189: Chapter 187

The Mechanical Kitty Cat, which had been chasing Kang Hye-won, seemed to have its attention caught by this sudden, rolling, giant "yarn ball." Its "eyes," made of light bulbs, flickered, and its chasing motion came to a halt. Its massive metal head tilted slightly to one side, letting out a confused:

"Meow—?"

Then, under the stunned gazes of everyone (including Kang Hye-won and Lee Chaeyeon), this three-story-tall, imposing "Mechanical Meow King" actually seemed to have some instinct etched into its DNA triggered (if mechanical creations even have DNA). It abandoned its pursuit of Kang Hye-won and instead took heavy, clanking steps toward that rolling "yarn ball flame bowling ball"!

It lowered its massive metal head and extended a sharp metal claw—not to attack, but... cautiously and with a hint of curiosity, it lightly batted the yarn ball with the tip of its claw!

The yarn ball was nudged and rolled a bit.

"Meow~?" The Mechanical Kitty Cat seemed to find it very interesting and batted it again.

Then, like a big cat that had discovered a new toy, it began to focus and clumsily play with the rolling yarn ball! It batted it with its paws, kicked it with its "feet," and even tried to headbutt it, completely forgetting the existence of the two "Star Saints" standing nearby.

Kang Hye-won and Lee Chaeyeon took the opportunity to escape the danger zone and return to the others. Both of them stared blankly at the absurd scene in the distance—a giant mechanical monster playing with a yarn ball—unable to speak for a long time.

"This... this actually works?" Lee Chaeyeon murmured.

"Wonyoung... how did you think of that?" Kang Hye-won also looked incredulous.

Jang Wonyoung breathed a sigh of relief, a triumphant smile appearing on her small face as she explained, "I just thought, no matter how big or powerful it becomes, its basic setting is still a 'Kitty Cat'! And one of the natural instincts of a cat is to be easily attracted to moving objects, especially things like balls of yarn! So I just..."

Everyone realized the logic, and their gazes toward Jang Wonyoung were filled with admiration. Sure enough, in critical moments, they had to rely on the "wisdom" (and wild imagination) of an aquarius!

Meanwhile, the "Mechanical Meow King" was currently having the time of its life, and the threat was temporarily neutralized.

Taking advantage of this opening, the group quickly gathered to discuss the next step—how to use this rare opportunity to truly "defeat" the big guy, pass the Metal Attribute Stage, and save Choi Yena!

Watching the massive "Mechanical Meow King" in the distance enthusiastically batting the yarn ball flame bowling ball and having a blast, the direct threat was temporarily gone. The members of IZ*ONE finally caught their breath and quickly gathered in a safe area at the edge of the field to urgently discuss their strategy.

"We can't go on like this," Kwon Eunbi, as the leader, was the first to calm down and analyze the situation. "Although we've temporarily distracted it with the yarn ball, we can't just stand here and watch it play forever. We must find a way to truly 'defeat' it so we can pass through this Metal Attribute area and rescue Yena."

"But how do we defeat it?" An Yujin frowned. "It's so big and covered in metal. Hye-won Unnie's bowling ball and Chaeyeon Unnie's plastic gun are completely useless. Wonyoung's yarn ball is only for distraction, not an attack."

Lee Chaeyeon (still wearing that green "Free Shooter Saint Cloth," looking slightly embarrassed) added, "And I've run out of plastic bullets... though it doesn't make much difference even if I had them."

Everyone turned their gaze toward Jang Wonyoung, hoping she would come up with another brilliant plan.

Jang Wonyoung pursed her lips slightly, her bright eyes fixed on the Mechanical Kitty Cat. Her gaze was particularly focused on the "gems" (light bulbs) on the Kitty Cat's chest that were constantly flashing and changing colors. Those colorful lights—red, blue, yellow, green, purple... flashed alternately, seemingly not at random.

"Everyone, look at its chest," Jang Wonyoung pointed to the core area of the Mechanical Kitty Cat. "Those flashing lights have different colors. The smaller Kitty Cats before were also distinguished by different colored bows. Producer Kang's stage design likely has some kind of color-corresponding mechanism."

Her brain worked rapidly, combining the previous "color chain" game and the Five Elements (though it was a bit of a stretch), a hypothesis gradually took shape: "I guess its weakness might be that chest core! We need to attack it with 'weapons' of the corresponding attribute... or at least the corresponding color, based on the different lights flashing from the core for it to be effective!"

