34. Struggle.

34. Desperation.

+++

“Isn’t there any way to bring down the Palace?”

A middle-aged man with streaks of gray in his hair spoke with a deep sigh.

The previous Prime Minister of Japan had resigned, taking responsibility for the comprehensive failure to address the dungeon situation, the resulting massive economic losses, the stationing of Korean troops, and the current state of affairs, which was essentially being a colony of the Harem Palace.

As a result, ‘Nishida Ichigumi’ was newly elected as Prime Minister.

Although he had seized power in Japan, he secretly shed tears at the daunting reality ahead.

In practice, there was almost nothing he could do, and whenever an order came down from the Palace, he had to tailor policies and laws accordingly.

Moreover, since the head of the Palace was the ultimate lecher Yu-eun, they could make bizarre demands at any time.

At Prime Minister Nishida’s question, his aides remained silent.

What clear solution could they possibly have? Against overwhelming power, nothing else matters.

One of the ministers opened his mouth with difficulty.

“If you look at the… Chinese situation… it seems… there’s no way…”

As ‘that’ situation was mentioned, everyone in the room shuddered.

The unprecedented massacre in human history, in which over a billion people were slaughtered.

Although about a billion Bojinias were born as China collapsed, they kill their hosts upon birth, so strictly speaking, they eradicated over 90% of the ‘Chinese’ population.

Men are killed without a second thought, and even women are eliminated and used as hosts for Bojinias unless they are beautiful enough to meet the standards.

The resulting Bojinias quickly reorganized the country, reviving industry and the economy, and even replenishing military power.

And the power derived from that goes straight to the Harem Palace.

Thanks to that, the whole world knelt and groveled, didn’t they?

Even the United States, which had always declared itself a hegemonic power and never bowed its lofty pride, lowered its back before the Palace.

If the United States was like that, Japan couldn’t possibly stand up to the Palace. In the first place, Japan couldn’t even handle South Korea, a rising military power, and had allowed Korean troops to be stationed in its capital, Tokyo.

In a situation where everyone was silent, the Prime Minister opened his trembling jaw.

“Still, we must find a way. There’s no guarantee that we can survive indefinitely by accepting all their demands as they are. In the end, we must make a decision to survive, and only by dismantling the Palace through that decision can we guarantee the survival of our Japan.”

It was a difficult thing to say.

Even for the Prime Minister, it was hard to say such things in these times.

But what else could he do?

He had to do so in order to live.

Historically, countless civilizations have faced great walls.

They could only overcome those walls by achieving ‘miracle-like things that could not be achieved.’

Most gave up or failed and went down the path of destruction,

But there are also civilizations that have survived.

Quick and accurate judgment of the situation, and pushing forward with the measures obtained from it without giving up.

The Prime Minister thought that was the only way for Japan to survive permanently.

“Still….”

“The current Harem Palace is so different from the existing hegemons that have appeared in human history.”

“Frankly, even if only 10 Bojinias were released in Japan, we couldn’t guarantee the situation. But the Palace has 1 billion of those Bojinias! Bojinias are scarier than nukes.”

The aides strongly opposed.

No matter how historical it may be, the current Harem Palace is a different dimension.

In particular, the existence of Bojinias is a disaster in itself. It was not something that could be countered with the power of a modern nation.

But the Prime Minister did not give up and brought up the words he had kept in his heart.

“Of course. I too have had much anguish and despair. But no matter how I think about it, nothing else comes to mind! We can’t gain anything by becoming a colony of the Palace, and we can’t grasp any hope!”

“Then what are you saying we should do? Impose economic sanctions on the Bojinia Nation?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then…!”

“What if we could find someone like him in Japan?”

“Yes?”

To those who were making absurd expressions, the Prime Minister showed his palm and explained step by step.

“Think about where the group called the Harem Palace, and the existence called Bojinia, all came from.”

“Isn’t it Yu-eun?”

“That’s right. Everything started with Yu-eun. It hasn’t even been a year. So here’s a question. How on earth did Yu-eun establish the Harem Palace and create the Bojinias?”

“…Because of the power of the dungeon.”

