Virtual World - The Legendary Thief (网游之盗版神话) by Shi Luo Ye (失落叶)

[KyleSteward]

@Lingson Thanks to let me know about this novel. Seriously I can't stop reading. Almost all my free time I used to read this one BTW can I ask if you can recomend me with other novels like shi luo ye novels? I already read zhan long and alchemist god. Almost finished legendary thief (50 chapters left) and I already decide to read rest of trilogies. Need more series like this to read.

[Lingson]

@Lingson Thanks to let me know about this novel. Seriously I can't stop reading. Almost all my free time I used to read this one BTW can I ask if you can recomend me with other novels like shi luo ye novels? I already read zhan long and alchemist god. Almost finished legendary thief (50 chapters left) and I already decide to read rest of trilogies. Need more series like this to read.

There was one title that interested me last time, although I haven't read it myself (I try to limit the number of novels to read so I won't get distracted from my RL duties ). I forgot the title, but I will check and get back to you later on today.

P.S. Are you reading using machine translator or reading it directly?

[KyleSteward]

I reading it directly but I will using systranet when I don't understand characters. I'm a chinese descent but I don't live in china so I can read chinese character in some extent. I hope you can find the title.

Now I already understand why author called it trilogy

Beware spoiler

click to show/hide spoilers

MC in 2nd parts is a minor character in 1st part. He appear in later part as lin fan opponent in a group tournament.
MC in 3nd parts have a work relationship with MC in 2nd parts. Their corporation will make a brand new online game together.

[Lingson]

Same with me, I'm also a Chinese descent. I can only speak mandarin and know very little Chinese characters. I have to translate the whole text into pinyin first to read it. Then for some words that I don't understand, I use dictionaries. But I'm pushing myself to learn more characters to improve my translation speed. So far I've managed to improve my speed from 250+ characters/hour to 400+ characters/hour. The most difficult part for me is to translate the part where the author is describing the scene, since English isn't my native language. My English writing used to be considered very good, but after not using it for many years, it really has become dull. But I kind of enjoying the translation process, so the learning process doesn't feel bad either.

Thanks for the insight regarding the connection of all three parts of this trilogy.

Regarding the other novel that I mentioned before, I haven't read it myself, but it's supposed to be popular. And whether it has been translated already or not, I haven't check either. The title is 网游之刺客重生 by 菜鸟之下 with 1079 chapters, all free with no VIP chapters at all. (http://www.17k.com/list/107212.html)

By the way, about the novel that I'm translating, I was kind of wondering whether I should have translated the 'Thief' in the title as 'Assasin'. The western RPGs usually use Thief/Rogue class, but it seems that in Chinese MMORPG they use Assasins instead. What do you think? (I'm not going to change the title, but just adding a note to the readers to make it clearer).

[KyleSteward]

@Lingson just stay with thief. My impression for that class is a thief not assasin so I will stay with thief. In some online games thief and assassin is a different job you know.

In my opinion author really mislead readers with the title because

click to show/hide spoilers

MC not even a thief. He is a swordsman. Their workrooms don't even have a thief

[Lingson]

@Lingson just stay with thief. My impression for that class is a thief not assasin so I will stay with thief. In some online games thief and assassin is a different job you know.

In my opinion author really mislead readers with the title because

click to show/hide spoilers

MC not even a thief. He is a swordsman. Their workrooms don't even have a thief

click to show/hide spoilers

You are right. I haven't read the whole story as far as you did, but until the chapter that I read, he is the swordman class , so it was quite confusing to me too LOL.. Maybe because their group was more aiming for fortune instead of fame, so their greediness for money made the author referring him/them as "Thief/thieves"

P.S. Translation for next chapter in progress. Should be right on schedule to be released today. All right!!

[KyleSteward]

@ Lingson I decide to read your translation again to compared it with my reading and found something I want to confirm about chapter 2 and chapter 3. I send you a PM. Thanks

[Lingson]

@ Lingson I decide to read your translation again to compared it with my reading and found something I want to confirm about chapter 2 and chapter 3. I send you a PM. Thanks

@KyleSteward: Thank you. Replied already to your PMs.

