Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 428

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 428: Episode 81: A Dumpling’s Reminiscence (1)

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“Hey! Are you outsiders?”

The man was middle-aged, but looked somewhat elderly.

The polite Shin Yuseong stepped forward first and greeted him.

“We’re on our way to the western world to find Buddha.”

“Oh, Buddha? You must be eminent monks, despite your appearances!”

As the middle-aged man exclaimed, Gilyeong stood with his hands behind his back and cleared his throat.

The old man looked at the two children with an odd expression before turning to me.

“Then the tall, handsome fellow beside you is also... Eek!”

The middle-aged man had gone pale as he stared at the martial arts dumpling on my shoulder.

“Th-that’s a martial arts dumpling...?”

“Oh, it’s just a doll. I like dumplings.”

“Is that so? That startled me.”

The middle-aged man rubbed his chest, looking as though he had been frightened out of his wits.

Judging by the armband on his shoulder, he seemed to be the factory’s work foreman.

This was a good opportunity, so we decided to ask.

“What exactly is this factory? Why are you making so many dumplings here?”

“Don’t tell me you came here without knowing anything?”

The middle-aged man looked at us in bewilderment, then sighed deeply.

“This is all the work of a terrifying monster of fable.”

“A monster of fable?”

“That’s right. This place wasn’t originally a factory complex.”

According to the middle-aged man, this had once been a peaceful village. Then one day, a tall, dark-skinned, musclebound monster of fable resembling a pig appeared. It kidnapped every woman in the village and used the men as slaves to build this factory.

“That bastard took my daughter and wife as concubines, then imprisoned us here! A special divine power surrounds this factory, so the slaves can’t leave as they please. And that monster of fable eats so much... Even if we make dumplings all day, there aren’t enough hands.”

[The factory’s production system is looking for a work foreman!]

“Oh no! I have to go.”

The middle-aged man hurriedly put on sanitary gloves and a mask before heading toward the conveyor belt.

As I stepped forward to say something, Yuseong grabbed the middle-aged man.

“It’s wrong for you to be forced into this kind of labor. And that monster of fable kidnapped the women too, right? We can’t leave things like this.”

As expected of my Incarnation. Of course, she had probably acted that way because the story had to move forward...

“We’ll help you. Where is that monster of fable?”

“Even if you are monks, that monster of fable is... Will you really help us?”

“Of course.”

The middle-aged man’s eyes darted rapidly before he explained where the monster was.

“Then I’m counting on you! Please defeat that monster of fable!”

We nodded and headed in the direction the middle-aged man pointed.

(The dumpling monster of fable is at the end of this 「Dumpling Road」.)

We began walking along the Dumpling Road formed by the conveyor belts.

As if unable to resist, Gilyeong picked up dumplings and ate them along the way.

“This is good!”

Of course it was. These were Murim Dumplings, after all.

Yet the authority on Murim Dumplings seemed to think otherwise.

―The scent is strange.

‘What?’

―Give me a dumpling.

Following behind the children, I carefully picked up a dumpling and handed it to the martial arts dumpling on my shoulder. Watching a dumpling taste another dumpling was quite grotesque.

―The ingredient proportions are wrong. Whoever made these hasn’t mastered Murim Dumplings.

The martial arts dumpling [999] wore an unhappy expression, then began ordering me to do this and that.

―Add half a spoonful more of what’s in that green container.

We still had a long way to go, so I followed his instructions and added ingredients to the dumpling wrapper.

―It must be cooked in the flames of Samadhi True Fire. Set the steamer so the yellow flame is at its center and heat it.

Maybe this was a dream. I was walking along the Dumpling Road while receiving cooking lessons from a dumpling.

How much farther had I walked along that surreal road?

At its end, I obtained an appetizing pack of Murim Dumplings.

As I watched [999] nod proudly, I wondered what I had even done.

“I think that’s the destination.”

I looked where Yuseong was pointing.

At the end of the conveyor belt stood tall stone walls and a passage leading to a new residential district. A few workers were carrying packaged dumplings inside.

That seemed to be where the dumplings were consumed.

As we approached, a guard spoke to us.

“Who are you?”

Yuseong smiled sweetly and replied.

“We humble monks are on our way to Western Heaven to pay our respects to Buddha and receive the scriptures. We happened to pass through this road. Would it be all right if we entered?”

“Ah, are you the Tang Monk’s party we’ve only heard about?”

“That’s right.”

Listening to that conversation, I was dumbfounded.

We had begun this journey only a few days ago. There was no way word of us could have reached all the way here.

[You have come to know the fable Words Faster Than Feet!]

Yuseong whispered to me again.

“Apparently, it was always like this in the original work.”

Ah, so that was how it was.

[Some judges marvel at the Scenario Master’s attention to detail.]

[10 bonus points have been added for accurately reflecting the original work!]

They even considered faithfully copying the original work’s implausibility as attention to detail... Amazing.

The gatekeeper said, “I’m sorry, but our village does not permit outsiders. I apologize for the trouble you took to come all this way, but please go around another way... Urk!”

Perhaps the gatekeeper had talked too long, because Gilyeong thumped him in the stomach and knocked him out. Gilyeong spoke as though making an excuse.

