190: Chapter 188

An Yujin and Yabuki Nako quickly ran to the area where the small Mechanical Kitty Cat had fallen before, searching carefully. Sure enough, in the corners and crevices, they found several thumb-sized colored plastic marbles that had rolled away! They found a few each of red, blue, yellow, and green!

Meanwhile, Kim Chaewon, Lee Chaeyeon, Jo Yuri, and Honda Hitomi began their "weapon modification." Using the duct tape they found, they carefully and firmly bound the "jet head" of the multi-hole decompression toy to the front of the plastic toy gun's muzzle, ensuring it was as airtight as possible. Although it looked very crude and simple, like a failed experiment from a mad scientist, it at least formed the prototype of a "Pneumatic Marble Launcher."

Jang Wonyoung and Kwon Eunbi were responsible for observing the changing light patterns on the Mechanical Kitty Cat's chest and trying to predict the next color.

"It's red now!" Jang Wonyoung said in a low voice.

"Red marble ready!" An Yujin immediately handed over a red marble.

Lee Chaeyeon took the marble and somewhat clumsily stuffed it into one of the holes of the decompression toy (where it just happened to fit), then aimed the modified gun at the flashing red light on the distant Mechanical Kitty Cat's chest.

The Mechanical Kitty Cat was still playing with the ball of yarn, the red light on its chest flashing steadily.

"Chaeyeon Unnie, now!" Kwon Eunbi ordered.

Lee Chaeyeon took a deep breath, gripped the crude "launcher" with both hands, aimed, and then squeezed the decompression toy's body with force!

"Pfft—shhh!"

An airflow, not particularly strong but enough to push the marble, sprayed out from the joint!

The red plastic marble was pushed out by the airflow, drawing a low, flat arc as it flew toward the Mechanical Kitty Cat's chest!

Everyone's hearts were in their throats.

"Thump!"

A slight impact sound, almost masked by the sound of mechanical operation.

The red marble accurately hit the flashing red light area on the Mechanical Kitty Cat's chest!

"Meow—?!" The Mechanical Kitty Cat's body jolted violently, and its movement of batting the yarn ball stopped. The red light on its chest that had been hit flickered a few times and then... went out! At the same time, its massive body seemed to sway imperceptibly, emitting a "creak" of metal friction.

"It worked!!" Everyone couldn't help but whisper, their faces filled with pleasant surprise!

"The color counter worked!" Jang Wonyoung said excitedly. "Quick! Prepare the next color! Blue! The blue light on its chest is on!"

With the experience of the first success, the subsequent process was much smoother. The girls had a clear division of labor: observing the color, passing the corresponding marble, loading, aiming, and firing!

"Pfft—thump!" The blue marble hit the blue light, and the blue light went out.

"Pfft—thump!" The yellow marble hit the yellow light, and the yellow light went out.

"Pfft—thump!" The green marble hit the green light, and the green light went out.

With each light extinguished, the Mechanical Kitty Cat's movements became more sluggish, the metallic noise from its body grew louder, and its steam venting became erratic. When the final purple light on its chest (they were lucky enough to find a purple marble as well) was "extinguished" in the same way—

"Meow... woo... creak... rumble!!!"

The Mechanical Kitty Cat emitted a series of unintelligible electronic wails and loud metal-twisting sounds. Its massive body shook violently, all the lights on its chest went out completely, and the exhaust pipe let out one last thick plume of steam (the dry ice effect was in full force). Then, as if it had exhausted all its energy, it crashed down to one side!

"Clang-clang-clang—!!!"

The massive metal body slammed onto the ground, making a deafening sound (enhanced by sound effects) and kicking up a cloud of smoke (dry ice and dust).

The dust slowly cleared, and that once-arrogant "Mechanical Meow King" turned into a heap of motionless metal wreckage lying quietly on the ground.

"We... cleared it?" Kang Hye-won still couldn't quite believe it as she took off the stuffy Sheep Horn Helmet from her head.

"We... we defeated it!" An Yujin cheered.

"That's great!" Kwon Eunbi also breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on her face.

The girls high-fived and hugged each other. Although the process was absurd and the weapon crude, the sense of accomplishment from successfully solving the problem through their own observation, reasoning, and cooperation against a powerful enemy (?) was real.

Jang Wonyoung looked at the "wreckage," then at the remaining marbles and the crude "launcher" in her hand, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up. This feeling of puzzle-solving and cooperation seemed... a little more interesting than simply being arranged by PD Kang to do embarrassing tasks?

Of course, she didn't forget the main business.

"Quick! The Metal Attribute Zone is cleared! Ahead should be the next elemental zone!" Jang Wonyoung pointed behind the Mechanical Kitty Cat, toward the passage leading into the unknown depths that had been revealed after the wall cracked open. "Let's go save Yena Unnie!"

The "Rescue Duck X" operation had taken a solid (and absurd) first step!