As for the readers here, there were some corrections to the chapters translation, which I have updated on my website's posts. But I forgot to edit the posting here as well. I will finish the translation for chapter 6 first (currently at 60% already) so I can post it later today. Then I will update the chapters here afterward.

[Lingson]

Finally done. Here is the next chapter. Enjoy and please visit my site to subscribe. Thanks!

P.S. I changed the Talent name from 'Stealth' to 'Ambush'. Thanks @KyleSteward for the suggestion.


Chapter 6 - The Launching!

Everyone was so excited. Even Lu Xue Han who rarely smiled looked like a blooming flower.

Right after getting back from the shopping, Xu Lin gathered us for a meeting again and started the discussion,

"All of you has already chosen your player class. Right now, nobody can tell how the game would be like, not even whether there are beginner villages or not. Until now, about one hundred million game helmets has been distributed worldwide, but limited server numbers have been set up. When there aren't many beginner villages, all the players will be cramping inside them. That's why I think that when the game later begins, everyone should first spend their time in the game by themselves for a while. Tonight at midnight, the game will launch, so we should sleep first this afternoon. At eleven o'clock, we will get up and eat dinner, so we can get online right on time. We will then log out from the game tomorrow morning at eight, and everyone will then report their progress in the game. Does anyone still have any questions?"

Xin Yu put her cup down and asked, "Ah, staying up all night would affect one's beauty, in addition to that we'll have our dinner so late, wouldn't it bad for us?"

Xu Lin's face showed no expression, "You can choose not to play, but each of your salaries later on will depend on your contribution to the clan. So just do as you will."

"Never mind. The game is still more important..."

...

Since nobody has any questions, we all went back to our room to take a nap. Lu Xue Han followed behind me and before she went into her room, she stuck out her tongue at me, which made me at a loss for a moment.

Only able to take a light nap, it was not even three o'clock in the afternoon when I woke u. Since it was still a long until dinner time and I could not get back to sleep again, I opened the <Moon Monochrome> online forum. Perhaps there might be some helpful information there.

Upon looking at the forum board, I saw a sticky post at the top of the forum titled 'Talent, a natural skill!'. I opened the post to read it. Even though there was no such information on the game's official website, it was said that this leaked information was obtained from a reliable source. At the <Moon Monochrome>'s character creation stage, each player would received a Talent. As for what this 'Talent' meant, there was no further information regarding it. Only that it would not affect the balance of the game. One person can only use one game account, and on account deletion, they have to wait for a whole month before they can acquire a new account. So it would not be possible to keep creating a character until the person got a desirable Talent. It would really depend on each person's luck.

Browsing other forum posts, although there were many, but most were speculative information. There was very little really useful information. It seemed that <Moon Monochrome> were really doing a good job of keeping the secrecy.

With some hard effort, I managed to get some more sleep until eleven. Exactly on eleven, Lu Xue Han called us to eat dinner. From her appearance, it seemed that she didn't have a hard time to sleep. Even her sleeping make up were not ruined.

With less than one hour time before the game launched, some of the girls even ignoring their table manners, devouring their food and rushed back to their room. It was Liu Yun, who until now mostly remained quiet, who accompanied me finishing the egg soup.

Liu Yun was actually a pretty and delicate woman. I was always wondering why she was in this business, but I never had the courage to ask her directly. She gave me a polite smile before she finally went back to her own room.

I shook my head looking at the mess on the table. Quickly, I cleaned up the mess and bring all the dishes to the kitchen before I also retire to my room. The clock showed 23.50 by the time I was finished with the cleaning. Only ten minutes before the game official launch time!

I wore the game helmet and skipped the opening trailer immediately. In my vision now, there was only a big countdown clock showing at the background scene of <Moon Monochrome>.

