Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World characters

Also known as Narrator

Appears from the start

An unnamed Tokyo Calcutec who encrypts information by passing it through his subconscious. Methodical, solitary, and fond of music and ordinary comforts, he accepts an unusual private assignment from an elderly scientist.

Appears from the start

The scientist's energetic granddaughter, first encountered operating a strangely silent elevator. She wears pink, communicates resourcefully when speech is impossible, and guides the Calcutec through the concealed approaches to her grandfather's laboratory.

First appears in chapter 3

An elderly researcher living in a hidden underground laboratory. He studies consciousness and asks the Calcutec to perform a special form of data shuffling, withholding much of the experiment's purpose.

First appears in chapter 2

The newcomer to a walled town at the End of the World. The Gatekeeper separates him from his shadow and assigns him work as a Dreamreader, though he remembers little about where he came from.

First appears in chapter 2

The Dreamreader's shadow, cut away at the town gate and confined apart from him. It retains a stronger sense that the town is dangerous and urges him to learn its layout before the shadow weakens.

First appears in chapter 2

The powerful custodian of the End of the World's only gate. He tends the town's beasts, imposes its rules, and removes the newcomer's shadow before allowing him to enter.

First appears in chapter 4

The young woman who assists the Dreamreader in the town's library, bringing him old unicorn skulls from which he reads dreams. She is gentle and attentive but says she has no mind in the sense he remembers.

First appears in chapter 8

An old military man living in the End of the World. He offers the Dreamreader companionship and guarded information about the town, its seasons, and the consequences of living without a shadow.

First appears in chapter 7

A Tokyo librarian who helps the Calcutec investigate the unicorn skull left in his keeping. Her remarkable appetite and openness draw him into a personal connection beyond the research.

First appears in chapter 15

Two intimidating operatives who invade the Calcutec's apartment and demand the old scientist's data. Their deliberate violence demonstrates that the conflict around the experiment extends beyond his employers in the System.