Awwww and that’s it for Dungeon Busters Vol 2.
Thanks so much to everyone for reading, and I hope you had a great time!
For the last time this volume, here’s the map, and here’s the chapter.
Aaaaaaand the notes!
- “city in the Middle East that held the status of being a holy city for the world’s three largest monotheistic religions” = Jerusalem
- The Holy See is the “central governing body of the Catholic Church,” with the distinction from “Vatican City” in that Vatican City is “the Holy See’s independent city state.”
- The old St. Peter’s Basilica was built in 326 AD over what was believed to be the tomb of St. Peter.
- The Three Great Chivalric Orders (with this designation being a bit of dramatic flair):
Knights Hospitaller (also known as the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem / the Knights of Rhodes / the Knights of Malta / the Order of St. John): Started off associated with a hospital in Jerusalem, but then developed into a military religious order after the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099.
Teutonic Order (also known as the Order of Brothers of the German House of St. Mary in Jerusalem): Founded to protect Christians on their pilgrimages to Jerusalem and establish hospitals.
Knights Templar (also known as the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon / the Order of Solomon’s Temple): A military order founded in 1119 that became a favored charity throughout Christendom, prominent in finance. Presumably had the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. - Pope Francesco: seems like a reference to Pope Francis (Francesco being his Italian name)
- European Corps (Eurocorps) is an “intergovernmental military corps” with 5 participating members of Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Spain.
- The Blue House is the South Korean counterpart to the American White House and the Japanese Kantei.
- Milae Motor Company first appeared in one of the bonus stories in Vol 1, but is a reference to Hyundai. Whereas the kanji for Hyundai is 現代 (modern day), the kanji provided for Milae is 未来 (future), with “Milae” being the Korean pronunciation (as opposed to “mirai” in Japanese).
- Jagalchi Market, Busan is apparently Korea’s largest seafood market.
- Koria Electric Power Corporation is a reference to Korea Electric Power Corporation, which was indeed forced to move from its Gangnam headquarters in 2014 “as part of a government decentralization program.”
- Hyundai won the bid for Korea Electric Power Corporation’s Gangnam land in 2014 at ₩10.5 trillion, roughly three times higher than the ₩3.3 trillion appraisal price, to build a 100-floor global business center.
- This is a list of things that Japan believes South Korea is claiming cultural origin of.
- New dungeon location:
Atlanta, Georgia, Gamerica
Hong Kong SAR, Sina
Macau SAR, Sina - Xia (夏) dynasty: First dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography, dating back to around 2205 BC
- “Tao Changwen” is a reference to Deng Xiaoping
- The Yellow Turban Rebellion (184 AD – 205 AD) weakened the Han dynasty (which then devolved into the Three Kingdoms era) in a similar manner to how the White Lotus Rebellion (1794 – 1804) weakened the Qing dynasty.
- Wang Anshi: a politician from the Song Dynasty who “attempted major and controversial socioeconomic reforms” such as “increase currency circulation, breaking up of private monopolies, and early forms of government regulation and social welfare”
- President Xi Jinping (the base for the Zhu Haoran character here) did write himself into the Chinese constitution.
- As has been the case, China’s claims over territory in the South China Sea, including the Spratly Islands and Paracel Islands (the Nine-dash Line), continues to be a political flashpoint.
- Nanjing Memorial Hall: a museum memorializing those killed in the Nanjing Massacre by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II
- Fajin: “to issue or discharge power explosively” (prominent example being the one-inch punch)
- Wakura Onsen: a hot spring resort located on the Noto peninsula with tons of huge ryokans
- Kaga Onsen: a collection of four hot spring towns south of Kanazawa
- Yuwaku Onsen: a hot springs village with nine ryokans
- “Manrakusou Villa” is a reference to Hyakurakusou Villa, one of the nine ryokans of Yuwaku Onsen (“man” here meaning 10,000 in contrast to “hyaku” in the original meaning 100)
- Kaiseki: traditional multi-course Japanese dinner
- Noto beef: a specific strain of Japanese black cattle with such limited stock (ie. only 700 heads shipped in 2014) that it can only really be found within the prefecture
- Echizen crab: a type of male snow crab caught in the waters off Fukui Prefecture, supposedly considered the “best tasting crabs in Japan,” so much so that it is the only crab dedicated to the Imperial family.
- Kukurihime Daiginjo: “daiginjo” being a form of sake made from “highly polished rice from which at least 50% of the outer layer of the grain has been removed” that has a profound refined taste. This specific one being dedicated to Kikuhime, the god enshrined at Shirayama-hime Shrine, set to mature for 10 years.
- Japan Expo: Supposedly the largest convention on Japanese popular culture outside of Japan (takes place in Paris, France)
Phew! Talk about going out with a bang! There were so many references (which means research for me) in this last part lol.
And so much set up for future content (with the chivalric orders and “guy in Venisuela”).
I haven’t heard any news of a Vol 3 so far, but fingers crossed!!
For now, thank you so much for reading, and make sure to pick up the book when it releases! (As always, the JNC version has bonus stories hehe)
(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.)