Kusoge Online (BETA) – Volume 1

Is this the real life?

I kinda liked the idea of this series, so I went ahead and read into it, and watch and be amazed, I’ve got the prologue as a little something for you here. I don’t play MMOs in Japanese, but I hope I got the terms all down nonetheless. Azrael’s weird, so I’m not too retarded to properly translate her status page, she’s too retarded to make up something coherent. As for the title translation, “kusoge” means “shitty game” (from “kuso” and “geemu”) but it’s a fixed term of Japanese pop culture and we don’t really have anything like that, so I left it at that. Well, that and “Shitty Game Online (BETA)” sounds awful. If you don’t like the quality of the illustrations, file your complaints to the raw provider, I lack the magic touch to turn crap into sexy pictures.

I translated all of this in less than an hour, hooray for simple stuff. Which is also the reason why I probably won’t push out anymore of Underwear Situation – the time I’ve to put into it to translate it properly (read: okay-ish) bears no relation to the results/gains. I’ll read it to the end, though. It’s not like I don’t like it, it’s just a pain to translate – and these translations are whimsical, to begin with.

As for more Kusoge: The whole volume has “only” three chapters or something. I say “only” ’cause that means that the chapters have about 80 pages each. If, and I can’t stress the “if” enough, I do more of it, it’s highly unlikely it’ll cover the chapter as a whole.

Anyway, here are the links, have fun reading while I’m gonna listen to some Queen; carry on, carry on…

 

Story Synopsis
“Sword & Magic Online,” a VRMMO consisting of 255 floors to clear, harbors a horrible secret: Everything from floor two onwards hasn’t been implemented yet. And all the devs ran away. “What are you gonna do about this?!” “We’re gonna make them now!” “People are already close to beating the first floor, you know?!” “No problem, I’ll let everyone die at the boss!” Also, there is no magic in this world of swords and magic, the gold value has inflated indefinitely due to a dupe glitch, this kusoge (fixed term for a shitty game) is going down the toilet. And yet, there are friends enjoying this kind of game. For that reason and to avoid this world’s destruction (end of service), a youth named “Sasaraki” continues developing this kusoge world together with the mysterious girl Alice who dwells in the debugging room, and…? A VR kusoge development rom-com!

Part 1 Post
Chapter 1! Up to page 10 of 51 or what. I don’t plan on stopping yet. Before I forget it: the far right character’s name on the first color illustration isn’t Yuuri but Fury. Don’t ask me how that slip up happened, but my bets are on distracted by second color illustration’s personality.

My twitter’s pretty much spammed with Kusoge covers by now. Illustration quality’s still shitty, I apologize; it won’t change, though. Anyway, I’ve already read ahead to like 40% since it’s just freaking easy to read and fairly interesting. Alice (hasn’t made her appearance yet) annoys the hell out of me, I’ll tell you why when we get there.

So let me skim through the translation and explain a thing or two… General note, I kinda hate all the brackets and might do something about them. It looks plain weird to eyes used to Latin characters ‘n all.

 

Part 2 Post
Pages 10 to 20. I changed a bunch of stuff – especially regarding those unspeakable brackets everywhere – but it’s nothing that’d justify a re-read, so just pick up from wherever you left off. The download link below has been updated, don’t get fooled by the file name, it is the most recent version. We’re still not at the part where Alice gets annoying. But after I’ve read up to 50%, I get the idea behind her and she’s not annoying anymore! Hooray for cryptic formulations so I won’t spoil anything!

I plan to delete some obsolete (’cause of a few changes) T/L notes, but I might overlook one or two, so don’t get confused if there’s a note about stuff that’s no longer in the PDF. Alright, so let me see whether part 2 can use some T/L notes too… nope, nothing that strikes the eye (or I’m just being lazy). Although, I know that the “Youth Protection/Health” stuff sounds crappy, but I couldn’t come up with anything better… yet. Let’s just swallow it for now. Anyways, we’re good to go.

Have fun reading!

