Chapter 24: Cultural Plunder

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The following day, Qiu Ren packed up his things, putting all the manuscripts he wrote and the concept maps he drew in this world into the luggage.

Some of these manuscripts were handwritten by Qiu Ren, and the rest were printed out with a printer. All the manuscripts were stored inside the laptop.

Qiu Ren couldn’t take too many things with him, only bringing some clothes. He would buy other things like bed sheets at school with the money Fengdu Prison gave him.

Before Qiu Ren left, he walked to the memorial tablets of the parents of the original owner. He ignited three incense sticks and gently bowed three times in front of their portraits.

“Your son is going to university. What a shame… You can’t see that anymore.”

Qiu Ren said softly as he stuck the three incense sticks on an incense burner covered with incense ashes…

After Qiu Ren offered incense sticks to his parents, he made a simple breakfast for himself. When he finished eating, he got a call from Kan Shaoni. She must have already arrived and was waiting for Qiu Ren downstairs.

The three incense sticks on the incense burner happened to burn out as well at this time. Qiu Ren had a final look at this empty home with his luggage. He gently sighed as he completely shut the door.

From now on, he would be a university student. Going from an office worker back to a university student, this feeling was… quite hard to explain.

Kan Shaoni’s car was parked downstairs at Qiu Ren’s home. Judging by her actions, this Dream Explorer Captain was planning to take him all the way to his university after learning about his family background.

On the one hand, it was to protect Qiu Ren’s safety. And on the other hand, it was kind of a paid leave for her?

Qiu Ren also couldn’t figure out this auntie’s thoughts. However, there was another person sitting in the back seat of her car. It was Qiu Ren’s classmate, Lin Wanxiang.

In Qiu Ren’s impression, she was the calmest one in yesterday’s incident when the Nightmare Seed in Fengdu Prison lost control. Many of the other schoolmates cried out of fear after they were kept in Fengdu Prison. They regretted going there.

And yet, Lin Wanxiang looked fine. She only held a novel in her hands and kept reading until the end.

Today, she sat in the backseat of Kan Shaoni’s car with her earphones on, probably listening to music. There was a paperback novel in her hands, and she was reading it quietly.

When she felt Qiu Ren’s gaze, she took off the left earphone and waved gently at him, who was standing outside the window of the car. The way she waved was a bit like squeezing something. Wasn’t it kind of cute?

However, Lin Wanxiang’s expression didn’t change much. After she greeted Qiu Ren, she put the earphone back on and continued reading.

Don’t you feel dizzy when you read in the car?

Qiu Ren actually wanted to ask her this, but he turned to Kan Shaoni, who was in the driver’s seat.

“Xiao Wan is also a special student of the Nightmare Purification Major. She has to report to the university. I know her family, so I’m just giving her a lift.”

While Kan Shaoni was talking, she waved at Qiu Ren. He walked to the passenger seat with a confused look.

“Qiu Ren, which university did you choose? I heard that you’ve been helping Xiao Wan with her homework at school? You’re aiming for Qingbei University, right? Unfortunately, Qingbei University isn’t planning to accept you. When Xiao Wan knew about this, she immediately changed her choice as well.”

Even though Kan Shaoni tried her best to lower her volume, Qiu Ren felt like Lin Wanxiang could still hear the tone of this auntie next door when she asked Lin Wanxiang’s parents “if their daughter wanted to go on a blind date,” no matter how hard she tried to speak softly.

At night? Helping with her homework?

Qiu Ren recalled the memory of the original owner of the body and found that such a thing had indeed happened.

The original owner was an elite student in his class, and Lin Wanxiang was also the same. However, the original owner was the kind of elite student who worked his ass off, while Lin Wanxiang was just lucky.

He didn’t know when it started. Qiu Ren would help Lin Wanxiang with her homework after school. The two of them agreed to study hard with Qingbei University as their goal. If this was put in other novels, it would definitely be a youthful and inspirational plot!

“So, which university did you choose? It must be Yangmei University… Yangmei University is the best among the universities that are willing to accept you,” Kan Shaoni said with confidence.

“Um… I chose North City University.” Qiu Ren showed his application form to this auntie speechlessly.

“North City University?”

Kan Shaoni was shocked, while Lin Wanxiang, who was listening to music and reading her novel in the back seat, suddenly closed the novel with one hand.

Kan Shaoni exchanged a glance with Lin Wanxiang in the back seat through the rear-view mirror. Lin Wanxiang’s eyes were full of four words, “You lied to me!”

“Qiu Ren, why did you choose… North City University? I’m not saying North City University is bad, but… just forget about Qingbei University rejecting you. Isn’t it better for your future development as a Dream Maker if you choose Yangmei University, which is located right next to Qingbei University?”

Kan Shaoni truly couldn’t understand what Qiu Ren was thinking in his head.

Qingbei University was a comprehensive institute. They indeed had the top training in the field of Dream Maker in the country, but Yangmei University wasn’t bad either. It was also a top-notch university that focused on training Dream Makers in various related aspects.

Similarly, North City University was a first-tier university as well, but it wasn’t good enough when compared to the other two world-class universities.

“There are a lot of complicated reasons. I can’t elaborate on it in detail.”

Qiu Ren couldn’t say that he was waiting for himself to grow up, right?

