Their huge, featureless "faces" (if they could be called faces) "turned" toward the sound, and then... there was no reaction. They showed no signs of "appreciation" nor were they attracted; they just paused briefly before continuing to "wriggle" toward the sausages. One or two even extended limp "tentacles" (inflatable strips) to try and hook the edge of the sausage machine.

"It's no use! IZ*ONE's songs don't work on them!" Kwon Eunbi stopped her movements, feeling discouraged and anxious. The aroma of the sausages seemed to have a fatal attraction for these "Soft Babies," and they were getting closer and closer!

Just then, the staff member holding the prompt board quickly flipped it over, showing a new hint on the back:

[Music preference hint for "Soft Baby": Nursery rhymes or classic brainwashing tunes with simple, repetitive melodies, a distinct rhythm, and filled with imagery of "cleanliness" or "happiness."]

[Recommended track example (specially designated by PD Jiang): "I Love Bathing"!]

[Keywords: Lu La Lu La Lei~]

Kwon Eunbi & Yena: "...'I Love Bathing'?!"

That nursery rhyme about the joy of bathing that almost everyone heard as a child?! Using it to deal with these sausage-stealing "Soft Babies"? What exactly is the structure of Jiang Zhiyu's brain?!

But the situation was critical. The "tentacles" of several "Soft Babies" were about to touch the sausages! Yena anxiously used her tongs to swat at those soft tentacles, but they just bounced back without any damage.

"There's no time to hesitate! Unnie! Sing! Dance!" Yena shouted. She herself had already started trying to hum the tune of "Lu La Lu La Lei," although humming a nursery rhyme while wearing a duck headgear appeared even more bizarre.

Kwon Eunbi looked at the jelly monsters closing in, then thought about the sausage stand Yena had worked so hard to run and those delicious-smelling sausages... a mixture of despair, shame, and a feeling of "forget it, let's just go totally crazy" welled up in her heart.

She closed her eyes (though they were behind the mesh), discarded all her idol baggage and the dignity of the "Lionheart Sovereign," and used all her strength to sing that melody etched into her DNA with an almost tragic tone:

"I Love Bathing, my skin is so good~"

"Roar roar roar roar~" (The tone was strange after putting on the lion headgear)

As she sang, she began to clumsily imitate bathing movements—scrubbing her hands in front of her (like scrubbing her body), swaying her body left and right (like rinsing), and alternating her feet on the ground (like stepping in puddles).

"Put on a shower cap, sing and dance~"

"Lu la Lu La Lu La Lei~ Lu la Lu La Lu La Lei~"

The singing was out of tune, and the movements were hilariously ridiculous. A person wearing a majestic (?) lion headgear, singing a bathing song and dancing a bathing dance in front of an amusement park sausage stand... the sight was so beautiful that the onlookers were already doubled over with laughter, their phone cameras flashing wildly.

However, a miracle occurred!

Those "Soft Babies," who were originally focused solely on the sausages, actually stopped in unison upon hearing Kwon Eunbi's voice-cracking "Lu La Lu La Lei" and seeing her bizarre bathing dance!

Their limp bodies began to sway left and right to that simple, repetitive rhythm!

The "puji~ puji~" wriggling sounds seemed to take on a sense of rhythm as well.

Several brightly colored "Soft Babies" even began to imitate Kwon Eunbi's scrubbing movements, using their jelly-like "arms" to swipe in front of them, though their movements were even more distorted and slow.

They had truly entered the state of "appreciation" and "joy" mentioned in the hint! They temporarily forgot about the sausages!

Kwon Eunbi mechanically repeated the "Lu La Lu La Lei" and the bathing movements while looking through the yarn mesh in shock at the jelly monsters swaying to her rhythm. Her heart was a whirlwind of emotions: It worked! It actually worked! But why in this way?! Her lifelong reputation was ruined!!!

Just then, Yena, watching Kwon Eunbi's hard-working (and shameful) performance, had her eyes light up as if she had thought of a "good idea." She turned and rummaged through the clutter under the stand (left behind by the previous sausage uncle) and actually pulled out a brand-new towel printed with a little yellow duck pattern!

"Unnie! Catch!" Yena shouted excitedly, then threw the towel toward Kwon Eunbi!

Kwon Eunbi, who was dancing, subconsciously caught the flying towel. She was stunned for a moment, looked down at the duck towel in her hand, then looked up (a headgear motion) at Yena, her face (behind the mesh) written with question marks: "Wait, Yena! Why are you throwing a towel at me?"

