Character Discussion Lab | When the Morning Shift Took Over, Who Was Missing?
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1. Navigator Introduction
Lucia looked through the documents lined up on the desk one by one.
Hero Approach Alert.
Defeat Reason Report.
Reassignment Request Form.
Treasure Chest Placement Application.
Night Shift Handover Notebook.
Resigned Employee Reviews.
“There was plenty of work to do at the Demon King's Castle, too.”
Noct cast his eyes down to the last line of the night shift handover notebook.
One gatekeeper, whereabouts unknown.
To the morning shift. Please confirm.
“What happens to the people who weren't handed over, beyond the papers that were?”
Lucia quietly opened the door.
“Today, we are talking about the people left behind in the depths of these documents.”
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2. The First Question
Kujo placed the night shift handover notebook in the center of the desk.
“Let’s start with the document that caught our attention the most.”
Washio said immediately.
“I was laughing while reading it at first, though.”
His fingertip stopped at the 4:20 AM entry.
“It stopped here.”
Miura reread the record.
“It says that their whereabouts cannot be confirmed. It doesn't mean it's been decided that they are dead or missing.”
Washio looked up.
“So is it okay to just pass it on to the morning shift?”
“Sometimes it is more dangerous for the night shift alone to continue the search.”
“But how many hours are there until the morning shift arrives?”
“You can't judge just by the time.”
“Even though someone has disappeared?”
Kurose cut in.
“It’s also premature to decide that they have ‘disappeared’.”
Washio looked at Kurose.
“Then what is it?”
“They might have just left their post. There is a possibility they were taken away by the hero. There is also a possibility that they ran away themselves.”
“In any case, confirmation is needed, right?”
“I didn't say not to confirm.”
Kurose pressed his finger on the notebook.
“If you jump to the worst conclusion based on just one line, the site will only become more confused.”
Haruno asked quietly.
“Didn't the person who wrote this line worry about them?”
Miura answered.
“Even if they were worried, they should write the confirmed facts in the handover notebook.”
“Are we not supposed to write down our worries?”
“Because it is a business record.”
Haruno did not take her eyes off the notebook.
“Then, where will the fact that someone was worried remain?”
Washio tapped the desk with his finger once.
“At the very least, it isn't over until the morning shift arrives.”
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3. Do Documents Protect People?
Miura followed the night shift records in order.
“Wall repairs, warnings about mimics, the Demon King's condition, confirmation of the gatekeeper's whereabouts.”
Washio furrowed his brows.
“Only the last one has a different weight.”
“It is precisely because we leave it in the same format that the morning shift can confirm it without overlooking it.”
“Cracks in the wall and the fact that a person is missing are in the same list, you know.”
“If you don't list them, there is a possibility they will disappear with just a verbal report.”
Miura's reply was quick.
“Because it remained in the record, the next person in charge can take action.”
Kurose nodded.
“On that point, Miura-san is correct.”
Washio looked at Kurose.
“That’s rare.”
“If you prioritize emotions and break the format, the judgment of importance will depend on the person who wrote it.”
“A person is missing, you know.”
“That is exactly why we leave the facts.”
Kurose stated firmly.
“Even if you write ‘it was pitiful’ or ‘it was scary’, the search range won't be clear.”
Haruno opened her mouth.
“But it ends with ‘To the morning shift’.”
Miura looked at her.
“What concerns you?”
“It doesn't say who searched first.”
“Maybe they recorded it after searching.”
“Maybe.”
Haruno repeated.
“But maybe they didn't search at all.”
Washio sat back deeply in his chair.
“Because the document exists, there is a possibility they feel like they've done their job.”
Miura's expression stiffened slightly.
“You must not confuse recording with responding.”
“Can you really separate documents and operations that cleanly?”
Miura did not answer.
Kujo also did not reach for the next document.
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4. I Have Come to Value My Life
Washio pulled the Monster Reassignment Request Form toward himself.
Reason for transfer:
I have come to value my life.
“I'm not sure if I should laugh at this.”
Kurose said.
“The person didn't write it to be funny.”
“I know.”
“If that request is granted, who will go to the dangerous floor instead?”
Haruno looked at Kurose.
“Is thinking that you value your life a reason to be removed from your post?”
“If they can't go to a dangerous post, a change in assignment is necessary.”
“This person didn't write that they want to quit.”
Haruno traced the third choice with her finger.
Preferably ground duty.
“They have the intention to work.”
Washio said.
“They just don't want to die, is that it?”
“Even though they are a monster?”
At Washio's words, Haruno looked up.
Washio immediately waved his hand.
“No, my bad. That wasn't it.”
Kurose said nothing.
Miura looked at the request form.
“Regardless of whether this declaration is accepted or not, one must be careful that the name submitted remains.”
Washio looked at Miura.
“You mean because they submitted the request, they might be at a disadvantage?”