As Kan Shaoni listened to Qiu Ren’s foolish words, she could only regret not giving Qiu Ren some guidance in university selection before handing him the university catalogs.

However, she was someone who had graduated from university and had been working in society for seven to eight years. As the party in question, Qiu Ren should know which university to choose much better than she did.

The thing was, Lin Wanxiang’s slightly cold gaze gave Kan Shaoni a bit of a headache.

“Is Wanxiang applying for Yangmei University?” asked Qiu Ren.

“Hm, Xiao Wan… chose Yangmei University on my recommendation, but it’s alright! The two universities are close to each other! You’re also taking the university exam for special candidates today together! It only takes a few minutes to walk from one university to another.”

Kan Shaoni said as she opened the door of the back seat and asked Qiu Ren to get back there. He refused. After putting the luggage in the trunk, he sat in the passenger seat.

This made Kan Shaoni raise her eyebrows a bit. She truly wanted to rub Qiu Ren’s head and say to him, “You kid! If you don’t seize the opportunity while you’re still in university, you won’t be able to find a girlfriend after you get into society!”

But looking at Qiu Ren’s handsome face, Kan Shaoni felt like she didn’t have the courage to say that. There should be many senior girls chasing after Qiu Ren once he went to university, right? She wondered if Xiao Wan could get the opportunity.

So, Kan Shaoni anxiously drove along the way and sent Qiu Ren and Lin Wanxiang to the airport.

The atmosphere in the car was a bit embarrassing. Qiu Ren also took out his cell phone to watch the latest news.

Qiu Ren still hadn’t seen any news about PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, but he saw another one he was very concerned about!

“The new movie ‘The Monkey King’ jointly created by Universal Pictures breaks through 190 million U.S. dollars in the box offices on the first day of release around the world! The momentum in the box offices is still rising!”

There was also a small advertisement under the title, saying that the Dream Dungeon with the same name as the movie was already open for booking.

This was a common way of operating commercial Dream Dungeons. People first filmed a movie version. If it received a positive response, they would open the Dream Dungeon that corresponded to the movie to the public, allowing them to experience it themselves.

Dream Games were also the same. Qiu Ren could find both the PC and host version of the popular Dream Game Dungeons in the world.

But the problem was… Journey to the West filmed by Americans?

Qiu Ren glanced over the plot of the movie called “The Monkey King.” Even though it was set in a modern city, the main character was called Wukong Sun. Its image was a monkey with a hairy face, a sharp mouth, shrunken cheeks, and an upper lip that stuck out.

The difference was that the character of the Monkey King in the movie was much more domineering. He was a lively leader of a gang who wore a suit.

The story was even set in a modern city… This was a combination of the Chinese and American cultures. Were they starting to make things up?

“Are there movies based on Journey to the West in foreign countries?” Qiu Ren asked Kan Shaoni, who was driving next to him.

“Of course. Those people want to defile the image of our Great Sage, turning our Monkey King to theirs. So, there will be such kinds of movies from time to time, but they can’t depict the real Monkey King well.”

Kan Shaoni also knew about the movie that was released recently, but she didn’t think movies based on Journey to the West in foreign countries could cause any great furor.

They couldn’t depict the real Monkey King well? What was the Monkey King truly like?

Qiu Ren immediately went silent as he looked at his phone. In his original world, the foreigners, in fact… thought of the Monkey King more like Japan’s Kakarot, the super Saiyan who collected the seven dragon balls, rather than a Great Sage wearing golden armor and creating chaos in the heavenly palace with a golden hoop in Journey to the West.

This was the phenomenon of cultural plunder.

However, the filmmakers and game creators in the Celestial Empire in this world were very strong, so strong that they made Qiu Ren gasp in awe.

In these three days, what pleased Qiu Ren the most was that there were quite a lot of high-quality related works in the Celestial Empire in this world.

The movies based on Journey to the West they filmed didn’t only sweep the box office within the country, but they also had outstanding performance and reputation in the box office of foreign countries.

They told the whole world what the Monkey King should be like. Even with a certain degree of adaptation, they still kept the “spirit” and “inner character” of the Monkey King very, very well.

Only then would people in the Celestial Empire, or even around the world, think that the Monkey King was the hero of the world.

Only then could the Monkey King created in the Level SS Dream Dungeon protect the border of the Celestial Empire from the evil invasions from the outside world.

However, there were people in foreign countries who were trying to take away the image of this Great Sage and the name of the Monkey King right now. It also created a huge impact on the Monkey King in the Level SS Dream Dungeon.

Qiu Ren remembered that the difference between a Level SS Dream Seed and the other Dream Seeds was that its power could be taken by the characters with the same name.

So, if this “Monkey King” movie became popular in foreign countries, the Monkey King in the Celestial Empire would also be affected. It was simple to get back the dispersed power. The Celestial Empire only needed to create another movie based on Journey to the West to teach the world how they should behave.

This wasn’t something Qiu Ren should worry about right now. There were many movie directors and game creators in the Celestial Empire who were much more talented than those in his original world. They would protect the image of the Monkey King.

However, this might take a while. In this period of time, Qiu Ren only hoped that the Monkey King’s—their own Level SS Dream Seed wasn’t affected.

He hoped that he could spend some time peacefully in university… When he grew stronger, he might be able to beat those two Level SS Dream Seeds in America and Europe.