"Weapons of the corresponding color?" Kang Hye-won (still wearing the Aries horn helmet) tilted her head, looked at her empty hands, and then at the pile of miscellaneous props nearby. "Where do we have weapons of corresponding colors? The flame bowling ball is red-orange, but we tried that earlier and it didn't seem to work. Could it be... we need specific colored bullets? Or light?"

This was indeed a difficult problem. Although their "Sacred Objects" were varied, precisely matching the constantly changing colors on the Mechanical Kitty Cat's chest would not be easy. And even if they had something with a matching color, how would they project it? Lee Chaeyeon's plastic gun was out of bullets, Kang Hye-won's bowling ball throwing accuracy was worrying, and it might not even deliver an effective "strike" to the core.

Just as everyone fell into deep thought again, staring worriedly at the shifting spots of light on the Mechanical Kitty Cat's chest, a somewhat hesitant but clear voice rang out.

It was Jo Yuri (gemini).

She had been quietly observing and seemed to have remembered something. She said softly but with certainty:

"I... I remember!"

"When those 'tiny metal Kitty Cats' that were defeated earlier were being dragged away by the staff, I think I saw... in some of the cracked or gapped parts, inside... there seemed to be different colored plastic marbles rolling around! Just like... like the colored beads in toys!"

Jo Yuri's words were like a bolt of lightning through the darkness, instantly illuminating everyone's thoughts!

"Plastic marbles?!"

"Different colors?!"

"Inside the small Kitty Cats?!"

Kwon Eunbi immediately followed up, "Yuri, did you see clearly? Roughly what colors were there?"

Jo Yuri tried to recall, "Um... red, blue, yellow... and I think green? They're very similar to the colors flashing on its chest!"

"Yes! That's it!" Jang Wonyoung's eyes lit up. "Those small Kitty Cats are the 'Mechanical Meow King's' subordinates or 'clones,' and they have 'energy cores' (plastic marbles) of corresponding colors inside them! And the light on the big Kitty Cat's chest might be an indicator of the 'core color' that needs to be attacked right now!"

"So," An Yujin quickly picked up, "we need to find those scattered plastic marbles of the corresponding colors, and then find a way to shoot them at the matching colored light spots on the big Kitty Cat's chest!"

"But where are the marbles?" Lee Chaeyeon looked toward the area where the small Kitty Cats had fallen. It had been mostly cleared by the staff, but maybe there were some left behind?

"And even if we find the marbles, what do we use to launch them?" Kang Hye-won raised the most critical question. "Chaeyeon Unnie's gun uses plastic bullets, the caliber wouldn't match, right? And she's out of bullets. Don't tell me... we throw them by hand?"

Throwing such small marbles by hand and accurately hitting a specific light spot on the chest of a giant mechanical cat that was constantly moving (even if it was playing with a yarn ball right now)? The difficulty was comparable to winning the lottery.

Just as everyone was worrying about a "launcher," the production team's prompt board seemed to light up "belatedly," as if they had just "remembered" this setting:

[Key Item Discovered: "Colored Core Marbles"!]

[Please collect the scattered marbles of corresponding colors!]

[Launcher Device Tip: You can utilize the "Sacred Objects" on the field for assembly and modification!]

Assembly and modification?

Everyone's eyes once again swept over the pile of props. Juice bottles? Soap? Stress relief toys? Energy bars?... Which one looked like it could be modified into a marble launcher?

At that moment, Kim Chaewon's (scorpio) gaze fell upon the toy plastic gun on Lee Chaeyeon's back, and then at a strangely shaped ZZ-brand stress relief toy provided by a sponsor nearby—it was a multi-holed, soft rubber toy that looked a bit like a lotus seed head, which would puff out air from the small holes when squeezed hard.

A flash of inspiration hit her brain: "Chaeyeon Unnie's gun! Although it can't fire bullets anymore, what if... we find a way to connect the air outlet of that stress toy to the gun barrel? Then use the pressure to 'blow' the marbles out? Like... a simple air gun?"

The idea was bold, but it seemed... slightly feasible? After all, the structure of a toy gun was relatively simple, and the stress toy could provide airflow.

"But how do we connect them?" Lee Chaeyeon took the plastic gun off her back, looked at the muzzle, and then at the multi-holed stress toy.

"Use tape!" Miyawaki Sakura spoke up suddenly, pointing to the prop box. "There's Duct tape in there! (The kind of tape often used to fix props during filming.)"

No sooner said than done! Once the goal was clear, the girls' ability to take action exploded instantly. This was no longer just about following Producer Kang's instructions, but a process of truly using their brains and working together to solve a problem, even if they were solving an absurd "stage."