r/noveltranslations

We all talk about what web novels are best and what to read. But we never talk about how we read them and how much time consumed by these because let's be honest novels consume a lot of time. My self, I binge read them mostly,it becomes a compulsion to read( of course mostly depends on how good they are) I read so much that some times I dream about them and wake up at night, and read again. So here is the question, how do you guys read them, how do you feel while reading..

I don't really get the hype around it, it's just slop, I read LOTM loved it, tried shadow slave enjoyed that too and thought id give RI a go but its just power fantasy slop I dont really get the hype. I got pretty far in around where he turns into a zombie. The plot goes Fy does something edgy, then he gets into trouble, then ex machina to victory. I don't think i would have such an issue with it if it wasn't so hyped. LOTM and SS definitely S-tier, but RI is just a very strong B tier slop, it doesn't offer anything new other than excessive cynicism and edginess. My favourite parts are where he's formed a sort of partnership with Bai Ning cus he has someone to bounce off and someone limiting him, but he pretty much gets away with anything and always wins.

Also that bear scene? Wtf? if you're not a 14 year old boy, there isn't much to enjoy in RI, it's the same crowd that wants to be a manipulator like Classroom of the Elite.

TL:DR - I dont really get why RI is so hyped and wanted to complain about it.

The story revolves around the mc solving a number maths equations and stuff very technical at one point he goes to a foreign university( Harvard I think)as a teacher I think and gets a Assistant and also helps her do some math and help her do her thesis etc. The novel never wears off from the academic side.

I'm looking for a BL quick-transmigration (QT) novel and can't remember the title. I only remember one arc, which was set in China around the 1950s or 1960s.

What I remember:

• The MC transmigrates into a young man's body.
• MC's mother wants or needs to move to another place, but because she wants MC to continue studying, she sends him to stay with her friend.
• The friend agrees to take care of MC, and MC starts living in their house while attending school.
• The ML is the friend's younger brother (or possibly brother), who is unmarried.
• ML doesn't live in the house all the time and only comes back occasionally.
• The first meeting between MC and ML is quite memorable. One day, the shower/bathroom in the house isn't working properly, so MC uses ML's bathroom instead. While MC is there, ML suddenly comes back, and that's how they meet for the first time.
• After that, ML gradually becomes involved in MC's life and often helps him with his studies.
• MC is still studying at the time, so there is quite a bit of school-life content.
• ML is older than MC and takes care of him.
• There is a woman who likes ML and seems interested in marrying him. She tries to talk to him about marriage or shows obvious romantic interest, but ML has already started developing feelings for MC.
• I remember the arc having a warm slice-of-life feeling with daily life, studying, and family interactions rather than heavy drama.

Unfortunately, I don't remember the novel title, the MC's or ML's names, or what happened later in the arc.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Even guesses would be appreciated!

My personal breakdown of common tropes in Western medieval fantasy fiction from Japan, China and South Korea
Note: this is just what I’ve gathered from reading tons of light novels, manga and manhwa. Purely my own observations, just for a bit of fun.

Japan
I get isekai’d into a Western medieval-style fantasy world. I’m secretly the strongest person alive, but back on Earth I was just your average overworked middle-aged office drone — and I’m completely oblivious to how powerful I am. “Wait, aren’t I supposed to be totally normal?” I think to myself.

In this world, serfs and townsfolk live comfortable, settled lives. Most nobles are kind, responsible and live by chivalric virtues; there are a few bad apples, but all in all it’s a lovely place. There’s barely any class tension — nobles, townspeople and serfs all get along like friends.

My only goal is to lay low and live a cozy, slow life. I build a small cottage, grow my own vegetables and raise livestock. I open a bakery selling Japanese-style pastries and breads, and the locals — who’ve only ever eaten rye bread, pretzels and baguettes — are blown away. I grow rice and soybeans too, make miso, soy sauce and natto, and serve up sushi and sashimi that both nobles and commoners go crazy for.

Of course, there are always annoying demon lords, corrupt nobles or bandits stupid enough to ruin everyone’s peaceful happy life. So I step in and put them in their place.

China
I get isekai’d into a Western medieval-style fantasy world. I’m the overlooked middle son of a noble family, packed off to the northern frontier as a lowly border baron. Back in my old life, I was a mechanical engineer cramming out design plans round the clock.

The kingdom’s a mess: the king is incompetent, the nobility is rotten, the land is full of displaced refugees and starving people, rising powers eye the borders hungrily, and an apocalyptic crisis hangs over the entire world.

To survive, I use my engineering knowledge from my past life to build steam engines, breech-loading rifles and blast furnaces for steel production. I recruit refugees and talented people who fled here from poverty or persecution, putting them to work as my officials and technicians. I combine magic with machinery to mass-produce magical crops and artefacts. I roll out public education and healthcare, build housing, roads and other infrastructure, and lift the local people into tangible, visible prosperity.

I beat back wave after wave of monster attacks, but the old nobility sees me as a freak, a heretic — even a man who’s made a deal with the devil. All because I take in refugees and non-human races, and win battle after battle using methods they can’t wrap their heads around.

Screw noble etiquette. I’ve built up enough power now. I’ll march south into the heartland, send those stubborn aristocrats to the guillotine and mount their heads on lamp posts. I’ll overthrow the king, found a state run by a modern bureaucratic system, crush the rising fortunes of our neighbouring powers, and fix the world-ending crisis once and for all.

South Korea
I get isekai’d into a Western medieval-style fantasy world. To my horror, I’ve woken up as either a minor villain boss who dies early in the story, or a random background character who gets killed by collateral damage from the hero and final boss’s fight during the end-of-world arc.

