Rookie AD Devours Boss; Labor Standards Office Rules It 'Meal Break Accident' - Dark Clouds Over TV Industry's 'Summoning Recruitment'

Facing a severe labor shortage, TV stations have begun “Summoning Recruitment” from the Demon Realm. Demon Realm ADs work 24 hours a day without sleep or rest, but it has been discovered that they attack their superiors when hungry. As a recurrence prevention measure, the station has mandated that managers carry “Emergency Escape Holy Water,” but due to cost-cutting, they are recommending the use of tap water.

At the production site of Teito TV (Minato Ward, Tokyo), in the early hours of the 6th, a rookie AD (from the Demon Realm, age unknown) who had been with the company for three days devoured a Chief Director (45), who was instructing him on editing delays, starting from the head. Only the victim’s shoes and employee ID card were left at the scene. The rookie AD stated, “The guidance was strict, and the taste of his soul was savory like a spice,” appearing fully satisfied. This AD was part of the first batch hired under the “Otherworld Highly Skilled Talent Acquisition Quota (commonly known as Summoning Recruitment)” introduced by the station this fiscal year.

The jurisdiction’s Labor Standards Inspection Office has solidified a policy to treat this case as a “meal break accident,” which is extremely unusual. The investigator explained, “In the biological rhythm of the perpetrator, it was a legitimate eating act, and it was an unfortunate contact accident where the victim was included in the menu.” Furthermore, they are poised to deny workers’ compensation, stating, “Under the employment regulations, the time the predation occurred falls during what should be a break time, so work-relatedness is not recognized.” In response, the bereaved family argues, “My husband is not a bento box,” but the station has expressed the view that “The contract says ‘work oneself to the bone,’ so crushing and digestion are within expectations.”

In recent years, the TV industry has seen a drastic decrease in applications from humans due to the youth’s shift away from TV and the reputation as a “3K workplace” (Demanding, Dirty, Dangerous). The desperate measure introduced was “Summoning Recruitment,” where labor is summoned from the Otherworld by drawing a pentagram. Demon Realm ADs show amazing performance, such as not needing sleep, procuring location bento boxes via teleportation, and correcting subtitles with telekinesis. On the other hand, there were concerns about the risk of going berserk due to flaws in the contract magic. This accident can be said to be the manifestation of that risk in the worst possible form.

The Director of Programming at Teito TV held an emergency press conference and announced measures to prevent recurrence. The measure obligates all managers to constantly carry “Emergency Escape Holy Water” to be used when a Demon Realm AD goes berserk. However, since real holy water requires direct import from the Vatican and incurs high tariffs, it was recommended to use “tap water drawn from the station’s kitchenette” as part of cost reduction. The Director emphasized, “A believing heart is the greatest consecration. Water bills are not negligible, so if possible, we want you to use park water,” appealing for both safety measures and cost-cutting.

Industry insiders are cold, saying, “The metaphor of ‘selling one’s soul to the devil for ratings’ has just caught up with reality.” In fact, the AD in question came to work as usual the day after the predation accident, and there are even voices of welcome from the field, saying, “The ventilation has improved since that unreasonable director is gone,” and “Editing speed has doubled.” The wave of Work Style Reform is finally crossing the barriers of species and attempting to redefine even the top of the food chain.

Stakeholder Comments

• Rookie AD (Demon Realm origin): “The more I chewed on the senior’s guidance, the more flavor came out. Thank you for the meal.”
• Teito TV Accounting Manager: “If we supplied real holy water, the program production budget would blow away. The inability to exorcise with tap water is due to a lack of personal faith.”
• Labor Standards Inspection Office Representative: “Drawing the line between whether the prey was ‘performing duties’ or ‘on display as ingredients’ is a difficult point of legal interpretation.”
• Young on-site staff: “Honestly, when the director was eaten, I felt a little relieved. Ah, this is off the record.”
• A certain Father (Exorcist): “If you could exorcise demons with tap water, I would have been unemployed long ago. Japanese corporate warriors are too atheistic.”
• Demon Realm Staffing Agency ‘Hell Work’ Representative: “Our staff are excellent, but it seems the welfare benefits (sacrifices) when hungry were insufficient.”
• Producer from another station: “We are considering Zombie Recruitment. They are rotten so they can’t be eaten, and they are dead so they won’t die from overwork. It’s perfect.”
• Chief of First Investigation Division, Metropolitan Police Department: “Even if we try to build a case, the culprit ignores physical laws and turns into mist, so we can’t handcuff them.”
• Kitchenette Faucet: “There’s no way I can put out holy water. It’s just water with chlorine.”
• The Victim Director (via Medium): “The complete package isn’t done yet! I’ll give instructions from inside the stomach, so show me the monitor!”

International Expressions

Haiku

• Holy water too / Cost cutting makes it tap water / Budget saving
• Came from Demon Realm / And devoured the supervisor / Workplace hazard
• Overtime is gone / But life has no guarantee / No assurance left
• Whittle down your soul / They said, and took the bones too / Literally
• Labor accident / Not granted for meal breaks / Sorrowful outcome
• TV industry / Devil’s stomach and ratings / Viewership matters
• Summoned from beyond / But there is a lack of feed / Hungry employees
• Clutching tap water / The manager scatters away / Running for his life
• Work style reform / Progresses and people vanish / Into the stomach
• On a spring night / Stomach growls, boss disappears / Digested away

Kanji / Chinese Characters

SevereLaborShortage DemonSummoningHireStart NoSleepNoRestWork HungryBossPredation RecurrencePreventionMeasure ManagerHolyWaterDuty CostReductionRecommended TapWaterSubstitute

Emoji

📺🎥😈🍽️👔💀🥤🚰🙅‍♂️👻

Onomatopoeia

Crunch crunch, munch… Silence… Clack clack clack (high-speed typing). Jolt! Drip drop… Splash splash (tap water). Burp. Eek… Sparkle sparkle (Demon gate). Silence (Quietness).

SNS

• #TeitoTVPredationIncident
• You shouldn’t eat your boss lol but I understand the feeling
• Do your job Labor Standards Office, or wait, are they doing it?
• Summoning recruitment actually exists? I want my company to do it too
• #HolyWaterIsTapWater
• Beautiful country Japan where cost cutting is prioritized over life
• Demon AD is too excellent lol, humans aren’t needed
• Ruling it as an accident during a meal break is hilarious
• Apparently Zombie ADs are the next trend
• I want to season my boss with salt and pepper too