76: Chapter 76 Oh my god!

And how would the young Lim Ying-er (played by Jang Wonyoung), who had just shrunk due to magic exhaustion and knew nothing of this, be swept into the sweet and chaotic aftermath caused by her own (adult version) actions?

The corner of Jiang Zhiyu's mouth curled into that familiar, unfathomable arc once again.

The big scene was finished.

The core transition (Adult → Child) was complete.

The suspense of the "missing orion pie" had been planted.

Next, it was time to close the net and... reveal that "special segment."

He glanced at Jang Wonyoung, who was being helped into a coat by her assistant, still looking a bit dazed and immersed in her "young angel" state.

"Rest well, little angel," Jiang Zhiyu thought to himself.

"The real 'adventure'... has only just begun for you."

The sunlight remained bright, shining on the busy crew and the small, bewildered "young angel."

A sweet and absurd urban legend about chocolate-covered marshmallow pies was slowly unfolding in the world of the destined kim hyo-soon special episode.

——

A few days later, the atmosphere on set became subtle due to a scene that appeared ordinary but was actually filled with undercurrents. According to the script, they were filming the segment where "Young Angel Lim Ying-er's magic gradually fails." This scene was set in the attic of Kim Hyo-soon's house, a corner filled with dust and old items, yet gilded by the afternoon sun.

Jang Wonyoung wore the slightly worn-out (for the plot) angel dress, her mini halo tilting a bit dimly on her head. Following the instructions of the director and Jiang Zhiyu, she repeatedly tried to use magic to repair a toy angel whose wing she had accidentally broken as a child. However, no matter how hard she tried to strike a solemn (yet comical due to her age) pose and chant the strange-sounding spells she had invented, the golden light that should have appeared at her fingertips only flickered a few times before going out like a faulty light bulb. Once, she even tried to conjure a small flower, only for a puff of caramel-scented black smoke to emerge, making her cough and causing her small face to wrinkle up.

"CUT!" the director shouted. "Wonyoung, that feeling of 'trying hard but being powerless,' and the confusion and slight fear when the magic fails, was spot on! Especially the expression after the black smoke—very good!"

Jang Wonyoung breathed a sigh of relief and took a sip of water handed to her by her assistant. She was very invested in her acting and truly felt the helplessness of the character's magic spiraling out of control. But what she didn't know was that behind the monitor, Jiang Zhiyu's eyes weren't just glowing with simple satisfaction as he watched those "magic failure" shots; there was a glint of "everything going according to plan."

These seemingly trivial daily moments of "magic failure" were cleverly edited into the episodes being produced at full speed. The audience (residents of the drama's world) didn't notice at first, just thinking the weather had been a bit strange lately—occasionally there would be a sweet, sticky "chocolate drizzle," or the clouds in the sky would briefly take on the silhouette of a pie. Until one day, a delivery man wiped his sweat and happened to glance at the distant skyline—

The walkie-talkie in his hand fell to the ground with a thud.

The camera zoomed in rapidly along with his terrified, dilating pupils, piercing through the thin clouds.

There, above the city's concrete jungle, defying all laws of physics, floated an... indescribable "object."

It was a golden, crispy pie crust large enough to cover several blocks, its surface glistening with an enticing oily sheen. Atop the crust was a chocolate coating that rose like mountain ranges, so rich it was almost black, reflecting an ominous yet sickly sweet luster in the sun. It hung there silently, yet it exuded a suffocating pressure, as if a giant dessert had punched a hole in the sky, and this dessert was slowly but steadily "growing."

"An... Orion... Pie?" someone whispered the name with a trembling voice.

Panic spread through the city like ink dropping into clear water. Television news interrupted all programs to broadcast emergency reports of this "unknown giant floating object"; the internet crashed instantly, then was flooded with photos and videos of the "Giant Sky Pie" taken from various angles; people on the streets stopped to look up, their faces filled with absurd terror—this was harder to comprehend than an alien invasion. Could the sign of the end of the world really be a snack?

Just as the world (within the drama) fell into chaos and sweet-scented fear, a scene that would decide the "fate of the world" was being staged in the TG Entertainment studio. The set had been temporarily transformed into a bizarre space filled with dreamy candy colors yet carrying a sense of sacred solemnity—the "Heavenly Candy and Dessert Association" temporary human-world office.

