Ura Baito: Toubou Kinshi - Vol. 8 Ch. 86 - Factory Worker ③

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k completely lost on this one.

wtf are the entranced? wtf was happening with the cube? what does pushing the button do and why does focusing/not looking let u survive?

the only thing i got was that the longer u worked there the less likely u r to get attacked, and u turn into a robot

and what was that big entrance at the end? why did it stop attacking ppl?
 
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k completely lost on this one.

wtf are the entranced? wtf was happening with the cube? what does pushing the button do and why does focusing/not looking let u survive?

the only thing i got was that the longer u worked there the less likely u r to get attacked, and u turn into a robot

and what was that big entrance at the end? why did it stop attacking ppl?
The entranced are probably demons or something. The rest is explained by the last five pages. The cube was a AI that sucked the soul out of people every time they pressed the button. Focusing on the cube might have made the effect more potent, but I think it was just a way of saying "don't look at the monsters". The reason not looking at the entranced makes them not attack you is because the eyes are the window to the soul, and they don't care about anything except the soul. The big guy stopped attacking because the cube (which was basically a soul) did its usual procedures and pruned a part of it, which the big guy then filled.
 
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The entranced are probably demons or something. The rest is explained by the last five pages. The cube was a AI that sucked the soul out of people every time they pressed the button. Focusing on the cube might have made the effect more potent, but I think it was just a way of saying "don't look at the monsters". The reason not looking at the entranced makes them not attack you is because the eyes are the window to the soul, and they don't care about anything except the soul. The big guy stopped attacking because the cube (which was basically a soul) did its usual procedures and pruned a part of it, which the big guy then filled.
so yume and hama lost their souls?
 
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idk what they meant when they saiid the cube kept pruning stuff. what is it pruning in order to get smaller, given that it only absorbs souls?
Just a part of it. It's not permanent unless you keep working with the cube/factory.
 
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yeah with how the long-time workers would be shown as being kind of robotic at times I'd assume that if you work there for a long time enough of your humanity will be taken that you kind of just become a cog in the machine. and Hama's scene at the end where she's like "remember your goal it's useless to do these jobs if you don't keep in mind what you're doing it for" is probably her like regaining the small parts she lost over the course of the month.

Which would also explain why the entranced become less likely to attack the long-time workers, because they've already lost enough of their souls that they're no longer interesting to the entranced.
 
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Pretty interesting chapters. I do wonder what exactly the deal is with Inaba and the group chief. They seem robotic at times with screws appearing on their faces, while they dissapear at other moments. They have been working for long there so it's safe to assume their souls are fairly scuffed by now but are they failed prototypes of like Lucy or are they smaller entranced that took over to their best capabilities (assuming the big guy is the ultimate threat)
 
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the main theme of this arc is humanity. working in the factory makes u lose ur soul and hence ur humanity and turn into a robot, look at how cruel the chief was saying its their fault they died, i warned them, etc

its not a coincidence that when hama was looking in the mirror, the author draws the waterlines to make it look like that she was also turning into a robot. but she never lost her humanity, seen when she warns the workers to flee instead of staying and making money even when shes safe, and thats why she gets to keep her soul and not turn into roboman

theres probably some allegory of working in a soulless corporation as a cog in the machine makes u lose ur soul as well
 
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So the cube was actually a sort of "soul cube" that was intended to power an Android, which was powered and refined by the souls of the workers. Definitely didn't see that coming.

And the reason the long time worker seemed so robotic was because his soul had been consumed so much, and that could have happened to Hama and Yume had they stayed longer.

A demon infiltrated the soul cube, wonder what will happen to the android...

Anyway another big character development from Hama! First she was willing to spend money to save Yume, now she's willing to save other gray workers even if it costs her the job.
 
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Also there's a hint of what constitutes as retaining humanity

Just "doing it for someone else" like ur family doesn't mean u retain ur humanity.

It's when you realize that other ppl who are strangers, are also probably doing it for someone else, and that u can't leave them to die, even if they might be assholes that would leave u behind with the situation flipped.

Why did hama get fired,? U can say it's cuz she disrupted the process. But another perspective is that she got fired cuz the core has no use for her because it is unable to take her humanity and soul away into itself.
 
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It is easier to see the MCs simultaneously dealing with two enemies for this job. First, the monsters are obsessed with killing humans. Second, the factory owners also sacrifice the workers' souls to create the soul devices. No wonder it is tough doing grey jobs when we are dealing with so many creatures that have different motives but end up with the same desire to kill humans.
 
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It is easier to see the MCs simultaneously dealing with two enemies for this job. First, the monsters are obsessed with killing humans. Second, the factory owners also sacrifice the workers' souls to create the soul devices. No wonder it is tough doing grey jobs when we are dealing with so many creatures that have different motives but end up with the same desire to kill humans.
This has been true of... Most of the jobs they've taken, I think? Like yeah, the real monsters are the monsters and all, but they're invariably being hired by people who know that they're throwing people into a meat grinder, and do it anyway, because they value their comfortable lives more than they do other people not being dead.
 
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This has been true of... Most of the jobs they've taken, I think? Like yeah, the real monsters are the monsters and all, but they're invariably being hired by people who know that they're throwing people into a meat grinder, and do it anyway, because they value their comfortable lives more than they do other people not being dead.
I think probably only the beach and the maid mansion were exceptions.
 
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Also there's a hint of what constitutes as retaining humanity

Just "doing it for someone else" like ur family doesn't mean u retain ur humanity.

It's when you realize that other ppl who are strangers, are also probably doing it for someone else, and that u can't leave them to die, even if they might be assholes that would leave u behind with the situation flipped.

Why did hama get fired,? U can say it's cuz she disrupted the process. But another perspective is that she got fired cuz the core has no use for her because it is unable to take her humanity and soul away into itself.
I really like this conclusion, and I found it really inspiring how you came to this conclusion despite being deeply confused at everything the story explained to you. Honestly, it took a little bit, but you put it into words even better than me.
 

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