P.S.: If still the same old PDF opens, CTRL+F5.

P.P.S.: Don’t the characters in the grayscale illustrations look awfully different from how they in the color illustrations/cover? Like, look at the cover, Alice is on the left, and then check out that last grayscale illustration. Looks like a different person to me.

 

Part 3 Post
First things first:

Thanks for the donation, TamaSaga!

In fact, your generosity shall be used to acquire Kusoge volume 2! =D Alas, it’s not yet available for digital purchase, only just got released this week as paperback.

While we’re at it, let me tell you a bit about all the limited-/special editions of Kusoge volume 2 and their bonuses. As far as I understand, there are four limited editions… or special editions, whatever. Each of them available for purchase in their respective chain store: Tora no Ana, Animate, Gamers, Melon Books.

The respective bonuses are:

Tora no Ana | Animate | Gamers | Melon Books

And I really, really wanted Tora no Ana’s limited edition (or special edition, whatever), since a) I liked the illustration overall b) it’s a poster! c) school swimsuit (just kidding). Now you go and try getting a store specific limited edition imported. The book itself is 1500 yen, int. shipping about 500 yen, buying in your stead service fee (Tora no Ana’s shop wants an address in Japan, d’oh) 1500 yen + maybe domestic shipping fee. So it might mount up to 4000 yen for a freaking book, which is about 35 euro. I could’ve bitten the bullet but honestly, the book itself is about 4 bucks, it’s just crazy.

Also, too bad Gamers’ Azrael bonus is virtually screaming, “HI, I’M COWTITS!” Also refer to this volume 2 color illustration for that matter.

Well, those are the problems of someone who wants to import collector stuff from Japan. ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

Then on we go to the next ten pages, 20 to 30. There are two lines which were kinda wishy-washy but you won’t notice it, and I’ll simply recheck them sometime else. If you do notice, well, then I tap my hat to you, Sir!

Which leaves us with one small T/L note:

Page 26: “Rules”
Yes, what follows after are no rules, but that’s what the novel says. I might change it to… state of the game or something later.

That’s it! Have fun reading and don’t forget, if it’s the same old PDF: CTRL+F5.

P.S.: Since I’ve been reading a lot about Discord chat these days, I decided to take a look at it and made a server. You can join the chat via the widget on the sidebar (in case you’re on mobile, it’ll be on the bottom of the page) and talk about… stuff! Well, we’ll see whether it’s handy, fun, or whether there’s any demand for this stuff in the first place.

 

Part 4 Post
Man, I’m tired. Please think of this translation speed as an exception.

I don’t really have much to say since most of this part are flashbacks. The editing felt kinda difficult, grey so to say, I hope it reads alright nonetheless.

So I’ve two things to add:
1) I changed fantasy back to sci fi since it dawned on me that they’re talking about Sword Art Online (probably) which you could call a sci fi novel
2) Steamy: It says “azuazu,” so I thought it might come from “atsui.” To begin with, the word’s not supposed to make sense and steamy fits the context, so hooray!

Ten more pages and the chapter’s done! Which is about 25% of the novel! Which means we’re not even close to the end! So much work. orz

Digital purchase for volume 2 will be available by the end of November, by the way. So that’s far off, anyway.

Be that as it may, have fun dwelling in memories with Sasaraki! If it’s still the old PDF: CTRL+F5.

 

T/L Notes
Page 3: Illustration Translation
It literally says: “Isn’t this too much of a kusoge?!” But I wanted to have the same feeling a Japanese reader’d get from the prolonged “deshooooo?!” Hence it turned out a bit lengthy and ends in “goooooooood?!” PRAISE MY GENIUS GODDAMMIT.

Page 4: “Immortal Object”
It says “indestructible.” But I wanted dem SAO feelings right there.

Page 4: “Longest-term”
I didn’t want to call her one of the oldest players with 15 or 16 years of age. That’d invite misunderstandings, hence the awkward English.