Im Nayeon appeared in an outfit completely different from her usual energetic image. It was a modified archangel robe, the white base decorated with rainbow frosting-like sashes and chocolate coin buttons, with a pair of small angel wings on her back that looked like they were made of fondant, twitching slightly. Instead of a halo, she wore a crown embedded with a giant lollipop. However, in stark contrast to her cute, almost comical outfit, was her tightly set small face.

She tried hard to purse her lips, her round eyes straining to glare with authority, but because of her naturally cute features and her forced serious expression, it created a strange, amusing sense of gap moe. She walked up to the young Lim Ying-er (played by Jang Wonyoung), who was curled up in a corner, overwhelmed by the perception of the "Giant Sky Pie" and her own completely haywire magic.

"Ying-er," Im Nayeon spoke, her voice deliberately lowered in an attempt to sound solemn, though it still had a hint of a babyish tone, "you have made a grave mistake!"

Jang Wonyoung looked up, her large eyes filled with terrified tears, her mini halo nearly falling off.

"Using 'Snack and Dessert Abundance Magic'," Im Nayeon continued in her "serious" tone, while pulling a roll of gold-dusted parchment that looked like a giant receipt from her sleeve (like a magic trick), "requires a prior written application to the 'Heavenly Candy and Dessert Association' and the payment of a corresponding fee (calculated in happiness points)! You unauthorizedly cast such a large-scale, high-energy summoning spell, causing a magic circuit overload and the laws of reality to be warped by sweetness! Do you see that thing in the sky?" She extended a finger wearing a candy ring and pointed majestically at the studio ceiling (symbolizing the sky). "That is the 'Dessert Calamity' manifested from magic spiraling out of control! It is an 'SSS-rank Snack Safety Incident' explicitly forbidden by Chapter Seven, Article Thirty-five of the Association Handbook!"

A string of settings so absurd, yet spoken by her with such earnestness and even citations, made the surrounding staff struggle to hold back their laughter, their shoulders shaking. Jang Wonyoung almost broke character too, but her strong professionalism allowed her to quickly dive back into the young angel's despair.

"Then... then..." Jang Wonyoung's voice carried a sob, her small hands helplessly twisting the hem of her skirt, "is there no way? Can the... can the Association take it away?"

Im Nayeon shook her head "majestically," the lollipop crown on her head wobbling. "The Association's 'Extra-Standard Dessert Recovery Vehicle' is being dispatched across dimensions, but it takes time. And according to the magic dissipation rate, that 'Chaos Pie' will, in seventy-two... um, human hours, go 'BANG!' due to internal energy imbalance." She made an exaggerated explosion gesture, her expression becoming even more "grave." "By then, the entire city—no, perhaps the entire peninsula—will be covered by an eternal chocolate rain and pie crust fragment hurricane! Everything will become sweet... and sticky."

This apocalyptic prophecy sounded both terrifying and a bit... enticing coming from her? Jang Wonyoung was completely stunned, and her tears finally fell. "Waaah... I... I didn't mean to... I just wanted to eat..."

"Now is not the time for crying, Intern Angel Lim Ying-er!" Im Nayeon stepped forward, using her hand with the candy ring (trying to look powerful) to press down on Jang Wonyoung's small shoulders, forcing (though with her strength it was more like a gentle rest) the other to look at her. "The only way is for the caster herself, you, to re-establish a magic link with that 'Chaos Pie' before the recovery vehicle arrives. Use a purer, firmer 'craving' to guide it, soothe it, and make it stabilize temporarily!"

"A purer... firmer craving?" Jang Wonyoung repeated through her sobs.

"Exactly!" Im Nayeon nodded vigorously, her lollipop crown almost flying off as she quickly steadied it, continuing her "serious" act. "Forget those complex spells and gestures! Those are just external forms! Seek your own heart! What is your most primitive, most essential desire? What drove you, an angel, to risk breaking heavenly laws just to summon it?"

She leaned in close to Jang Wonyoung, her voice dropping to a low, mysterious allure (which looked especially hilarious given her cute face). "Say it! Shout it out loud! Let this craving become the new 'spell'!"

The set fell silent, and all cameras were focused on Jang Wonyoung. The lights hit her small face where tears hadn't yet dried, droplets still hanging from her long eyelashes. She seemed moved by Im Nayeon's words, her dazed eyes gradually focusing as some emotion brewed in her chest.