“Let’s just hurry up, catch that monster of fable, and finish it off. Suyeong noona said the viewers like it when the story moves quickly.”

That bastard Han Suyeong had taught him something really useful.

[Some viewers are satisfied with Xuanzang’s judgment.]

[You have gained 1 additional bonus point!]

I looked at Yuseong and Gilyeong.

“Then let’s go inside.”

“No, mister, you stay here.”

“What?”

“Sun Wukong is just along for the ride here.”

“But...”

“Haah. I didn’t want to do this if I could help it, seriously.”

Yuseong gripped her prayer beads and began chanting something.

“Maha Prajna Paramita Kim Dokja. Stop fooling around and stay still Heart Sutra...”

What?

[Xuanzang has recited the Tightening Headband Spell!]

[The item Golden Headband has reacted!]

A pain as though my head were splitting apart overwhelmed me, and I fainted on the spot.

* * *

So this was the Tightening Headband Spell I had only heard about.

When I woke up again, Yuseong and Gilyeong had already disappeared deeper into the village.

I looked beside me and found the dumpling staring at me as though mocking me.

―What are you going to do?

‘I’m going after them.’

Normally, it would have been fine to leave things to the children. They were Incarnations strong enough to manage without my help now.

Still, I had an uneasy feeling.

(If Sun Wukong’s expectation was correct, the being he would meet this time had already been decided.)

Murim Dumplings did remind me of someone.

But I couldn’t understand how that person had become a villain who ran a factory with slaves and kidnapped women...

(At that moment, someone spotted Sun Wukong.)

“Eek! A monster of fable!”

When I turned around, a few women were standing there.

(The women were startled when they saw Sun Wukong’s appearance.)

They backed away, pointing at my monkey ears growing through my golden hair. Then they noticed the dumpling on my shoulder and addressed me familiarly.

“You seem to like Murim Dumplings.”

“Does that mean he’s a good monster of fable?”

I had no idea why that logic made sense, but since things had come to this, it worked out well.

“Are you the people who were kidnapped?”

The women looked at one another as though they didn’t understand.

“Kidnapped? Nothing like that ever happened to us.”

“But I heard a dark, pig-like monster of fable kidnapped you.”

“A pig? Do you mean Bajie-nim?”

“Our Bajie-nim’s skin is a little tanned, but it isn’t dark enough to call it pitch-black...”

“Some parts of him do resemble a pig. His thick arms and firm thighs, for example. But he isn’t a pig...”

Something was going very wrong.

Just then, a great commotion erupted from the center of the village, and I ran toward it. It was obvious who had caused it.

“Stop!”

A child’s voice rang out loudly. Pushing through the crowd of women, I saw a large palanquin in the center of the village square and the two children blocking its path.

It was Gilyeong and Yuseong, of course.

Gilyeong stepped forward like a little general and shouted, “You are the monster of fable who kidnapped all the women in this village and built a dumpling factory to satisfy your selfish desires!”

[Some viewers praise Xuanzang’s cuteness!]

[The judge Heir of Shakyamuni has added 5 bonus points.]

He really was cute.

No matter who was inside that palanquin, there was no way they could fight a child after hearing a line like that... No, that bastard might be an exception.

Then, in the next moment, a terrifying Status swept out from inside the curtained palanquin.

“Lower the palanquin.”

A deep voice came from within. It was a voice with the incredible power to change the mood around it with a single utterance.

I swallowed hard and moved up behind the children.

“I told you to stay back because it’s dangerous!”

“It’s more dangerous when you leave me behind like that.”

The curtain of the palanquin slowly opened. Then the monster of fable in question emerged from within.

(Sun Wukong knew who he was.)

(Marshal Tianpeng, Zhu Bajie.)

Yuseong stared blankly with her mouth open.

“Zhu Bajie...?”

(Sun Wukong thought something was wrong.)

(It was because this was not the Zhu Bajie he remembered.)

For a moment, it felt as though the scales of beauty in this world had tipped.

An impossible wave of cheers erupted.

“Ooooooh! Zhu Bajie-nim!”

If someone like him were called one of the monsters of fable, it wouldn’t be entirely wrong.

It made no sense for a human to have an appearance like that.

His eyebrows looked as though a famous painter had drawn them with a single bold stroke. His nose and jawline extended at angles so perfect they seemed impossible to measure with humanity’s crude protractors. His eyes looked like every sorrow in the world had been gathered and carved into beautiful gems.

Anyone who wasn’t captivated by that appearance would be the abnormal one.

In fact, the people of the village, young and old, men and women alike, were showering him with praise.

“Long live Zhu Bajie-nim!”

“Founder of Murim Dumplings!”

Bajie was stepping down from the palanquin in a half-open black vest and dark blue jeans.

“The time has finally come to settle this! You dark-skinned bastard!”

As though he had expected this, Gilyeong shouted triumphantly.

Gilyeong swung his little fists as though twirling a firebrand and charged at Bajie.

Of course, it had no chance of working.

“Let me go! You pig!”

Bajie easily grabbed Gilyeong by the back of his neck and lifted him up. He gave Yuseong a quick glance before striding steadily toward me.

“You bastard. Are you Sun Wukong?”