The time passed slowly as I was staring at the countdown scene. I knew that besides me, there were also hundreds of thousand other players currently doing the same thing as me. In the history of online games, there was always a reward for the first player that entered the game.

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

"Eight!"

"..."

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

A system notice immediately showed up on the scene, "Please choose your character race!"

Without the slightest hesitation, I picked Human as my character race. Elves were too delicate, showing no sign of masculine at all. Orcs ... Forget it!"

"Please enter you character name!" The system continued to prompt.

I quickly said, "Qing Cai Doufu!"

"Sorry, this name has already been taken by another player!"

"Qing Cai Baiyu Tang!"

"You have successfully chosen the name. Now scanning your face. Would you like to make some changes to your appearance?"

I observed the displayed avatar that looked exactly like me. I would be recognized too easily, so I altered it a little. Now it was OK!

"Congratulations. You have successfully setup your account. Would you like to enter the game now?"

I confirmed right away. The scene changed, and now I was standing in an old small village.

"Ding~!" System notice,

"You are the 1,250,003 player to enter the game!"

"Congratulations. You have obtained the Talent 'Ambush'!"

Ambush? What the hell?

I opened my character status window at once and scrolled down to find the Talent at the bottom. It really showed 'Ambush'.

I was stroke dumb immediately!

Talent -- Ambush: An ability to hide one's presence in the darkness. Only monsters or players with a level less than 5 levels above the stealth player could detect the player's presence within a 4-meter distance. Once moving, the stealth effect would disappear. Cooldown period 5 minutes.

What was this? I had to stay still and play dead, for real?

A Talent should be important for the player, but my Talent was really a useless one. Perhaps if I explain my situation to the game operator, my Talent would be canceled?

Let's just put this aside for now and decide later!

Opening the map window, I was in a village called 'Wild Dog Village'. An uncommon name for a village, but it suited pretty well. You could hear the sound of dog barking every so often.

Other players came out one after another from the village center. Apparently there were really so many people playing this game at this moment. There were some strong-looking Orcs among them, as well also young female Elves equipped with only underpants and brassière...

I looked at my equipment and felt pity for myself:

[Damaged Coat]

Defense: +2

[Damaged Leg Armor]

Defense: +1

[Damaged Short Sword]

Attack: 1-2

The attributes displayed on the player status were simply the player's base attributes plus the attributes from all the equipment. My Attack was really pitiful. Even equipped with the sword only game me an attack of 2-3. What could I do with it?

Not far away, I saw a soldier wandering around in the village. I walked over to the soldier and started a conversation, hoping to get a quest!

"Lately, packs of wild dogs had appeared outside the village scaring the villagers, that they would not dare to go outside the village. For the sake of the villagers, would you eradicate these beasts?"

I agreed immediately. A mission statement came out, "Kill 20 wild dogs, collect their fur, and take them to the village guard Ha Ke!"

[-Eris-]

Thx!!!! The Game Start!

[Elsa Lee]

All his items are "damaged"

[Lingson]

All his items are "damaged"

It's just how the game start. All player starting equipment are of the lowest level LOL

Don't worry, he will soon get better equipment (Spoiler? Nah, I don't think that informing this would be considered a spoiler. After all, he can't possibly wear those equipment forever, right? )

[deathblade]

It's just how the game start. All player starting equipment are of the lowest level LOL

Don't worry, he will soon get better equipment (Spoiler? Nah, I don't think that informing this would be considered a spoiler. After all, he can't possibly wear those equipment forever, right? )

LOL. Good point. A game in which the player never gets better gear would be a pretty lame game.

[KyleSteward]

LOL. Good point. A game in which the player never gets better gear would be a pretty lame game.

Actually his luck really imba. He will get all equipment he need everytime he need it.

click to show/hide spoilers

In this game, equipment price really outrageous

[Lingson]

Hi guys! I did an experiment today. Instead of doing manual translation, I tried to do an edited MT translation of the chapter.

