11. Tokyo Panic.

11. Tokyo Panic.

 

 

 

 

 

Washington.

 

It’s famous as the capital of the United States, but it’s also known as the location of the D10 headquarters, the Dungeon Cooperation Organization.

All international laws related to dungeons are enacted here, and it’s where all guilds and adventurers are affiliated.

 

 

Regular meetings are held once a month, where they decide on future directions or discuss important matters. Today, a meeting has been suddenly convened.

 

 

Usually, the heads of the (A)-level headquarters, (B)-level, and (C)-level branches gather for meetings, totaling 15 people, who are essentially the leaders of D10.

The (A)-level is the head of the Dungeon Cooperation Organization’s headquarters, the (B)-level includes the heads of the European, Asian, Russian, Chinese, and American branches, and the (C)-level includes the heads of the Japanese, Korean, British, Italian, Indian, German, French, South American, Southeast Asian, and Australian branches.

 

 

It’s standard to fly directly to the headquarters to attend, but given the urgent summons, they’re forced to hold the meeting via video conference, and the atmosphere is quite unusual.

 

 

 

“Can you explain what happened, Mr. Kim?”

 

The white-haired headquarters chief asked a middle-aged man with a sharp expression.

The man, who was sweating profusely and looking embarrassed even through the screen, cautiously opened his mouth.

 

 

“We’re still… trying to grasp the detailed situation… but what’s certain is that not all of the military thought this way, and it was caused by Major Han Sarang’s independent judgment.”

“A major?”

 

 

The Asian branch chief, who is also the Japanese branch chief, scoffed from the side (or rather, from where he was being projected).

 

 

“Seriously, is Korea a country where a mere major can just go around shooting people? I wouldn’t believe it even if the minister did it.”

“…It’s due to the revised military law and the 7th Republic special provisions. The state is excessively checking us and the adventurers.”

“Ahem. Isn’t managing that your job, Director Kim? I’ve told you repeatedly. You need to have a closer relationship with our Asian branch and work together! Problems like this arise because you’re being stubborn and trying to do everything yourself.”

“Hmph. The Asian branch? What part of it represents Asia? Isn’t it just the Japanese branch? It’s quite greedy for a branch representing a single country to try and represent other countries as well.”

“Greedy! The Korean branch is clearly a subordinate organization of the Asian branch!”

“If you’re going to be like that, the Chinese branch is also a subordinate branch, but frankly, isn’t the Chinese branch more influential? Don’t you realize it’s already nominal at that point?”

“Why, you!”

 

 

Everyone who knows, already knows.

 

 

Usually, in an organization, there’s a hierarchy between each institution. The division into (A)-level, (B)-level, and (C)-level is for that reason.

 

 

Nominally, the highest institution is the headquarters, followed by the ‘continental branches’ like the European, Asian, and South American branches.

 

 

However, the branches of China and Korea, which are founding countries and key directors of D10, are so powerful that their influence is incomparable to that of other national branches. They effectively don’t receive control from the continental branches, and even exert equal or greater power than other continental branches like the South American, Southeast Asian, and Australian branches.

 

 

Among them, the Chinese branch in particular, despite representing a single country, is classified as (B)-level and is one of the three most powerful branches within the Dungeon Cooperation Organization, along with the headquarters and the American branch.

 

 

 

 

Given this situation, the Asian branch in Tokyo is effectively unable to fulfill its role as a continental branch, and is only doing things like assisting other member states that couldn’t handle dungeons and monsters on their own.

 

 

Even that is being increasingly pushed back by the rising OPEC branch these days. At this rate, the Asian branch will inevitably fall to being just the Japanese branch within a few years.

 

 

 

 

 

“Enough already!”

 

A woman, unable to watch any longer, shouted as if scolding them.

She’s clearly a middle-aged woman, but quite beautiful.

 

 

“How long are you going to keep fighting like that? Did we make time for this because we’re free? And Asia, take some notes from Europe. The European branch is running just fine, why is Asia in such a state?”

“How can Europe and Asia be the same? We’reㅡ.”

“You fought wars with each other? Didn’t Europe fight wars? They’re the countries involved in World War II, you know? They were divided into local universities and fought wars for hundreds of years. But they’re cooperating with each other for the future and national interests, so Asia should try to do that too.”

“荒谬绝伦!(Ridiculous!).”

 

The Chinese branch chief shrugged with an absurd look on his face.

 

Spouting words carelessly without even knowing the proper circumstances. That’s why Westerners are no good. They start with the underlying assumption that they’re superior and Asia is relatively inferior. That’s why he didn’t like them.

 

 

Indeed, only the revival of the People’s Republic of China can save the world and save Asia! He believed that all the principles of the world were contained even in these trivial squabbles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tang! Tang!

 

 

The headquarters chief, along with the American branch chief, who were the only ones not on video conference, struck the table twice with a gavel-like hammer.

 

“Let’s be quiet. You keep going off track.”

“Ahem… ahem…”

 

 

The three Asian countries and the European branch chief turned their heads away with a “Hmph!”

 

“Mr. Kim, this matter is extremely, extremely important and serious. We need to find out all the details of the situation as soon as possible and come up with appropriate countermeasures. If we’re not careful, the foundation we’ve built with such effort could collapse overnight, and we could end up handing everything over to the state.”

“…I know.”