Yena put her hands on her hips (duck apron version), her tone perfectly natural, as if she were stating something obvious:

"Unnie, you have to scrub your back when you bathe!!"

She even pointed her tongs at Kwon Eunbi's back, suggesting she should use the towel to scrub her back to make the bathing dance more "realistic" and "complete"!

Kwon Eunbi (lion headgear): "...?!"

She stood frozen on the spot holding the little yellow duck towel, her bathing dance movements stopped. She felt as if she wasn't just wearing a headgear, but her entire head had been stuffed into a drum washing machine, undergoing a destructive washing cycle called "Choi Yena's Thought Process."

"Ya, micheosseo?!! (Are you crazy?!!)" Kwon Eunbi issued an unbelievable, broken interrogation from the depths of her soul. This child! Had her IQ been affected by the duck headgear?! Or had her brain been smoked by the sausage fumes?! The bathing dance was shameful enough! And now she had to perform back-scrubbing in public?! And the audience was this group of jelly monsters?!!

However, her pause caused the rhythm of the "Soft Babies" to become disorganized. The amplitude of their swaying decreased, and they seemed to turn their "gaze" toward the sausage machine again.

"Unnie! Don't stop! Keep going! Scrub! Harder!" Yena, completely unaware of (or simply not caring about) Kwon Eunbi's breakdown, cheered her on from the side as if watching a brilliant stage play.

Kwon Eunbi looked at the little yellow duck towel in her hand, then at the "Soft Babies" starting to get restless again, and at the tourists around her who were already dying of laughter and the Production Team's cameras that were clearly holding back their mirth...

"Ha... haha..." She let out a few dry laughs, like a broken machine.

Then, she resigned herself to fate.

Completely and utterly, she gave up on thinking.

She started humming "Lu La Lu La Lei" again, her movements even more exaggerated. She even actually slung the little yellow duck towel over her shoulder and made back-scrubbing motions with her hand behind her, her body twisting in coordination as if she were truly enjoying a hearty bath. A lion headgear paired with a bathing dance, with a little yellow duck towel draped over the shoulder... the impact of this image was beyond words.

The "Soft Babies" were once again attracted by this "upgraded" performance, swaying even more vigorously. Some even began to "bump" into each other, making cheerful (?) "puji puji" sounds.

And just as Kwon Eunbi was immersed (forced) in this absurd-to-the-limit "bathing and back-scrubbing dance," something strange happened.

She felt as if some kind of emotion was truly surging within her body. It wasn't shame, it wasn't anger, but a kind of... impulse to protect something. To protect this little sausage stand that Yena had enthusiastically taken over, to protect these "Soft Babies" who, although unpalatable (referring to the setting), seemed to be just attracted by the sausages from causing destruction, and to protect this moment which, though ridiculous, was inexplicably... funny?

This intention to "protect" seemed to create a strange resonance with her extremely shameful but full-effort "performance," the simple and cheerful "Lu La Lu La Lei" melody, and her leo constellation setting.

She didn't realize that her humming was getting louder (though still out of tune) and her movements were becoming more powerful, even taking on a clumsy yet firm rhythm belonging to a "lion" that she hadn't noticed herself.

The eyes of the Production Team staff, who had been closely observing, suddenly lit up! The person holding the prompt board quickly flipped it over, revealing the new content prepared long ago:

[High concentration of Star Resonance detected!]

["Lionheart Sovereign" Kwon Eunbi, her heart of protection and sincere performance has triggered the power of the constellation!]

[Move Evolution—"Lion Kings Hammer" in preparation!]

Just as the board was shown, another staff member seized the opportunity and suddenly stuffed a large, inflatable, golden-headed toy hammer into Kwon Eunbi's left hand, which had become free because of the back-scrubbing dance!

Kwon Eunbi was closing her eyes (out of shame) and working hard at scrubbing her back and humming when something heavy (relatively speaking) and soft was suddenly stuffed into her hand. She was startled, and her singing and movements came to an abrupt halt.

She lowered her head (a headgear motion) and looked at her left hand.

It was an inflatable toy hammer nearly a meter long, with a head the size of a basketball, golden and shiny, printed with the cartoon Lion King Simba's face. The handle was plastic and the head was soft PVC inflation; it looked majestic (child's toy version) but had zero lethality.

Kwon Eunbi: "..."