The method that I use:

1. I put the machine translations of the chapter (I use 4 translators: Baidu, Bing, Google and Systrans) together into a file.
2. I read all 4 translations of the paragraph.
3. Then I rewrite the whole paragraphs with my own words.

I didn't make any cross-checks to the original Chinese text. I just read and rewrite the paragraph with my assumptions. So it is possible that some paragraphs were translated totally wrong. I also didn't do any spell checking or proof reading either.

While I was doing this, I tracked the time that I needed. It turns out that doing this method is 3x faster than doing manual translation (with my current chinese translation speed).

So, I was quite wondering. Should I:

(a) Doing manual translation, which with my current translation speed and RL work, I would only be able to release 1 or 2 chapters weekly. But the content quality should be better and there should be minimum translation mistakes.

(b) Do this method of translation (edited MT), which is much faster, and I could release 5-7 chapters weekly. But as I mentioned above, some translation might be totally wrong, and no spell checking / proof reading (well, maybe I can spend a few more minutes for the spell checking/proof reading).

So here I post a sample chapter which I translated with this method (instead of wasting your time re-reading previous chapter, I translated the 7th chapter ). Please guys, give me feed back. Thank you!



Chapter 7 - The Mission

After accepting the mission, I went to the border of the village. I saw many other players there already started to kill monsters. But what they chose to kill was only the chickens that the villagers breed. Those chicken had low attack power, but the experience gained would also be pathetically low.

Shaking my head, I continued going further into the the deep forest located outside the village. Not walking too far, I already saw a pack of wild dogs wandering around in the woods.

I pulled out the damaged sword and attacked the nearest wild dog!

"6!"

A red number popped out above the wild dog's head. It seemed to be a critical strike, otherwise it would be impossible for me to inflict that much damage with only an Attack power of 3.

Of course, the subsequent attacks only inflicted 2-3 damage points. But it was only a level 2 wild dog with 30 hit points, which was an easy fight for me.

"Alright!"

The first wild dog died. I examined the corpse and found three copper coins and a fur: Mission item!

So this was what the Village Guard Harker needed; an easy mission. I continued to kill the other wild dogs. After each killing, I would rest a bit to let my hit points recover. Although the recovery was kind of slow, but it was for saving money. I estimated that nobody could currently afford to buy healing potions for practicing.

Before long, I finished collecting all 20 wild dogs' fur. Killing more wild dogs didn't result in mission item drops. I also rose to level 2. The attack power increased a bit and my max HP changed from 60 to 80. It seemed that raising in level would add quite some increase in the max HP. I also gained 5 additional Attribute Points to spend with my level up. Without any hesitation, I poured it all on my Strength. This early in the game, partying with others would be out of the questions. Without high Strength, how could I survive by my own?

Gradually, more and more players came wandered farther from the village and start coming to this place. But I noticed that most of them were not collecting any wild dog's fur. It seemed that only a few players were aware of this mission. After all, the village guard was only walking back and forth in the village, without a sign of a 'Mission' on him to be seen.

Immediately, I ran back to the village and handed the mission items to the village guard. The reward turned out to be generous. I received 80 copper coins for killing 20 wild dogs. Money was important, especially at this stage. Who knew what the exchange rate would be like. But players would only buy gold coins, not copper coins! (1 gold coin = 100 silver coins = 10,000 copper coins)

With the previous experience, I hastily walked around the village to talk to the NPCs. Finally another mission!

<Mission: Bloody Counter Attack>

Mission Statement: Help the village chief. Exterminate the wolves at Wild Wolf Valley located east of the village. Bring back 50 Wolf's Teeth to the chief! Be careful, it would be best if you find some companion to finish this task, these wolves are very fierce. Many village finest men had been bitten to death by these wolves!

This mission was more difficult. Not only the level of the wolves were higher, but the village chief also indicated the need to form a party. I placed this mission aside for now and looked for other missions.

<Mission: Collect Tomatoes>

Mission Statement: Ahua, a villager, has planted many tomatoes on the hillside. But recently, wild wolves often appear outside the village. Please collect 10 tomatoes for Ahua.

