Foreword from TL'er

Hi all,

This is the blog where I will be uploading my fan translation of the Chinese novel CS Bonus Hunter by Zhang Shuo. I will strive for weekly updates, and more if possible. 

The Original Work 

CS Bonus Hunter (The spelling was the original title chosen by the author) is a e-sport Light Novel written by the Chinese author Zhang Shuo back in 2004. It was probably one of the first novel in China to focus on the then budding e-sport scene. Zhang Shuo herself was a CS player (known as CSER in China back then), and wrote the book as a way to memorize those she met during her time in the CS community back in 2002. 

The book follows the story of a group of people from all walks of life, as they pursue their dream in the then budding e-sport scene, first for money, and then for something more. More than just focusing on the matches and games, the story also explores the players behind the screen, and indeed how their personal life, struggles, and relationship all intertwine as they pursue the e-sport dream.

While the setting may seem at times dated, I think it is an interesting to perspective to examine the world as it was, during the early days of e-sports, and it had certainly remained enjoyable for me over the years. 

The Translation

While I am mostly fluent with both English and Chinese, this is my first attempt to seriously translate a novel, and therefore I certainly will make mistakes. That said, I will definitely do my best to improve as I go along, and hopefully deliver a work you can all enjoy.

I have a job that can get very busy at times, and that does mean I may not be able to promise very high frequency of updates, but I should be able to manage at least one updates per week, if not more.

The original book have 23 chapters (Or “Rounds"), and while I wish to push out 1 chapter per update, given time constraints it is more likely I will split them to more regular, smaller updates. On the bright side, as this book has been completed you can rest assured that the TL will be finished.

Lastly, the released book version of the novel have character dossiers and some insert arts, I will try to add these if I can (I do have the physical book, but if someone can provide clean image source it will be even better). My other problem is with the character dossiers will require some image editing to be translated, and I may need some help in that regard. 

Myself

I've picked this book up ages ago, and had read it several times over the last 16 years. I've enjoyed it each time, despite how much I aged in between, and indeed there was something new for me each time I've read the book. 

Indeed the book even inspired me to give e-sports a shot, though in the end I did not go down that path, I too forged many valuable memories in the process. 

While the thought of translating the book had crossed my mind, I did not know there exists such a prevalent scene of Chinese web novels being translated. This summer, I had the fortune of helping with the translation of the Chinese Wuxia Game "Path of Wuxia" (Which is a great game, and despite being in early access I seriously recommend you check it out). That's when I came to meet so many passionate individuals who helped with the translation, had indeed came to learn that there are actually many non-Chinese speakers who enjoy reading Chinese novels.

While this is not the more popular Wuxia or Xianxia type of novel, I do believe it is an excellent book that could still be enjoyed like many other light novels. It has light hearted comedy, great and memorable characters, and indeed some truly moving moments. 

So it is my hope to do what I can so that more people can have the chance to read the book, and hopefully you may enjoy it as I have enjoy it. I look forward to any comments from you guys as well :D