 

 

The ‘Hannam-dong Massacre’ committed by Major Han Sarang has already spread around the world through the Korean media and social media.

 

 

The reaction from people is pure shock itself.

 

 

It’s not like a shooting occurred and tanks shelled in some corner of the world like Somalia. In South Korea, a G20 and OECD member, and a key director country of D10, the state’s military directly used force against adventurers and guilds.

 

 

This gave a different feeling than what happens in developing countries where gangs or malicious guilds run rampant. The reaction in Korea, in particular, was incredibly fierce.

 

 

Public opinion is extremely divided, with some saying that Major Han Sarang should be executed immediately, while others say that the military did a good job of handling what the police couldn’t.

 

 

 

The problem is that the spirit of the adventurers and each guild in Korea has been severely dampened by this incident.

If some crazy bitch comes out and starts shooting without warning, anyone in modern times would flinch.

 

 

What if other countries see this situation and think, ‘Oh? That’s effective?’ and start using the military to pressure guilds in earnest? Furthermore, what if it threatens the status of the Dungeon Cooperation Organization? This is something that D10 cannot tolerate.

 

 

“Then, the Korean branch should handle this matter as quickly as possible, and let’s move on to the next agenda item.”

 

For now, this discussion ends here.

It’s only been a day since it happened, and there’s another important matter today besides this.

 

 

 

He looked at the Asian branch chief, who is also the Japanese branch chief.

 

 

“As I mentioned before, a B-class dungeon is expected to appear in Japan in the near future. The location is Tokyo’s… Imperial Palace.”

“Hmm….”

 

 

The Japanese branch chief groaned.

 

 

The Imperial Palace is where the Japanese Emperor lives. Well, he’s a human who has no meaning anymore, but he’s still a symbol of Japan. It’s nonsense that a dungeon would appear in this place of all places.

 

 

“As you know, a B-class is the first in world history. We don’t know how strong its power will be. However, considering that a D-class dungeon blew away an entire ‘ward’, and a C-class dungeon blew away a quarter of a large city…”

 

 

The headquarters chief swallowed.

 

 

“In the worst case, Tokyo… no, the Tokyo metropolitan area could collapse. And that also means the collapse of Japan.”

“…We need to prepare thoroughly.”

 

 

The Japanese branch chief had a stiff expression.

 

In fact, the emergence of a high-level dungeon is like a national celebration. The Manhattan Dungeon, which blew away a quarter of New York, is an example. It generated enough profit in just one year to recover from the damage caused by the collapse of half of New York. If that’s the case for a C-class, there’s no need to say more for a B-class.

 

 

But….

 

 

There has to be a limit….

 

 

The Tokyo metropolitan area, the capital region of Japan, has a GDP of about $1.6 trillion on its own. That’s almost the size of the entire Korean economy. And it’s the center of Japan.

 

The collapse of Tokyo means that an economy the size of Korea would be instantly wiped out in the international community, and furthermore, it means that related Japan would be destroyed.

 

 

There’s no need to even mention the world economy after that.

 

 

There are already a lot of talks about the world going to ruin because of dungeons, and just a year ago, a quarter of New York, Manhattan, was blown away, causing it to falter. If Tokyo collapses here, the world economy will truly head towards the end of its recession.

 

 

“Branch Chief-nim, please persuade the Japanese government to open the Imperial Palace to us at all costs. Not just the areas open to civilians, but ‘all’ of it. That’s the only way we can help. And Mr. Kim, the Korean branch’s role is very important in this situation. It’s geographically the closest and has powerful adventurer forces and a military.”

 

 

“A, army? Are you telling us to bring the Korean army into our country right now?!”

 

 

“Tokyo could collapse within days, is that what’s important right now? From our perspective, it’s not good for the military to suppress dungeons forever. But it’s even worse for Tokyo to collapse. That’s why I’m saying this.”

 

 

“Hmm… dispatching troops….”

“That’s absurd!! We have the Self-Defense Forces and the US military too. Our adventurer forces are stronger than Korea’s! So why!! Do we have to bring in the Korean army!!”

“It’s not just the Korean army that’s going. It’ll take some time, but the US military and UN forces will go together, and all the armies in the vicinity will help Japan. And the same goes for adventurers and guilds.”

 

He calmly tries to persuade the Japanese branch chief, but he just rants and raves, unable to accept it at all.

 

 

“Absolutely not! No, this isn’t a matter of whether I can or can’t accept it!! The Japanese people will never accept it! The Korean army!!”

“Mr. Ishida.”

“If they’re coming under the UN flag, that’s fine, but I can never accept the Korean army!”

“Calm down, Ishida.”

 

 

He expected it, but the reaction is more intense than he thought.

 

 

“Ishida. Does Japan have to collapse for you to come to your senses?”

“….”

“Having a city collapse and a country destroyed by overwhelming force is enough with just one time. Right?”

“…!”

“Korea will have a hard time too, but it’s for the sake of the world. And you have to help now when you have the strength, so you can receive help when you experience the same tragedy.”

“Hoo… I’ll try.”

“I heard that a guild has emerged in Korea’s Gangnam… was it? That unified the D-class dungeons.”

“You mean the Harem Squad.”

“I hope you’ll ask that guild as well. As humanity’s greatest force, they need to prevent the collapse of Tokyo.”