Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Please at least check out the Author’s Note and the Links to More TKA Content. We’ve written down our final thoughts as well, so feel free to read those as well ?
Author’s Note (2014):
February 28, 2011, to April 28, 2014. After three years and two months, I have completed the story of The King’s Avatar.
I can hardly admit it, but as I published the final chapter, my heart rate actually sped up. I don’t know if I was feeling nervous or feeling moved, but I know that this is something that has never happened before over the course of these three years and two months, not when competing for monthly votes, or aiming for the yearly awards, or writing any part of the novel’s plot.
I’ve always viewed myself as a particularly cool and awesome professional writer, but when I posted the final chapter, I was suddenly struck by panic. The word “FIN” attacked me with such a feeling of loss, I fell to my knees, and I was so flustered that when I posted on Weibo, I forgot to add the #TheKing’sAvatar# topic hashtag. It kept me up all night.
It’s over.
Their story will continue, but the part of my life spent writing a novel for them has ended. After this, there will be a few extra chapters, but it will only fill in the story of their past. Their future is in your hands alone. Persistence and conviction, honor and glory. I wish you all the best. Meeting all of you has been the most precious experience of my life.
But everyone has their own road to walk.
Here, I can only ask all of you for the last time, for The King’s Avatar.
Ask for views.
Ask for recommendations.
Ask for subscribers.
Ask for monthly votes.
Ask for a few things that can be asked for.
And then, thank you all, for three years and two months of support and expectations.
I’m sorry that I still have not paid my debt from last June, as my strength has limits. I can only promise that in the future I will not do the overconfident thing of trading updates for monthly votes.
I will begin my new book on May 1, using about one or two months to prepare. I’ve already had many thoughts and ideas for it, but I haven’t thoroughly gone through them yet. So, for now, I will not reveal any more. Everyone can follow me on Weibo, or Wechat, just search “蝴蝶蓝” [Butterfly Blue]. There, I will post timely status updates on my new book for everyone. Here, after changing this work’s status to “complete,” I can post no further updates.
Then, to conclude.
Goodbye, The King’s Avatar.
Goodbye, Ye Xiu.
Goodbye, everyone.
Thank you.
Links to More TKA Content:
For y’all who want more of that TKA:
Playlist of Awesome Fan Vids:
http://bit.ly/TKA_Playlist
TKA Discord:
https://discord.gg/56HnEBa
Tumblr:
Jouissance: https://jouissancetka.tumblr.com/
Syncogon: https://syncogon.tumblr.com/tagged/qzgs (or /tagged/translation)
A well-organized fanblog: https://thekingsavatar-fan.tumblr.com
English fanfiction+fanart on AO3:
https://archiveofourown.org/tags/%E5%85%A8%E8%81%8C%E9%AB%98%E6%89%8B%20%7C%20The%20King’s%20Avatar%20(Cartoon)/works
Translators’ Notes:
NomYummi:
I can’t believe it’s over…. It’s been almost four and half years since I posted my first chapter on July 14th 2015, and now, the translation is hereby complete.
This project has been an enormous part of my life, and I truly am lucky to have picked up this novel. I couldn’t have imagined that TKA would gather so many readers, that the official publishing company would license my translations, that there would be amazing fan drawings and fan vids, that an animation and live-action would come out. And now, it’s over. But I hope that TKA was able to bring a bit of fun into your lives as it did for me.
Shoutouts to everyone who has worked on this enormous project, all of whom reached out on their own to help because of their love for the novel. Many of them have come and gone, so I hope I didn’t forget anyone.
Translators: NomYummi, Syncogon, Jouissance, Daa, Caelath, Ray, Veriquity, Bluerain, Jimminx, Simuxi.
Editors: Based Tzuyu, Reiji Ozora, Summerx, Justin, Rend Forge.
Translation Checkers: Jouissance, Syncogon, Charlatan, Muutee.
Hooray,
NomYummi
Syncogon:
Two and a half years – that is how much in-universe time this novel covers. Two and a half years ago, on a cold and snowy night, a lonely man walked into an internet café, and the world was never the same.
Two and a half years ago, I came across a donghua known as “The King’s Avatar.”
No work has ever changed my life to such an extent, and it’s not a stretch to say that no work ever will again. From my main work translating and editing the novel, to all of the fic, analyses, bonus content translations, and memes that this novel has inspired from me, it’s been an honor to share in this journey with you all. The King’s Avatar is truly extraordinary, a compelling story of passion and defiance of the odds, and I have done my best to treat it with the glory that it deserves. I hope this story has brought you as much joy, excitement, melancholy, thoughtfulness, and love as it has brought me. Stories like this are what bring us together; stories like this are what make us human.
Thanks to Butterfly Blue for writing this masterwork; thanks to NomYummi for spearheading this project; thanks to all the contributing team members. And thank you, readers, for your comments and for reading.
As Nom has said, most of the prequel will now be posted to Webnovel, translated by myself. Please, do give it a read, as Butterfly Blue’s storytelling ability continues to shine. Witness the origin stories of some of our favorite characters, and more. (Remember Wu Xuefeng, mentioned in literally one chapter, 1128? He’s the best and I love him with all my heart.)