“There is a possibility.”
Haruno took her hand off the request form.
“Even so, they submitted it.”
No one denied it.
Kujo did not return the request form to the center.
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5. If You Can Be Resurrected, It Is Not an Absence
Haruno opened the Resigned Employee Reviews.
Even if I die, I am resurrected and put into the next shift.
I could not accept the HR explanation that “If you can be resurrected, it is not an absence.”
Washio grimaced.
“This is completely unacceptable.”
Miura replied immediately.
“You cannot understand the whole picture of the system just from HR's explanation.”
“They are making them work the day after they died, you know.”
“The physical condition after resurrection is not necessarily the same as a human's.”
Washio looked at Miura.
“Are you questioning that?”
“I am saying that it is not questioning, but confirmation that is necessary.”
Kurose looked at the review.
“It’s five stars.”
Haruno looked up.
“Out of ten points.”
Washio recounted.
“Half, then.”
“There is dissatisfaction. Even so, they didn't write that everything was bad.”
Kurose continued.
“That is why it is even more dangerous.”
Miura looked at him.
“What is?”
“There is a possibility that it wasn't picked up as a problem until the person themselves quit.”
Haruno read a sentence from the review.
“‘I could not accept it.’”
She paused for a moment.
“When they said they couldn't accept it, what did HR answer?”
“You can't tell from just the review.”
Miura answered.
Washio said.
“But HR thought they had explained it, right?”
Kurose replied.
“Explanation and consent are different things.”
Haruno did not smile.
“This person has died once.”
The three looked at Haruno.
“But on paper, it was treated as if they hadn't been absent.”
Haruno's finger stopped under the review.
“Then, where does the fact that this person disappeared once remain?”
Miura returned his gaze to the review.
“At the very least, it didn't remain in the attendance records, I suppose.”
That answer comforted no one.
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6. Laughable Documents, Unlaughable Documents
Washio pulled the Treasure Chest Placement Application toward him.
“This one is okay to laugh at, right?”
Miura asked.
“Why?”
“It’s a cypress stick with a 2% opening rate.”
Kurose looked at the application.
“If you change it to a steel sword, the hero will become stronger.”
Washio's laughter stopped.
“There is also a possibility that the next monster will be defeated.”
Miura said.
“The supply team might be looking only at the opening rate as a result.”
Washio returned the application to the desk.
“Even though no one is doing anything bad, is someone going to be in trouble?”
Haruno said quietly.
“The people who were in trouble might have been there from the beginning.”
Night shift notebook.
Reassignment request form.
Resigned employee reviews.
Haruno looked at them in order.
“It’s just that because the documents increased, they became visible.”
Washio turned the treasure chest placement application face down.
“Then, they were there even when we were laughing.”
Haruno did not answer.
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7. The Line to Take Home
Kujo opened the night shift handover notebook once more.
“When morning comes, that too will be handed over as a task.”
Kujo's finger stopped at the last record.
“Even the gatekeeper whose whereabouts cannot be confirmed.”
Miura said quietly.
“If you don't hand it over, the confirmation itself will be cut off.”
Washio replied.
“Just because you handed it over doesn't mean they were saved.”
“But.”
Haruno interrupted Washio's words.
“If there is no record, they might be treated as if they never existed.”
Washio looked at Haruno.
“So, just writing it isn't enough, and not writing it isn't enough either?”
Kurose did not answer.
Only the sound of closing the materials echoed.
“It is not a simple matter.”
Miura said.
Washio shook his head.
“Don't pass it to the morning shift saying ‘it’s not simple’.”
Miura started to retort but stopped.
Kujo brought his pen close to the morning shift column.
However, he wrote nothing.
Miura returned the request form to its original place.
Kurose closed the resigned employee reviews.
Washio left the night shift notebook open.
Haruno did not take her eyes off the 4:20 AM line.
No one marked it as completed.
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8. Today's Question
Kujo turned around in front of the door.
“When even the fact that someone has disappeared is handed over as a task.”
A short silence.
“Have we started looking for that person?”
No one answered.
“Today, we will leave only this question and end here.”
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9. Navigator Finale
Outside the door, Lucia looked at the night shift notebook.
“Did the morning shift person read the rest of this?”
Noct did not answer.
Lucia also did not close the notebook.
The light of dawn fell upon the open page.
Only the 4:20 AM record remained in the room.
⸻
Original article here
“After the hero returns, reports begin to circulate in the Demon King's Castle.”
This is a fictional document article collecting internal announcements, defeat reports, transfer requests, treasure chest installation applications, duty logs, and resignation reviews that might circulate in the Demon King's castle after the hero has returned.
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What is the Character Discussion Lab?
It is a laboratory where five people who have read the same work clash with each other from different perspectives.
Rather than deciding on a correct answer, we leave behind questions to return to the work.
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