Casting Off the Anchor

“Wake up, you dumb shit.”

A foot kicked my arm with enough force to jolt me awake. Startled, I gasped for breath, my heart pounding against my ribcage out of shock. Getting woken up so abruptly like this couldn’t be good for my health. My heart thumped so loud that it drowned out the noise around me. It took me a few seconds before I registered the alarm sound.

“What happened?” I drawled, rubbing my bleary eyes. The entire room had turned red, just like it had on my conscription day.

“Can’t you read? Do I need to spell it out for you?” Hideo snapped, moving about in our shared bedroom, grabbing his disguise to change into.

Shiba shook his head at me, looking thoroughly disappointed, as if I were a lost cause. That was unfair. The haze of sleep was still muddling my mind. I had to force myself to read the announcement on the wall.

PRIVATE FUJI DAIKI SIGHTED. PERMISSION TO LEAVE GROUNDS GRANTED.

The notice felt like a splash of cold water. Jumping off the bed, I threw on a hoodie and jeans, putting on a baseball cap to hide my obvious military cut. Hideo was already waiting by the door, folding his arms across his chest and tapping his foot impatiently.

It had been two weeks since our first combat training—since I’d seen his scars by chance. I had never brought it up. Although curiosity was driving me up the wall, I still valued my life. Shiba hadn’t finished decoding the files, and with the way he was, I wasn’t convinced he would actually go out of his way to do it for me. I had no way of knowing, and it frustrated me.

However, now was not the time to worry about that. A more pressing matter awaited us.

While I was tying my sneakers, my ID watch flickered and a hologram display popped up, showing Enma’s face. Inside the car, she was wearing her seatbelt and starting the engine.

“Lobby in five,” was all Enma said before hanging up.

“So freaking slow,” Hideo spat irritatedly. He bolted out of the room, his German Shepherd close behind him. Shiba cast a sideways glance at me, clearly judging me for taking too long.

Give me a break.

I skipped my usual double knot, tying my shoelace just once. “Fine. Let’s go!”

Hideo was already in the front passenger seat when I stumbled into the back. Enma drove off before I could close the door, nearly throwing me back onto the road. The robot dogs accelerated to keep up with the car. Everyone seemed to be on edge, easily ticked off.

I decided I hated emergency missions. Was this going to happen every time a Drifter was spotted? I hoped not. This was bound to reduce my lifespan.

Enma switched to autopilot and let the car drive itself to the destination. The windshields and side windows changed into display screens, showing live footage of our target. Daiki had picked an internet cafe inside a large department store instead of the usual standalone building. This could get tricky. How could we escort him out without alerting everyone? He certainly wouldn’t come willingly. If a fight or a chase broke out, it might send people into a panic, reducing our chances of securing Daiki as he could easily slip away into the crowd.

Sergeant Nishi appeared on one of the screens. “I hacked into the internet cafe’s system and found out which game Private Fuji is playing. According to his chat, he’s currently looking for a priest and an archer for his co-op team. I’ve borrowed accounts with those roles for each of you on the same server. Play the game and join his team. Keep him engaged in the game as long as possible while Corporal Kuroba evacuates everyone else. I hope you’re both decent gamers. Good luck.”

The screen returned to Daiki’s footage. Sergeant Nishi hadn’t even given us a chance to respond. He just came on, issued his orders, and hung up. I couldn’t help but wonder how Enma had managed to survive working under him. With him, there seemed to be no room for negotiation, and communication was mostly a one-way street.

When was the last time I played games? Yuna liked gaming, so I did play some games with her a while ago. Last year, I was in the underground barracks. In the years before, I had been busy with school.

Hideo had accused me of cheating, but that was definitely not the case. I studied, so I was confident in theory. Combat, though, was an entirely different story. I hated to admit it, but I sucked at hand-to-hand combat. Shiba reminded me of that every chance he got. The only thing I excelled at was shooting—my aim was quite precise. Unfortunately, they hadn’t issued firearms for us yet, since we were still in the trial phase.

If only my aiming skills in real life translated to my aiming skills in games.

Enma snorted incredulously. “There he goes again. Can’t have any opinions, can we?”

“We’re soldiers. Soldiers follow orders,” Hideo said in a rigid tone. I rolled my eyes.

Sighing, Enma muttered, “You’re no fun.”

The car stopped, and the doors swung open. We stepped out to see a huge building looming before us. The car drove itself into the parking lot with our robot dogs following behind. They couldn’t tag along and could only stand by in case we needed their assistance while we were still in disguise, as they might risk blowing our cover. Every soldier knew what they were.

“Don’t fight between yourselves. Bring him back, boys. Preferably with everyone in one piece.” Enma waved at us before walking the other way.

After memorizing all the necessary details, I took off my ID watch and shoved it into my pocket, along with the military-issued handcuffs. I put on the earpiece Enma had handed me, covering it with the hood of my hoodie. When I slipped into the security screening gate of the department store, the guards let us pass without conducting a thorough body check. I suspected this was also Sergeant Nishi’s doing.

Hideo went ahead of me and disappeared from view. I didn’t bother to catch up and kept my own pace. It wasn’t like I wanted to walk side by side with him anyway.

The building resembled a huge glass cylinder. Holographic ads hung from the ceilings at regular intervals, while shopping boards stood in the center near the elevators, displaying merchandise from various vendors. Some customers preferred to shop directly from the boards, selecting the items and stores they wanted, with helper robots delivering the goods to lounges or cafes where they waited. For others who preferred to choose and buy in person, physical stores were available.

It had been a while since I had been to department stores, but I had always thought this setup was unnecessary. The store already had its own mobile apps for shopping and delivery services. Why would they add these ridiculous shopping boards?

Maybe they just need a reason to get out of the house, but they are too lazy to actually shop. Does that even make sense?

I stopped myself from trying to justify their reasons and headed to the underground level, where the internet cafe was. A few helper robots followed me down the elevator. Even some of the gamers used this service.

How lazy can people be?

Inside the internet cafe, I immediately spotted Daiki sitting in the corner and Hideo claiming the seat next to him. I found an empty spot a little farther away, but it still gave me a clear view of both of them. Since Hideo had chosen the priest account, I grabbed the remaining archer account and logged into the game.