“That’s right!”

He was excited.

He looked as if he had already found a solution.

“He became an adventurer and gained power in the dungeon. And it’s been barely 5 years since the dungeon was created, and we’re looking at 6 years now. Do you know what this implies?”

“…Are you saying that someone like Yu-eun could appear again?”

“That’s right! And in Japan!”

He quickly wrote something on the back of the conference paper in front of him.

“The highest-ranked dungeon in the world is currently in Japan. Although it is owned by the Harem Palace and is under their management, it is an undeniable fact that it is geographically very advantageous to Japan.”

“That’s… too unrealistic. Yu-eun is an exceptionally powerful person, so much so that he can be called a mutant, and there’s no guarantee that such a person will appear again.”

“Then is there a better way? Is there any other way to drive out the Harem Palace and pursue the well-being of our Japan?”

“…There isn’t.”

“Then we have to do it! Even if the chances are low, we have to do it!”

The excited Prime Minister did not listen to his aides.

He had already entered a state of having made up his mind.

“Anyway, there is a high possibility that an irregular like Yu-eun will be born in Japan, which has the highest-ranked dungeon. And the Palace probably knows that too. So if there is an adventurer who is persistently searched for by the Palace, he may be the one who will pose a threat to the Palace in the future.”

“Are you saying you’re going to access the Palace’s information? That’s too dangerous!”

“That’s right! What if you get caught and get massacred like China!”

“The situation is already dangerous enough. No, if you think about the future, it’s no different from being destroyed. We’ll be doomed as it is. We have to resist. We have to find a way. That’s the only way there’s even a 1% chance.”

The aides, other ministers, and later even members of the same party tried to stop him, but the Prime Minister went ahead.

He firmly believed that this was the way for Japan to survive.

+++

Kung!

Deep in the dungeon.

In this place covered in musty smells and darkness, a large, heavy box dropped from the sky.

It has not been revealed by what principle such a thing is created, but when this box is opened, various reward items pop out.

Sometimes really useless items come out, and sometimes expensive equipment that rivals winning the lottery comes out.

“It’s a Loot Box!”

“How many times is this?”

“Huu.”

The party members were exhausted from the continuous hunting, but they all gathered together and opened the box.

“…Doesn’t look very useful.”

“It’s a sword? Should I use it?”

A crude-looking sword.

It has the form of a longsword that might have been used in the old West, but the blade is so dull that it doesn’t look like a good item at all.

Just in case it’s a cliche like ‘It looks like a useless item on the outside, but it’s actually an amazing item?’, I scanned the information, but it was the same.

It was just a weapon close to being a useless item.

“Haa… is this all I get?”

The black-haired woman, unable to hide her disappointment, grabbed the sword and threw it away nervously.

“No matter how many millions of these things I collect, they won’t do even 1 damage to them!”

“Calm down, Haruna.”

“Calm down? How can I calm down right now?”

“There’s nothing we can do. Let’s finish hunting here for now and regroup.”

At the calm man’s words, the woman called Haruna huffed and picked up the sword again and put it in her inventory.

Of course, she didn’t forget to grumble as she did so.

“It’s already been two months, and thanks to some great leader, what a hard time I’m having. No rewards either….”

She glared sharply at someone with her beautiful eyes.

‘Itaru Aoki’, the party’s former leader, was the target.

She thought that her life had fallen into hell because of his unnecessary meddling.

He stepped up to save women he had never seen before, putting all the other team members in danger.

Thanks to that, the old friendship is gone and they are almost like enemies. If it weren’t for the current leader, ‘Majime Kaku’, this team would have disbanded a long time ago.

“….”

At Haruna’s grumbling, Aoki glanced at her and sighed.

He secretly liked her, and still likes her, so her stinging gaze mercilessly struck his heart.

“Huu… there’s nothing we can do. Just stop it now.”

Another woman, ‘Ueno Karen’, who was watching Haruna and Aoki, stopped Haruna.

She also resented Aoki at first, but it’s already been two months and nothing will change by blaming him.

It’s best to just do what you have to do now.

“Let’s prioritize surviving right now.”