She took a deep breath, as if using all her strength, and facing the void (symbolizing her link with the Giant Sky Pie), she shouted that line destined to become a legendary scene—one that would likely lead to her being teased by fans and teammates for a long time—with a sobbing yet exceptionally loud, even slightly cracking voice:

"MY FAVORITE THING TO EAT IS orion pie—!!!"

The crisp, childish voice echoed through the studio, carrying a desperate sense of shame and the incredibly sincere... persistence of a foodie.

"CUT—!!!" the director's voice rang out, tinged with uncontrollable laughter.

"Perfect! One take!" Jiang Zhiyu stood up from behind the monitor, leading the applause with a brilliant smile. "That's the feeling! Shame, sincerity, and the tragic heroism of saving the world! Well done, Wonyoung! Senior Nayeon's 'Serious Archangel' also had a super gap moe—it was amazing!"

As soon as Jang Wonyoung finished shouting, her entire face turned beet red. She immediately squatted down, burying her face in her knees, leaving only the tips of her bright red ears visible. The sense of shame flooded over her like a delayed tsunami.

Im Nayeon couldn't hold it in any longer. Her "majestic" expression crumbled instantly, reverting to her familiar, smiling bunny-like face. She leaned over and poked Jang Wonyoung. "Oh my, our Wonyoung really sacrificed too much for world peace! This line will definitely go viral! Unnie promises!"

The surrounding staff burst into a wave of good-natured laughter and even more enthusiastic applause. The atmosphere on set shifted instantly from the "end of the world" gravity to a sea of joy.

Only Jiang Zhiyu, amidst the applause and laughter, let his gaze drift toward the window again (even though it was just a set), as if he could already see the scene when the episode aired—the audience being shocked (and dying of laughter) by the utterly absurd yet somehow hot-blooded plot and dialogue, and the explosive buzz that would follow.

Of course, the crisis of the "Chaos Giant Pie" in the sky wouldn't be resolved just like that. The young angel's shameful confession was only the first step in stabilizing it. Next, how to transform this "foodie's craving" into an actual, comedy-filled "rescue operation" would be the true climax of the show.

He was already looking forward to filming the next scene. It would be a grand, even more ridiculous and bustling scene where, under the threat of "chocolate rain," the entire populace (in the drama) would be mobilized to help the young angel "digest" or rather "divert" the energy of the Giant Sky Pie.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

The aftershocks of the laughter and teasing caused on set by Wonyoung's cringe-inducing "I love eating Orion the most!!!" had barely settled when Jiang Zhiyu, smiling, arrived with the new storyboard in hand, having tracked down Wonyoung, who was hiding in the corner of the lounge and trying to cover herself with her hat.

"Wonyoung," Jiang Zhiyu said, strolling up to her with the gentle tone of an elder caring for a junior, "Filming has been tough lately, hasn't it? You look like you've lost some weight."

Wonyoung immediately became alert, her spine straightening like a small animal sensing danger, but she subconsciously retorted with a bit of idol dignity, "Oppa, this is the standard idol physique required by the company! My health management is going great!"

She even secretly sucked in her stomach, trying to look a bit more poised in her slightly oversized angel dress.

The smile on Jiang Zhiyu's face deepened, and a clear glint of mischief flashed through those eyes that always seemed to hide a bit of calculation. He drew out his tone and, in a voice only those nearby could hear, softly spat out a few words: "Is that so... Hehehe."

The laughter was imitated in a low, deliberate rasp, carrying an undisguised sense of "I'm about to stir up trouble" glee.

Wonyoung: "..." Her small face turned a few shades paler in an instant, and a bad premonition wrapped around her heart like cold vines.

Jiang Zhiyu didn't continue to scare her, instead turning to the entire crew, his voice regaining the clarity and strength of a producer: "Everyone! The crisis of the 'Giant Sky Pie' is imminent, and the young angel's 'Sincere Call' has only temporarily stabilized its energy runaway trend."

"But according to the latest calculations from the 'Heavenly Candy and Dessert Association' (he cited Nayeon's setting with great seriousness), it is still slowly but continuously absorbing sugar and water vapor from the atmosphere, and its volume is still expanding! The countdown to the Chocolate Rain has not stopped!"

