My Decision Following the Last Update

This update will be a bit longer than usual, as I learned from my last attempt to keep things brief. I ended up missing important details, which led to some misunderstandings. So, bear with me for a bit as I go over everything.

Before we begin, I want to clarify something from the last update. I didn’t clearly explain that I am not officially hired by WuxiaWorld. It’s not that WuxiaWorld is underpaying me; rather, I was in need of money, and a friend connected me with a job opportunity as a third-party translator. To clarify, I am working under another translator who is officially hired by WuxiaWorld, but without WuxiaWorld's direct knowledge of my involvement—hence why I referred to myself as a "ghost translator."

Moving on, the results of the vote weren’t surprising, with 90% of you voting for me to focus entirely on Re:Library. While this was within my expectations, I’m not basing my decision solely on the vote, I'm more looking forward to the constructive feedback from the comments. However, it does lend weight to what the majority of our readers want, and I’m eternally grateful to you all.

Truthfully, I’m tempted to drop everything and refocus on Re:Library, but during the month I wasn’t working, I lacked substantial funds and ended up having to rely on my parents. It left a bad taste in my mouth—at this stage in life, I should be the one supporting them, not the other way around.

So, regretfully, I have to continue with my current work for a while longer. As many of you rightly pointed out, "things are never easy when money is involved." I’ve already informed my employer that my interest is waning, so I’m now working at a reduced pace, which I hope will help reduce burnout. Right now, I’m trying to dedicate 2-3 hours a day to editing Re:Library work and the rest of my time to translating. This should allow me to edit at least 10 chapters and translate 1 chapter each day.

As for future plans, I’ll be taking a wait-and-see approach. Ideally, WuxiaWorld would start recruiting again, and I’d have the chance to officially join their ranks. One of the perks is being able to choose the type of novel I’d like to translate, and the higher pay would certainly be a strong motivator to continue. However, since there’s been no recruitment for the past 10 months, this is looking less likely.

Of course, the option of translating for Re:Library is always in the back of my mind. Running a site isn’t easy, and the reason Re:Library continues to thrive today is thanks to all of your support. At one point, I stopped translating and focused entirely on editing due to the increasing number of projects. I just didn’t feel confident leaving the editing to others, so I ended up doing it all myself.

I understand this isn’t the most efficient way to run things—I should be delegating more to our editors. However, all of our editors are volunteers, and given our current financial situation, I’m not in a position to demand more from them, especially with ad revenue being almost nonexistent now. I’m just grateful they’re already helping by handling the novel releases, whether edited or unedited.

Moving forward, one area we can improve is establishing a fixed pay for editors so they can consistently edit the chapters, allowing me to focus on other tasks. The challenge, of course, is figuring out how to secure the funds to make this happen, as ad revenue has been proven to be unreliable at best. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.