My only advantage? I read the story of this world before I transmigrated, so I know how the plot goes.

Looking at my laughably terrible base stats, I have one single goal: survive.

I become ruthlessly disciplined. I train like hell every morning, and study late into every night. I stay calm, rational and serious at all times. I keep every detail under my control, have a backup plan for every scenario, stay composed under pressure and give everything my all.

To stay alive, I grow cold and detached. I’m wary and distrustful of everyone. But to survive, I have to dip my toes into the main storyline to grab lucky opportunities and powerful magical items. Along the way I accidentally save a few female characters, who end up falling for me.

But I’m already pouring every ounce of energy I have into just staying alive. I don’t have the bandwidth for romance, so I keep my distance from all of them.

I always thought my actions wouldn’t affect the main plot much, but my interference sets off a massive butterfly effect. I become more and more important to the story, and the plot completely derails from the original timeline.

In the end, I have to step in to help — or even replace — the original hero. I defeat the apocalyptic threats, and finally live happily ever after with the girls by my side.

Hi, feel free to share with your fellow users what you are reading this week and what you think about it.

Please include a link to the table of contents or Novelupdates page.

All spoilers should use the spoiler format. Example: >!Mojo Jojo dies.!<

Will Solus become the main character's love interest after the Hydra Teacher arc?

Hello, I’m looking for a cultivation novel I read a few years ago (around 2016-2019) that I can't seem to track down. I'm about 80% sure about the "fish and pearl" beginning, but I might be misremembering some of the details, so please bear with me.

​Here is what I remember:

​MC's Talent: He starts as a genuine "trash talent" nobody.

​The "Cheat" Incident: The protagonist makes a living by cleaning/scaling fish at a tavern/restaurant. At some point early in the story, a fish that swallowed an orb/pearl gets caught, ends up on his table, and while he is cleaning it, he discovers the item inside.

​His Weapon: I'm fairly certain he specializes in using a polearm (spear, halberd, or glaive) early on.

​The Mountain Arc: He goes to a mountainous area and encounters a beast that is in human form (a beast-woman). She is injured/weak after a fight with another beast, and he helps her out.

​I might be wrong about some of these specifics as it’s been a while, but the "finding the artifact while cleaning fish" part is the strongest memory I have. It is definitely not Martial World.

​Does this ring a bell for anyone? Any help identifying this title would be greatly appreciated!

I’m curious how CN web novel readers feel about editing in translations.

When reading long Chinese web novels in English, I often notice problems like inconsistent names, awkward phrasing, repeated explanations, repeated crowd reactions, recap paragraphs, and dialogue that sounds unnatural in English.

Where do you personally draw the line between a translation and an adaptation?

For example, which approach would you prefer?

1. Only fix grammar and obvious MTL mistakes

2. Smooth out the English while keeping every scene

3. Reduce repeated reactions, recap, and filler lines

4. Summarize side scenes that do not affect the main plot

5. Offer two modes: full version and optional condensed version

I would not want important things removed, such as new characters, power system details, breakthroughs, rewards, foreshadowing, relationship changes, major fights, or anything that matters later.

But I’m not sure how readers feel about trimming repetitive filler or late-story side arcs that barely connect to the main plot.

Would an optional condensed reading mode interest you, or is any removed/summarized content a deal breaker?

I remember that the MC had his spiritual roots stolen and given to his rival and they fought. The MC later got some kind of phoenix or dragon related cultivation ability, while his rival also had a dragon related power. However, because the rival had stolen the MC's spiritual roots, his dragon power was somehow suppressed. Later in the story, the MC meets his mother and her clan. He doesn't like them because of what they did to his parents. That is all i remember.

>!Aldin betrayed Returner, the kindest god she has ever known just because she felt bad about her "friends" who were abusing and torturing people for amusement. She ignored Returner's screams of pain from the torture for tens of thousands of years. When Nebula was about to win, she betrayed him and when Hegemonia was about to win she betrayed them again. She's a traitor, she just kept making excuses for her vile acts. I'm not even including the fact that she was complicit with the old gods horrible actions and did their bidding. Even if you didn't include that, she still betrayed Returner, the Wizard who was responsible for creating the system and having overcome death. Wizard not only allowed people to have eternal life, he allowed them to become powerful gods. Yet Aldin betrayed him. I hate how they didn't just execute her and Jang Wan was crying over that bitch who isn't even her real cousin, Nebula’s sister is already dead and Aldin is just another alternate version of her.!<

so basically I'm looking for a translated Chinese Bungou Stray Dogs fanfic that I read on Wattpad. The story is about a male protagonist who downloads or plays a management/business simulation game and starts by creating a fishery company, which eventually develops into the Port Mafia. Throughout most of the story, he believes that everything is just a game and that all the characters are NPCs. He communicates with the Port Mafia through a quill pen writing in the air, He was regarded as the true boss of the mafia. And if I remembered correctly he got like a portrait/painting of himself in the mafia which got stolen in one of the chapters and tried getting auctioned off?.

Please im getting desperate TT, it suddenly dissapered in my library and I comoletely forgot the title

I’m trying to find a novel I read a while ago on WTR, but I can’t remember the title.
The main character’s special ability was that he was always “average” at everything he did. If he tried a new skill, he’d immediately be average at it—not a beginner, but not an expert either. He’d usually be stronger than newbies and weaker than top-tier people, but because this worked for literally everything, it became a really overpowered ability.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? I’d really appreciate it if someone knows the title.