[Federative Republic of Brezil — Capital City, Brasília]
Foreign leaders expressed their disappointment over Brezil’s decision to surrender to Joker’s Legion. The international community viewed Brezil as a victim, forced to yield under the invasion of Venisuela—or put differently, of Joker.
On the other hand, Joker’s demands were rather easy for a country of over two hundred million inhabitants that was part of the G20 to shoulder. Even the one billion dollars worth of food Joker had requested over the next ten years only amounted to one hundred million dollars worth of food per year. If Brezil used domestically produced agricultural and animal products, the economic burden resulting from this demand would be insignificant.
Putting the dungeons under the Legion’s authority meant that the Brezilian army would not need to manage them anymore. In fact, Joker had simply placed B-Rank goblins in the Floor 1 Safety Zone of the Colombian dungeon to act as guards. By making it clear that stepping inside a dungeon while not being part of the Legion meant instant death, Joker had effectively squashed the possibility of criminal adventurers even appearing. In terms of dungeon management, Joker’s methods were pretty effective.
“But isn’t the Legion’s objective to let the Monster Stampede occur and wipe out humanity?”
“Do you really believe he wants to do this? This is nothing more than a show he put on to force Gamerica and the EU to negotiate with him. He clearly wants to challenge the economic disparity our society seems to have set in stone. In ten years, the members of the G7 may have completely changed. Our country even has a shot at becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council,” the Brezilian president said, laughing in self-derision.
He couldn’t do anything else but laugh at this point. The man, nicknamed the South Gamerican Howard, was a right-wing politician elected by the Brezilian people, who had placed all their hopes in him. However, all he had done was let Brezil suffer a humiliation that would be forever recorded in history books. If he didn’t put on a brave face and dream about an ideal future, he wouldn’t have been able to go on.
The Quintuple Alliance had been born after the Napoleonic Wars, and the world order had been redefined after each World War. The countries that currently stood at the top were the permanent members of the UN Security Council, which all had nuclear weapons, and Japan and Reich, which had outstanding technical prowess and economic power. After them came regional powers and middle powers.
Large, populous countries such as Bharatas or Brezil, the largest South Gamerican country, had strengthened their economies in the last twenty years, but at the same time, the wealth gap had widened exponentially. The satellite cities that surrounded Brasília had turned into slums, and the crime rate was out of control. Controlling dungeons, which required order, had always been impossible here. The Legion now acted as a deterrent, scaring away potential offenders in the stead of the government. In the meantime, the government would be able to focus its efforts on restoring public order. This was the goal of the Brezilian president.
“The rich and the poor can fight over the dungeons. We have better things to do!”
Those few words the president spit out without thinking were his true feelings.
✦ ✦ ✦
[Republic of Woori — Blue House]
The Woorian government was certain that its recent success at the G20 meeting in the Kingdom of Saud Arab—which had included securing a meeting with President-elect Wozniak before Japan—would help President Park’s approval rating, even if only for a short while.
However, President Park’s approval rating instead took a turn for the worse as soon as the content of the talks was released and it became apparent the Japan-Gamerica talks had touched upon more exciting topics. Even Park Jae-An’s most devoted voter base was starting to disapprove of him. At this point, the Woorian government had no choice but to find some way to reverse public opinion.
There was a long-standing tradition in Woori of diverting the people’s eyes from governmental issues by somehow making the situation about Japan. In the past few years—ever since Moon Soyun’s presidency—Japan and Woori’s relations had hit rock bottom, however. The Woorian government had created a Department of Dungeons and was working on dungeon-related policies, but there was basically no exchange of information with Japan. President Park Jae-An was even more anti-Japan than his predecessor, but everyone assumed there was no way for the two countries’ relations to deteriorate even further.
“There is only one reason for Japan to revise its constitution and strengthen the JSDF. They intend to take over Asia once more. Woori will stand firmly against this! Considering Japan’s long history of attacking its neighbors without ever showing an ounce of remorse, I am not surprised it has come to this. Truly, no one is as shameless as the Japanese!”
That statement reached Japan immediately, as it came directly from a high-ranking official of the Blue House. It was nothing more than the words of an individual, so the Japanese government did not react too strongly. The conservative media made a point to relay the story as much as possible though, causing outrage. Opinions raged online, some as extreme as to say Japan shouldn’t lift a finger to help, even if Woori were overrun by monsters during the Monster Stampede.
Citizens were also outraged in Woori. People were fed up with the economic slump. On top of that, Woori’s diplomatic relations were a mess. Woori’s way of life, which had remained stable since the days of the previous government, was based on two factors: relying on Gamerica for military protection and dealing with Sina for economic matters. Between the appearance of the dungeons and the Legion’s fight against the north-south divide, this balance had collapsed. Stuck between the reality of things and its ideals, Woori was unable to make a decisive move.
“Mr. President, will you not issue a statement of condemnation? Gamerica, the EU, the Oriental Republic of Sina, and Japan have issued high-level complaints.”
“Foreign Minister Kang assured us Venisuela would not invade its neighbors! In the end, they marched on Brezil without hesitation! What is going on?!”
“According to the Venisuelan government, a group of civilians did this on its own. They claim Venisuela had no part in it and thus has not broken their promise to us. Rather, they’re pestering us, wanting to know when we’ll start sending the technical help we promised for their oil refineries.”
“A group of civilians?! What a clever way of putting it!”
“Naturally, the Department of Foreign Affairs complained as well. Venisuela apparently retorted we weren’t any better with our kneeling statue, the one that caused that incident with Japan...”
“Still no word from the Kingdom of Ko?”
“Besides First Secretary Kim Si-A’s comment? Nothing. He said an opportunistic country should be kept at bay and watched even more than outright enemies. We can’t antagonize Gamerica and the Oriental Republic of Sina any longer. Let’s break our relationship with Venisuela. The international community won’t allow a country as powerful as ours to stay neutral.”
Should they choose Venisuela and Joker and pursue the dream of reconciliation of the Woorian people, reuniting the north and south? Or should they choose Gamerica and Japan, and join the fight against the Legion...? President Park Jae-An could not make up his mind.
As every country plunged into deeper turmoil, it was time to welcome the very last month of 2020.