<Mission: Defend the Village>

Mission Statement: Kill 20 wild dogs outside the village. Collect their teeth and deliver them to village guard Harker!

...

Collecting fruits and killing wild dogs should not be a problem. Anyway, killing wild dogs could make you level up quite easy, while doing missions would also made you level up fast. The mission reward was 200 EXP while killing a level 1 monster would give you 10 EXP. Doing missions would double the leveling up speed.

At some distant field, many players were busy killing monsters. I would not go there and disturb their practice (most of them were groups, and snatching their prey could result in being PKed). So I circled the village and from the east side went to the woods. In the distance, I could already see Ahua's tomato field.

After killing several wild dogs without a single drop of wild dog's teeth, I was feeling a little depressed. Was this mission toying me?

Further away into the woods, I noticed that the wild dogs I had killed so far were level 1 monsters. But here were level 3 monsters: Ferocious Dog!

Silently, I rushed out to attack with the damaged sword!

"3!"

The red numbers made me cautious. This level 3 dog defense was much higher than the level 1 dogs. With me currently at level 2, my hit would usually caused 5 damage points.

This level 3 ferocious dog had 50 HP that I had to hit 17 times to make the kill. Meanwhile, it also bit me often. Although I only lost 2 HP each time, by the time I killed the dog, my own HP had also dropped to the bottom line.

Experience Points +30!

Flipping the dog's corpse, I discovered 14 copper coins, a tooth, and a tattered armor. I picked it up and look at the attributes:

Wild Dog Fur Armor (white equipment)

Defense: +5

This was better compared to my damaged coat. At least the Defense rose quite a bit. I equipped it immediately. Later on when I reached level 10 and chose the Thief class, I would only be able to wear leather armor anyway. But on a second thought, wouldn't it be pitiful if I was still only wearing this by the time I reached level 10?

[deathblade]

So, I was quite wondering. Should I:

(a) Doing manual translation, which with my current translation speed and RL work, I would only be able to release 1 or 2 chapters weekly. But the content quality should be better and there should be minimum translation mistakes.

(b) Do this method of translation (edited MT), which is much faster, and I could release 5-7 chapters weekly. But as I mentioned above, some translation might be totally wrong, and no spell checking / proof reading (well, maybe I can spend a few more minutes for the spell checking/proof reading).

So here I post a sample chapter which I translated with this method (instead of wasting your time re-reading previous chapter, I translated the 7th chapter ). Please guys, give me feed back. Thank you!

I personally prefer accuracy over speed, but I bet most people will vote for B...

[Lingson]

..., but I bet most people will vote for B...

Really?? Reading (and writing too) is an art itself. But with the fast paced live people have today, many people just want instant stuff. I guess your statement would be understandable.

Well, since the others haven't give any feedback yet, the score count temporary would be 1 - 0 in favor for A

[KyleSteward]

I think you can use B but you must compared it with original text. Use MT have it weakness especially when you dealing with name.

For example :
MC name in chinese : Qing Cai Baiyu Tang but if you use MT it will become "Green Vegetable Baiyu Tang"

I finished this series with systranet help too since I only can read chinese characters in some extent.

[deathblade]

Really?? Reading (and writing too) is an art itself. But with the fast paced live people have today, many people just want instant stuff. I guess your statement would be understandable.

Well, since the others haven't give any feedback yet, the score count temporary would be 1 - 0 in favor for A

Sometimes I spend 15 or 20 minutes on a single sentence or word just to make sure that I'm translating it correctly. But that's just me, I'm pretty anal. Yeah, you're right, we live in a culture of instant gratification.

[gmaster]

I personally prefer accuracy over speed, but I bet most people will vote for B...

I do prefer quality!!! nevertheless... based on ur sample of MT translating... it's pretty legible... i understood everything... so i would say... go for it.. so long as it's like that... the quality is good...


i would suggest ... any parragraphs that you see aren't all that accurate... do double check with your own knowledge of the language and make sure it's translated properly...