Page 6: “Fluffy-Fluffy Bunny Tail”
The way too kawaii adjective aside, I was tempted to call it Bunny Foot since it’s a good luck charm but scratched it in the end ’cause it seemed too unkawaii and brutal.

Page 6: “C’mon”
Best fitting would actually be “come to mama,” but over my dead body.

Page 10: Same Effect as Boss Defeat
So much for “exclusive animation.” And they literally said that in the prologue. Maybe the animation, and only the animation, is exclusive, but the effect isn’t.

 

Part 5 Post

Chapter 1 is finally done! \o/

Chapter 2 is even longer! orz

I ordered Kusoge volume 1 and 2! \o/

Which was out of print according to my usual vendor. orz

But available at Amazon Japan! \o/

Which will make the shipping fee twice as high as the books themselves. orz

A few notes: I was wrong about the azuazu part, it’s fixed now (it’s simply a reference to Azrael’s name). I also fixed/changed a few other parts but I forgot the details and it was nothing big to begin with.

Enjoy the read while I prepare stuff for chapter 2!

P.S.: I’m done reading volume 1 and it was good! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° ) Dat teaser.

Part 1 Post

I did a poll on my twitter a few days back and people said they’d like less frequent but bigger updates instead of more frequent but smaller ones. Which was just what I was trying to do, but then life happened and to make matters worse I caught a cold. Hence, I decided to push out another small update (10 pages or what) before crawling back into bed, to not leave you starving for how this kusoge continues.

So, have fun reading!

Three more weeks until volume 2 can be purchased.

 

Part 2 Post

Another 15 pages filled with kusogeness! I really gotta say that I like the author’s humor, it’s a lot of fun to try to carry it over into English and I hope I can get some laughs out of you!

I might not be done with volume 1 right at the (digital) release of volume 2 in two weeks, but it’ll be close (probably).

If it’s still the same old PDF: CTRL+F5.

Have fun reading!

P.S.: It might take a few days until you get updates for Kusoge Online (BETA) on novelupdates. Not because I don’t care updating there, it simply takes numerous attempts until my updates get approved for some reason (it worked fine for chapter 1, and I’ve no idea what’s wrong, no one responds to my e-mails either). If you wanna take a load of work off of me, post the update in my stead, but please link to this post for chapter 2 (once we get to chapter 3 link to the post for chapter 3, etc. etc.). Oh, and don’t forget that I release in parts. Right now we’d be at v1c2 part2.

EDIT: In case you can’t see the PDF, try deactivating your adblocker for my site (there are no ads anyway), mine does block the PDF for some reason.

 

Part 3 Post

Finally, here’s another set of pages from Kusoge Online (BETA)!

What have I been doing all this time?

1) The new Pokémon game came out.

2) I’ve simply been translating this – and neglected editing. This led to me being about 30 pages away from completing the volume, but about 150 pages away from editing it. But I edit way faster than I translate, so don’t worry about it. Altogether I’m not really satisfied with my editing on this, if I were to rate it myself, it’d be a 6 or 7 of 10, but that’s how it is if you edit your own stuff. It’s really hard to forget about the Japanese version and just put it into “normal” English, that’s why it’s best to have a native speaker who hasn’t even read the Japanese version edit it.

Kusoge Online (BETA) seems to have a release schedule of one volume per four months. It’s been a week since volume 2 (digital version) came out and I guess I’ll be done with volume 1 by Christmas. Hence, I’ve three months left before volume 3 (digital version) comes out, meaning that I’ll be done with volume 2 before volume 3 comes out if I do three pages per day (not that much effort). Just some scenario, all implying that I see volume 2 through, which I won’t guarantee.

Anyways, I’ll translate some more of chapter 4, you have fun reading this small new piece!

Don’t be shy to leave a comment if you liked (or disliked) it!

