Mechanical Alchemist机械炼金术士

Tl;dr: the translation seems to be on hiatus. There is a translation done up to 250, but all those after 216 are locked/paywalled.

So did some checking about the status of this novel. The Novelupdate link is to the right novel, but only has like 17 chapters from 2023.

Based on the Translator name on here, I went to their site but they, for some reason, only have up to Chapter 101.

Based on their links, it seems that they have actually uploaded the translation on a site called "pawread". Sadly on there it says the novel is on hiatus. It has up to Chapter 216 (the current latest Chap here on Ranobes) free and up to 250 total translated, though those are locked behind a paywall.

They technically still have the novel in their "Ongoing novels" page on the translators site, but since all the chapters after 101 are only available on "pawread" I think the status on there is much more likely to be true, unfortunately.

When will be next chapter???
It's been 19 days

I'm at chapter 90 and so far he's only used puppets 1 time for a very short fight... he's more of a gunslinger than he is a puppeteer or alchemist.

inconsistent translation

I have now read all the chapters available here. I’ll start with a warning for beginners to read, the book cannot be called complete, as I understand the author decided that the level of his writing had fallen and he finished the book, even though there was something else to write about. Don't be fooled by the gloomy beginning, yes at the beginning it seems that it will be something dark and gloomy with a tense atmosphere, but closer to 80 chapters you will begin to feel the Chinese style. For example, inappropriate banter and constant references to “brother.” Just as I understood this is a harem, there will be no erotica. The world is written well, closer to 150 chapters I lost interest, but the author regained it. In short, the book is not a masterpiece; I would give it 8/10. It's a good read, but don't expect anything too cool. I recommend reading it. Personally really liked it.

Sorry for the mistakes, English is not my native language. Also, despite the fact that the novell is an ordinary one, I want to read it, I’m waiting for the continuation of the translation.

And I forgot to mention, the chapters here are really long.

The translation is clumsy. Often phrases have the opposite meaning.

Edit 3: Up to 182 now, and the wording issues mentioned below continue to occur more and more frequently. Lately even the names of characters are being messed up multiple times in the same chapter. As before though, the plot is still interesting enough imo that I'm continuing, but if messed up wording and inconsisten translations are a big issue for you then I would definetly not bother starting this one, since they show absolutely no sign of improvement.

Edit 2: Now at Chapter 116. It's still interesting and I am going to continue, but the translation/wording issues are becoming much more frequent and noticeable. Not only the previous mentioned terminology changes below, but more cases where the completely wrong word is used which doesn't fit at all - like using "lactate" when the context suggests it should be "lactic acid", "80 thousand" when it should be "800 thousand", using a negative when it should be a positive etc.

Edit: Am now up to Chapter 82. It's definetly interesting and would reccomend it, though there are some small translation issues I've noticed lately that are a bit annoying, but nothing major.

These majority of the issues with the translation are when it sometimes refers to things differently, either between chapters or even within the same chapter. There have been cases where his "All Seeing Eye" became "Eye of Omniscience" for example. And another one where the name of a gun went from "Blue Ghost" to "Green Ghost" within a few paragraphs.

Again, not bad enough to ruin the experience by any means, but a small annoyance. I will keep my original review below, and will update this one more time either when I fully catch up or if I decide to drop it.

Original Review:
I'll update this once I get further in. Currently up to Chap 17. It's pretty interesting so far.

It's a post apocalyptic (?) world with steampunk technology, Magic and alchemy. MC transmigrated over and seems to be pretty crazy himself. He mentioned he was in prison and had experience with marksmanship, gouging out an eye etc. He also seems to suggest he has multiple personalities maybe? But no clear answer yet.

It seems to have horror themed detective work, initially at least. Then it's mainly been just exploring this underground world, a fight with a group that tried to take advantage of MC and now he has finally reached a human settlement and has joined a gang.

In terms of his powers/cheats, he awakens 2 talents. "All seeing eye" and "Reaper of death". Basically he can analyse stuff with the eye, though it is suggested to have more functions.
The Reaper one basically allows him to absorb a portion of the memories, life experience and "stats" of those he kills via absorbing their soul soon after death.

Will update once read further...

I'll test it, wish me luck.

I have to read at least all available chapters before reviewing.

I've read about 120 chapters and I have to say it's interesting, but a bit strange. From what I've seen, the author is probably a beginner, since he doesn't yet know how to use show, don't tell fully. World-building is still in progress as far as I've read, so you can't tell for sure if it's going well or not, the mc is quite crazy and has a rather turbulent past. The energy system is well developed. Overall, it's worth a read, but it's not a masterpiece or anything as far as I've read.