Orc Coup

Since the reunification of North and South Korea, the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government in the reunified country have been in a frenzy.

"So, we should designate North Korea as an agricultural special zone to create jobs and increase food self-sufficiency! Isn't it the blessed crop that's hot these days? We should expand it into a specialty of North Korea──"

"Improving the poor transportation environment in North Korea is a priority! We should actively lay hyperloops to secure transportation infrastructure──"

"What should be done about the overheated speculation atmosphere in North Korea? The Ministry of Land and Housing Development should immediately withdraw the government's policy of encouraging speculation!"

"I heard that the leader of the opposition party has been in contact with surrendered North Korean military generals, isn't this in preparation for the upcoming presidential election?"

"Stop suppressing the opposition with ridiculous conspiracy theories!"

'I'm ready to retire------'

President Ahn Dong-gil, who had the honor of being the first president of the reunified Korea, thought that he could not do this in front of the ruling and opposition parties who were fighting every day.

As if solving the North Korea problem weren't enough of a headache, the next presidential election is on the horizon.

'In Pyongyang, a dragon is the mayor.'

The Pyongyang mayoral election made global headlines.

The election process was far from democratic, but it was the first time a member of a different ethnic group was elected to office.

The Dragon bureaucrats did a better job than expected in dealing with the South Korean government after the election.

Things that could have been passed off as a good deal when Leon was the negotiator were handled by the Dragons in a strictly manner, with Covenant contracts.

While the dragons' top-down attitude is often criticized, they have shown incredible negotiating skills in the fine print of the contract.

This has led to some people getting excited about the prospect of half-breeds entering politics.

'Well, it's nice to have proportional representation for races that look like elves.'

As President Ahn envisioned the entry of other races into politics, he suddenly thought about the entry of orcs into politics.

With enough of the most important 'votes' in a democracy, they could be a force to be reckoned with in the political arena.

'Well, it's impossible.'

But orcs aren't interested in politics. They are a race of natural warriors. They're too busy fighting to think about entering politics.

'I wonder if we should scout for an elf from the Ten Thousand Gods Temple for the next proportional.'

Ahn Dong-gil couldn't bring himself to ask the knights from Lionheart to join politics.

"──Ha!!!"

'If Mr. Leon were to run in the election, the repercussions would be too strong, and that's why everyone can't even mention it. Then, even Queen Beatrice would have to-'

"Your Excellency!!"

"Uh, I'm listening."

Ahn felt the stares of his ministers and councilors, and realized they weren't directed at him, but at the big TV in the conference room.

"Mr. President, I think you should check it out!"

The chief of staff, who had been calling for President Ahn earlier, pointed to the TV. There it was....

"What's that?"

"This is the official statement of the Republic of Wuhan, live broadcast!"

The Republic of Wuhan, one of China's 53 apparently fragmented states, is a fairly large continental country with a population of 5 million.

Unlike the Heilongjiang People's Republic, it is one of the common warlord dictatorships that has little to do with Korea, but──

"Huh? Why is it an orc general and not the President's spokesman?"

For some reason, he can understand him without a translator.

When President Ahn was puzzled by his fluent-sounding Korean, a survivor's language advantage, he blurted out the unbelievable.

[The coup was a decision by the old country to return democracy to the people!]

What? Democracy? Orcs?

An orc general saying things that would only be balanced by a Lionheart knight declaring a state of no religion.

The Blue House secretary said in a shaky voice.

"It's a coup---"

"Uh, yeah--- I know because I've seen it."

It's not that unusual. Every once in a while, an orc general would stage a coup with the support of his orc warriors.

"It's not just Wuhan. Shijiazhuang, Huihao, Jinan, Nanchang, Shenyang, Xi'an, Chengdu---there have been coups by orcs all over the Chinese mainland at the same time!"

They all had one thing in common.

They voted for democracy.

"Eh?"

Orcs?

* * * * *

Thirty years ago, after a cataclysmic event, countless nations were destroyed or divided.

Most notably, Greater China. Once the largest nation in the world, it was eventually torn apart by local warlords due to the accumulated damage and the emergence of the Archdemon from the Black Gate.

Elsewhere, the Middle East suffers from a perennial shortage of Hunters due to the strict exclusion of female Hunters, and Africa lacks even the most minimal infrastructure to find and train Hunters.

While in South America awakeners are more like cartel commandos than Hunters.

Countries such as Russia or Central Asia, which have an extremely large land mass and an extremely low number of hunters, have a low population compared to their huge territories. 

Of course, there have been some attempts to train hunters from the national budget. However, at best, the hunters are often blown away by headhunting in developed countries with favorable conditions.

The lack of money in the country meant that the country became a weak hunter country, which repeated the vicious cycle of weakening national competitiveness. 

How did they survive the crisis over 30 years after the Cataclysm?

"The orc survivors are a blessing to the Hunter Weak States."

Yes.

Survivors.

They've crossed over from the Otherworld, possessing the tenacity and strength to survive the harsh conditions of the Gate, and orcs are the quintessential fighting race.

"The survivors' combat prowess is guaranteed, but the problem is their numbers. You can't cover a lot of territory with a small number of strong men."

"Orcs are naturally warlike and prolific, in addition to their basic potential."