He paused to build tension, then suddenly waved his arm, pointing to a corner of the studio—there, the huge green screen had been set up, several large fans and fog machines were standing by, and most eye-catching of all was a large, round object covered by a dust sheet in front of the green screen.

"Conventional methods can no longer solve this problem!" Jiang Zhiyu's voice carried a sense of burning bridges, "We must adopt the most direct, most essential, and most fitting plan for an 'Angel's Gluttony'—"

The dust sheet was ripped away!

The lights all shone on the object.

A chorus of uncontrollable gasps and choking sounds erupted on set.

It was a... pie.

A pie so huge you had to look up at it, golden and crispy. The diameter was visibly close to three meters, the wrinkles of the pie crust at the edges were clearly visible, and it exuded an enticing aroma of baked butter. On top of the crust was a thick layer of mirror-smooth, rich-colored chocolate coating, shimmering alluringly under the lights. The entire "pie" was fixed by an equally huge, transparent ring support frame, slightly off the ground, as if it were truly a piece plucked from the sky.

But that wasn't the most shocking part. The most shocking part was that everyone could see the crust and chocolate layer... seemed to be real, edible materials! The air was filled with a genuine, sweet, baked aroma!

"This is a 'Concept Display Pie' specially customized for us by the orion pie factory, one hundred percent edible," Jiang Zhiyu said in the tone of someone introducing a new weapon, walking over to the giant pie and even reaching out to tap it lightly, producing a "knock-knock" sound that felt slightly dull and solid. "The thickness of the chocolate coating, the texture of the crust, the inner filling layer... all scaled up and restored according to standard proportions. Of course, to ensure... well, 'performance results' and actor safety, the internal structure has been lightened, but the exterior and key edible parts are the real deal."

He turned around, his gaze precisely locking onto Wonyoung, who had petrified on the spot, her little mouth slightly open, her pupils shaking.

"So, Wonyoung," Jiang Zhiyu's tone became coaxing, as if he were explaining a perfectly reasonable solution, "the final task of saving the world is entrusted to you."

Wonyoung's mind went blank, and she could only utter a single syllable: "...Huh?"

"Your 'Sincere Call' established the link," Jiang Zhiyu gestured, "Now, you need to personally 'fly' onto that 'Chaotic Giant Pie' in the sky (he pointed to the green screen, symbolizing special effects compositing), and use all your power to 'digest' it, or rather, to 'assimilate' it! And to help you find the feeling and overcome your fear, we need you to first get familiar with the 'target's' scale and... taste."

He pointed to the giant orion pie in front of them, his smile blindingly bright: "This scene is very simple. We will hoist you up with wires and fly you to the top of that pie—yes, right above this 'prop pie.' Then, all you need to do is—"

He took a deep breath, enunciating clearly and announcing with a resounding tone: "Eat it in big bites!"

"..."

Dead silence.

The set fell into an eerie, absolute silence that lasted for several seconds.

Then, as if Wonyoung had finally processed this overly explosive information, she gasped sharply, her eyes widening until they were almost popping out of their sockets, and her cheeks flushed red again at a visible speed—this time a mix of shock, shame, and absurdity.

She raised a trembling finger, pointing first at the three-meter-diameter giant pie, then at herself, her voice rising in disbelief and breakdown: "No! Oppa! What do you mean fly onto a super chocolate pie and eat a three-meter-diameter, one-hundred-percent-edible, orion pie factory-special-edition chocolate pie in big bites?!!!"

She even repeated that long, terrifyingly specific description in its entirety, with a trembling voice, as if that would make everyone around her realize how absurd this proposal was.

"How is it possible to finish eating this?! And... and..." She imagined the scene of herself being suspended in mid-air, lying on a giant dessert and "gnawing" at it, and the sense of shame erupted like a volcano, instantly submerging her, "What will this look like when it's filmed!!!"

The surrounding staff finally recovered from their shock. Someone let out a snort of laughter, and soon after, suppressed laughter, coughing, and whispers rose one after another. Even Nayeon, who had been watching the show from the side, covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking violently, and she was almost crying with laughter.