There’s a popular phrase among Chinese fans, which I will now share here. Someone asks, “Friend, have you ever heard of The King’s Avatar?”
And I will respond, “Yes, that is the glory of my lifetime.”
Thank you all, see you soon, may our glory never fade,
Syncogon
Jouissance:
I joined this team when I started university. That was also when I started using the alias “Jouissance”. Two whole years, not nearly as long as Nom and Based, but still pretty damn long. I’ve worked on TKA for two whole years, I’ve had this identity for two whole years. From finding the donghua to reading the novel to becoming a translator and discovering the discords.
I’ve gotten so used to it being a part of my life. Even when I didn’t have the energy or time to translate much, TKA was still ever present. For the translation to come to a finish, it’s daunting.
I don’t know what’s going to happen after this, but I do know that I was ever so fortunate to have met you all, readers, our editor, fellow translators, fellow fans. I was so fortunate to have had this chance.
So thank you, thank you all. It’s been amazing to have known you all, worked with you all.
However, this is not goodbye. There’s plenty more work to be done. TKA is an extraordinary work, and a long one. So many characters, so much energy, so many emotions. I still have to continue translation checking, still have to update my tumblr, there’s still so much to do. I still have to wait for Synco to upload the prequel, for the next season of the animation to come out. I’ll still be there on the discords, I’ll still be there for new content and events. I’ll still do my best to pull more people into this pit with us. So I won’t say goodbye.
It’s over, but it’s not goodbye.
After all, I’m still and forever will be a TKA fan~
Daa:
Wow, so ends an era. It has been an absolute blast for me to bring a small part of this incredible story to you. As a story lover, TKA had it all – amazing characters, great storyline, a healthy dose of comedy. As a scientist, TKA gave me a chance to change it up from dull scientific writing to satisfyingly rich possibilities in creative translation. As a gamer, TKA is so, so relatable when it describes both the casual community and the cutthroat pro scenes.
But most of all, as a huge fan, just like all of you, TKA has been something I couldn’t put down. Starting from seeing a youtube video that compared the season 1 donghua/anime to Sword Art Online (I am not joking), to the early days of free chapters, to seeing NomYummi’s recruitment for new translators, it’s been a great journey all the way to the end. So, thank you all for reading and making TKA and its community what it is today. Thank you to all my fellow translators and editors – you did a lot more work than I did and I am glad to be part of this amazing team. And thank you to Butterfly Blue, for bringing this entire world into existence and for bringing us all together.
Until next time we meet, stay shameless!
Daa
Caelath:
Sometimes, you become part of something far bigger than yourself.
That’s how I’ve felt while working on The King’s Avatar. Two years ago, I discovered the donghua for TKA. To be frank, it was stunning. I finished watching every episode in one sitting, and then read the manhua, and then the webnovel. I never imagined that I’d get the chance to work on something so grand, but when the team announced that they were recruiting, I applied, and here we are now, at the coda of this fantastic story.
I wish I could’ve contributed more to the project. The past year has been an absolute blur for me, as I transitioned from military service to being a university student. I have nothing but gratitude for the other members of the team, who were always kind and understanding, even when I got busy. I am honoured to have been part of this journey, however small my part may have been.
I give my thanks to Butterfly Blue, who has created a beautiful universe with brilliantly complex characters that has drawn me- and so many others- so deeply in. Thank you once again to the team, you’ve been an absolute pleasure to work with. And to the fans, thank you for your support and for making this all possible.
Until we meet again in the indeterminable future, good luck and godspeed.
Caelath
Based Tzuyu/Based Jessica:
I’ve been editing webnovels for over 5 years now and that’s also about how long we’ve spent translating and releasing TKA. Some of you may recognize my editor tag from Gravity days, Battle Through The Heavens, The Nine Cauldrons, Zhan Long, Great Demon King, I’m Really a Superstar, or a couple other novels that I’ve worked on(although I ended up changing my tag). Although I am the “dedicated editor” of TKA, I’ve been really on and off about it due to school and other issues. I started working with Nom on TKA in high school and now I’m finishing up the final semester of university and honestly, it’s been a long journey. Due to starting a new chapter in my own life, I will be stepping out of the webnovel scene, but I will be joining the ranks of the readers to continue my support. I just hope that all of you will continue to support the translating teams and authors who worked hard to create and release these works alongside me.
Big shoutout and thank you to all of the readers who have been with us from the beginning and all the readers in general who have supported us along this journey. While reading TKA, the readers have pointed out many errors that I missed and even commented on the quality of my editing, but I don’t think that I’m 100% to blame. I would like to share some of the blame with our translators for doing such a good job translating that sometimes I would forget to make edits because it felt like there weren’t any or making my job almost obsolete with their translation quality. To be honest, I got too comfortable editing for them because they made my job a little too easy and sometimes I would just skim chapters without finding anything to fix.
All in all, thank you to everyone who has come along this journey with us, whether as part of the team who contributed or readers who supported us all this time. Thank you!
Signing out,
Based