"They are almost the only power that can replace the Hunters."

Some of the survivors of the Otherworld crossed over on a racial basis.

This was the case with elves and dwarves, and there were also cases of groups such as humans, witches, and magic towers crossing over. 

When these orcs were first encountered, governments around the world expected them to be a problem.

While some of their values clashed with those of humans, they basically shared similar values.

There is a certain amount of cultural relativism that can be applied, as elves occasionally fall into ecofascism or dwarves demand hospitality when visiting breweries in groups.

Orcs, however, are very different from the other races.

They worshipped warriors, and everything was fought over.

They're also hard to control because they won't listen to you unless you're a stronger warrior than them.

Accepting orcs as survivors seemed risky.

So for quite some time, the orcs wandered as mercenaries without a proper nationality.

"We, the Free People's Republic of Wuhan, actively encourage the naturalization of orc survivors!"

One of the 53 nations that claim to be the heirs to the torn continent.

Between the endless budget spent on training Hunters and the fact that they emigrated to more developed countries where conditions were better, the number of Hunters was plummeting every year.

"We promise orc naturalized citizens a home, legal rights, and special benefits if they join our gate raids."

And so the orc migration began.

At first, everyone viewed the mass migration of orcs to the Wuhan Republic negatively.

-They're barbarians who only know how to fight.

-They'll cause trouble.

Amidst these concerns, the world discovered an unexpected upside to the orc migration.

-The orcs are certainly good fighters. A full-grown orc warrior is as good as any B-class hunter.

-I'm surprised that's the minimum.

No wonder they fight so well.

-Don't they ever rest? They're going straight to the next gate after yesterday's raid.

-Let them go. Punching each other is part of their childhood.

The orcs' belligerence allowed them to find the gate and take it. Not only that, but──

-Politics? We're not interested in that.

-Why are their leaders so weak? Why do they not fight with their fists in the council?

Although they refused to take orders from those weaker than them, it led to their extreme indifference to politics.

Although their innate belligerence and violence often caused them trouble, the mere designation of an orc enclave was enough to keep them out of it.

And when they do venture out of their enclaves to attack the gates, they are transported in specialized quarantine trucks. Despite the prisoner-like transportation, the orcs love the monster trucks, which are roomy enough for 50 tribal warriors.

With the Republic of Wuhan's successful use of orcs, third-world nations thought, "Why not?"

"We can just give them land, feed them, and they'll take care of the gates and attack on their own?"

Isn't this bullshit?

So the hunter-poor third-world countries rushed to accept orc migrants, and eventually the migration business of "exporting" orc warriors became a booming business.

Not that they don't cause their own problems.

Orc generals have staged coups and run riot in the streets.

Their natural belligerence and combat prowess make them a bit of a troublemaker.

But orc warriors were attractive enough migrants to take the risk.

"Vote! Do it!"

"Vote! Do it!"

Third world. That is, 49 of the 53 Chinese countries, most of which advocated nominal democracy and were under permanent rule by dictators.

Of those 49, 27 of the countries that actively accepted orc immigrants, with at least one orc general in every neighborhood, faced coups by orc generals.

[I am Brigadier General Karim, Orc Warlord, and I intend to return power to the people, with no agenda!]

The irony that a government is overthrown by orcs, whom the dictators have mass-produced to maintain their military and Hunter power, and then those orcs stage a coup to return democracy to the citizens.

The citizens were greeted with the incongruous slogan of orcs and democracy.

-The orcs--- encourage you to vote.

-Is this a good thing? I guess it's a good thing that our dictator pig got his head blown off------

-This is the Republic of Beijing, and we've lit a fire under our president's belly. He's a pig sucking the blood of the people------ burning in real time.

-Orcs? That's------

The citizens accepted the orcs' coup for what it was, but were greatly embarrassed that they had chosen to vote for democracy rather than dictatorship.

Regardless, the return of democracy is welcomed by the citizens.

There were many excuses, such as a national emergency and the need for strong rule until Gate was resolved, but in the end, the country had been run by dictators for 20 or 30 years.

The orcs knew that, so they took the dictators' heads off in a coup and revealed their hidden wealth.

-Crazy--- so many thieves in the country!

-They stole American-made gate surveillance lenses, sold them, and replaced them with cheap lenses? They sold national security!

The orcs, having stirred up public outrage, held elections for president and prime minister, as if they'd all made a promise.

More citizens than you might think responded enthusiastically, but that doesn't mean they became their supporters.

There were orcs among the candidates, but they were humans, after all.

They were grateful to them for splitting the heads of the dictators, but they had no intention of having an orc as their chief minister.

"Brother, who are you going to vote for?"

"Hmm~ I think I'll go with candidate number 2. He's from the movement, and he's been fighting against the dictatorship since he was young."

"I'm voting for number three. I like his campaign promises!"

The election started quickly, like frying beans over a blazing fire, but citizens headed to the polls with high expectations.

They voted, and for the first time, they had representation.

The twenty-seven nations of China rejoiced at the return of democracy, and for this moment, they were grateful to the orcs for their willingness to stage a coup and relinquish power.

Until the next day, when they saw the presidential palace burn again.

[Vote again.]

A familiar Orc general puffed on a cigar and turned to the cameras, declaring the second coup a success.