 

Part 4 Post

Thanks, TamaSaga, for another donation! Really getting me into Christmas mood here! ☃ (<-- there's really an emoji for everything, isn't there?) Would’ve said my thanks earlier, but curiously I get no notifications/emails for donations (´A｀)

Only 20 pages left to edit for this chapter! Haven’t really gotten far this week, oh well, still on my self-set schedule. We’re roughly done with half of the volume, you’ll get the rest until or on Christmas Eve (fingers crossed; if it doesn’t work out for some reason, you’ve been a naughty, naughty boy or girl (if the latter, call me)).

A small note regarding ability/skill names: Those names you see on the occasional character sheets aren’t final/definite. The ones I put up there are somewhat loose translations of the kanjis used. Usually the author puts up the way he wants them to be read (furigana) when they’re actually being used in the story, so I’m basically making something up myself until the author lets me know what he made up. As the result, when you see the main character/a heroine use one of his/her skills you haven’t read of before, chances are that’s the “true” or intended reading of one of their abilities/skills from the character sheet.

I’m also done reading DanMachi volume 3 (official translation). I’ll put a review up soon-ish, which will have higher priority than this translation ’cause I’ll probably forget all about it in about a week if I don’t write it down – that’s basically how my brain works.

So yeah, have fun reading, leave a comment if you like, and press CTRL+F5 within the PDF if the new pages won’t show for you!

P.S.: Having troubles getting the update on novelupdates again, please bear with me.

 

Part 5 Post

Chapter 2’s complete!

Small note: Somewhere around page 60 it actually says that the sword boosts critical hit chance by 20%, but I’m pretty sure that the stats said +50%, so I brushed it off as an author derp.

So here’s my kusoge plan: The entire rest of volume 1 will be released on December 23rd so that instead of something on Christmas Eve, you’ll have something before Christmas Eve to kill time with until you get your presents. I’m still not exactly close to finishing the other three chapters, so there’ll be a whooole bunch of work waiting for me until the 23rd.

Also look at dem sexy Christmas design on the blog (my eternal waifu on the bottom right as the background image)! Took me, like, two hours or so, pretty dumb considering it’ll be outdated in about two weeks.

I’ll make a news post about what content plans I have for the near future soon, I don’t do many of those and I feel like I wanna do one.

Anyways, it’s 2:30 in the morning but I wanted to get this chapter out today, even if it kills me (almost did)!

Have fun reading and leave a comment if you like!

Merry Christmas, my friends!

Yeah, I know, it’s not really Christmas yet, but since it’s already the 23rd in some parts of the world and I can’t make it so that I literally release on the 23rd everywhere (the largest time difference is 25 hours (I googled that), and a day had 24 hours when I last checked), I decided to split up the releases a bit, after all. I would’ve just released it all now, but I’ve still some editing to do on chapter 4 and the epilogue.

So, have fun killing time until Christmas Eve with this fine (*cough*, self-praise sucks, *cough*) release, look forward to what’ll come later today/tomorrow, and feel free to leave a comment if you liked what you read (or if you found something strange/wrong)!

Merry Christmas, my pals!

Yeah, I know I already said that yesterday and it’s still not Christmas, but who cares? Everyone’s saying that all the time now, amirite?

Just two things I want to get off my chest:

1) If you’re saying “Thank you for the release” or something like that and I don’t reply, it neither means that I haven’t read it nor that I don’t care, it’s just awkward to reply to, so know that I’ll rejoice in silence. =D

2) I’ll release the full volume as one PDF, including an extra chapter I’ve just spotted (side story stuff), tomorrow. It’s almost done anyway and there’s no use in waiting, plus I can say Merry Christmas for real then.

Have fun reading and leave a comment if you like! Expect the epilogue a bit later today, there’s still editing to do.

Merry Christmas, my guys! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Done reading chapter 4 yet? Then here are the last 12 pages of volume 1! I’m unsure about one specific line, but whatever, it’s not like anyone (but me) cares. Hope Kusoge Online (BETA) could make time fly by faster until you get your presents. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) As I said, the complete volume 1 PDF will follow tomorrow, so until then!

Have fun reading and leave a comment if you like!