WAKE UP, SAMURAI. WE HAVE A BURNING WORLD TO SAVE. ⚔🔥
I’m super excited to announce that we’re back with Vol 2 of Dungeon Busters!
We’re hitting the ground running with random African dictator chucking children into the dungeons, President TrumpRonald Howard initiating the Monroe Doctrine, and a sneak peek of the mysterious guy in the dungeon in Venisuela!
The world continues plunging towards chaos, and we’re here for the ride!

Same as I did for Vol 1, I’ll be making updates to the map we have ongoing for the series and posting interesting tidbits about references made in the chapter.
I recommend you go check out the chapter first before reading the notes below, they just might contain minor spoilers!

You done reading the chapter?
Good!
I hope you enjoyed it! (Tell me what you thought below or in the JNC forums!)
Here are the notes!

1. New country/countries introduced:
   1. Mejicanos: Mexico
2. New dungeon locations introduced:
   1. Shanghai, Chongqing, Chengdu, Ürümqi, Tibet, Inner Mongolia
3. First reference: Mysterious man and girl in Venisuela. If you haven’t done so already, get the Premium version of Vol 1 on JNC to read the bonus stories!
4. “The Monroe Doctrine was issued on December 2, 1823, at a time when nearly all Latin American colonies of Spain and Portugal had achieved, or were at the point of gaining, independence from the Portuguese and Spanish Empires. It stated that further efforts by various European states to take control of any independent state in the Americas would be viewed as “the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.” At the same time, the doctrine noted that the U.S. would recognize and not interfere with existing European colonies nor meddle in the internal affairs of European countries.”
5. South Korea does have a Ministry of Unification that basically focuses on efforts at reuniting the two Koreas.
6. “General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea” is one among Kim Jung-Un‘s titles. It’s not like the South Koreans are going to refer to him as “Supreme Leader,” after all.
7. Dangun, or Dangun Wanggeom, was “the legendary founder and god-king of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom…said to be the “grandson of heaven”…”
8. Meng Zeming is a reference to Mao Zedong, who did pretty much what is described here.
9. China is considered a “socialist market society,” but it does call itself communist, so it’s…both communist and socialist?
10. The Cultural Revolution was a “violent sociopolitical purge movement in China from 1966 to 1976. Launched by Mao Zedong…its stated goal was to preserve Chinese communism by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society, and to re-impose…[Maoism]…as the dominant ideology in the CPC.”
11. “Antianmen Incident” is a reference to the Tiananmen Incident, the one where Chinese troops gunned down a mass protest in Tiananmen Square. The one with that famous picture of a man standing in front of a procession of tanks.
12. Bread and circuses politics is a thing.
13. So, the Diaoyu Islands. Or as the Japanese side calls it, the Senkaku Islands. These are a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea occupied by Japan and claimed by China which has potential undersea oil reserves. Seems to be a flashpoint these days (late Feb 2021), as China had “enacted a new law earlier this month that allows its coast guard to use weapons against foreign ships Beijing sees as illegally entering its waters.”
14. The Cyberspace Administration of China is the one that maintains their Great Firewall.
15. The Japanese National Diet meets at least once each year. In emergencies, the Cabinet can convoke an extraordinary session. Records of the past few years show that they always meet at the end of January, and then might meet two or three more times in the latter half of the year.
16. “Land of Abundant Rice” is one of the names that Japan calls itself by.
17. Susukino is “Japan’s largest entertainment district north of Tokyo.” It is packed with stores, bars, restaurants, karaoke shops, pachinko parlors and red light establishments.” Ramen! Crabs!
18. “Susukino Kin Sushi” seems to be a reference to Susukino Sushi Kin, a sushi restaurant with one Michelin star.
19. Gunkan maki sushi is the kind where the seaweed wraps around the side of the rice and there’s stuff like roe sitting on top.
20. Odori Park in Susukino is indeed split into several zones with different themes. The English version of the page doesn’t mention it, but here’s the Japanese version.
21. The “open grassy area decorated by an artistic installation that looked like a slide” is a description of an actual location!
22. The Sapporo Snow Festival is where amazing people make freaking incredible statues out of snow. As with many things, it has unfortunately gone online this year.
23. Snow Miku is a separate side thing that’s a part of the Sapporo Snow Festival. Because Crypton Future Media, the company that developed Hatsune Miku, is located in Sapporo. Side tangent, this is why there are deliberations going on at the moment for renaming a local airport “Hatsune Miku Airport.”
24. About The Prime Minister’s Movements. I couldn’t find an English mention of it, but there’s a 24/7 minute-by-minute report of the Japanese prime minister’s movements called 首相動静. Though it seems like more of a self-reporting thing and there are clearly ways of getting around it.
25. Just a brief reminder, the Kantei is where the Japanese prime minister lives and works. So basically, the Japanese counterpart to the White House.

Aaaand that’s about it for this time, folks! That’s Part 1 of Vol 2! As I said, I’m super excited to be back on this.
Welcome aboard to the train to hell!

(As always, feel free to point out grammatical mistakes, typos, and the like on either the relevant JNC forum or on the #translation-talk channel on our Discord.)