Jiang Zhiyu, however, acted as if he didn't see Wonyoung's breakdown or the laughter of the crowd, keeping a straight face as if this were a "serious world-saving plan": "Don't worry, Wonyoung, you don't need to actually finish it. We just need to film the shots of you 'trying hard to gnaw,' focusing on your expressions—that tragic sense of sacrificing yourself for the world and battling a giant snack, and also... well, the fleeting interweaving of happiness and guilt in your eyes when you realize it actually tastes pretty good. We'll handle the rest with editing and special effects, like the pie gradually shrinking and its light fading under your 'efforts.'"

He stepped forward and patted Wonyoung's stiff shoulder (the latter almost jumped), his tone softening with seduction: "Think about it, Wonyoung. This isn't just acting; this is true 'dedication to art,' no, 'dedication to world peace'! How impactful and memorable will this scene be when it airs? Your acting career will have a classic, legendary scene that has never been done before and will be hard to replicate! Isn't this... worth the challenge?"

Wonyoung looked at Jiang Zhiyu's eyes, which were flashing with excitement, calculation, and an undisguised "I want to see her break down" glint. She then looked at the chocolate pie, which was emitting a deadly sweet fragrance and looked like a small mountain, and felt the gazes of everyone around her (including Nayeon, who was holding back laughter), mixed with sympathy, curiosity, and anticipation... But Wonyoung was not comforted in the slightest.

The core of the problem wasn't about how much to eat or how to eat it! It was the setting itself! It was that she had to wear an angel dress, sport a mini halo, and perform "eating to her heart's content" on a real, giant, three-meter-diameter chocolate orion pie floating above the city!

The image was too beautiful; she didn't dare think about it. Just thinking about it made her feel that her idol career might be cast in an indelible, sweet, and bizarre shadow.

"But... does it really... have to be this way?" Wonyoung made a final struggle, her voice filled with a bit of pleading, "Can't we just resolve it with magic? Or... let the adult version of me (Im Yoona) do it? She... she is tall, maybe... maybe she's more suitable?" She didn't hesitate to "sell out" her senior.

Jiang Zhiyu shook his head, his smile still warm but with unquestionable firmness: "That won't work, Wonyoung. The magic is already out of control; only the original caster, which is the young version of you, can establish an effective link with the purest 'desire.' The magic nature of the adult version of Lim Ying-er is already different. This is the key to the plot logic."

He paused, looking at Wonyoung's little face, which was filled with despair and "I want to run away," his tone becoming even slower, but with the seductive power of a demon's whisper: "Think about it, Wonyoung. This will be an unprecedented legendary scene in the history of television. A cute little angel, in order to save the world, 'battles' on a giant chocolate pie in the sky. How much courage and strong belief does this require? This isn't just funny; this is a highlight moment for your character, a mixture of ultimate romance and innocence. What the audience will remember isn't what you ate, but the charm you radiated in that moment, going all out for others (and snacks)."

He leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping: "And, when filming, we'll do it in front of the green screen, with the background being the post-produced city skyline and the panoramic view of the 'Giant Pie.' All you actually need to touch is a large, partial prop placed on a safe platform. It's very safe. After filming this scene, you will be the hero who saved the 'world within the show.' Think about that sense of achievement when the end credits roll?"

Wonyoung opened her mouth, but found that any rebuttal was pale and powerless in the face of Jiang Zhiyu's combination punch of "plot logic + artistic height + safety guarantee + sense of achievement." She felt as if she were already standing on that green platform, which would later be replaced by the sky and the giant pie, biting into that specially made "pie crust" tragically (or perhaps comically in the eyes of the audience)...

She felt that her idol career, her dignity as an actress, and her sense of shame as an ordinary girl were, in the lingering echoes of Jiang Zhiyu's "hehehe" laughter, irrevocably... sliding down into that huge, golden, chocolate-flavored abyss.

The wire crew had already walked over with their equipment, wearing smiles that said, "We're ready."

Wonyoung sat dazed on the spot, staring blankly ahead. A few words echoed repeatedly in her brain: Fly to the sky... chocolate pie... three-meter diameter... eat in big bites...

After a long while, she let out a faint, almost sobbing whimper and buried her face in her arms again.

Her idol path... why on earth did it have to turn out like this?!

And Jiang Zhiyu had already impatiently sat back behind the monitor, picking up the walkie-talkie: "All departments, get ready! 'Angel Apocalypse (Dessert Version): The Final Battle—The Glutton's Redemption,' Scene 1, Take 1, Action!"