I told the rest of the gang kids to slowly crawl closer the camp, wait for the music to start, then run in and grab a single food pack each, scatter in every direction like cockroaches and hide, and then crawl or run back to the ruins, depending on the situation.

For those kids who had no proper shoes, I advised them to tie enough cloth and strings around their feet, hands, knees and elbows so they could crawl and run without worrying too much about scratches.

“All right, bros and broettes, listen up. Plan your enter and exit routes beforehand. Don't get stuck on corners. Keep running even if the bright lights make you lose your night vision. Don't get distracted by the loud sounds coming from the Strangers device, it's not dangerous. Concentrate on your run. Avoid damage knockbacks and, uh... good luck.”

The kids looked confused, but listened quietly and gave enthusiastic nods. They can take whatever they can. It's on me to take something really valuable for the whole group. No pressure.

What's the category for this run? Half-blind co-op realtime?

Call me reckless, but I'm thinking car theft.

The music started like an explosion.

High volume, distorted, fast, upbeat electropop. Autotuned twenty-something girls singing in unknown language. The most distracting genre of music ever produced.

It had a profound effect: all the soldiers in the camp went into instant panic mode. They saw the eerie white glow of the smartphone screen turned up to full nits lit up the third floor of the abandoned building. Randomized audio visualization patterns threw ghastly moving multicolor shadows and illuminated the twisting fog strands outside.

It was kind of funny to see soldiers freaking out and soiling their pants because girl group started singing about smiles and lipstick.

Over the upbeat music, I could hear when kids around me shuffling up and running towards the camp.

“Do I really have to do this...”

Hands shaking, I got up and ran in zigzag pattern like a hunchback, targeting the Flat Truck with hexagon-shaped gas light. I dropped the stick I was carrying, but that didn't matter.

Hopefully the gang kids don't forget their mission. Hopefully I don't pull aggro.

The soldiers were either completely mesmerized by the light show or were cowering behind the vehicles on the other side of the half-moon formation.

You don't need to look here, soldiers. Nothing is happening at this side. Keep your eyes on the pretty lights, we aren't the droids you're looking for.

I saw one of the young kids grab a gaslight from a different vehicle, put the light out and then immediately run back. Yep, if we can't get anything else, aim for the gaslights and tent spikes.

The commanders of the soldiers started shouting orders, but I couldn't hear what they said. Did they spot some kid?

No gunshots? No gunshots. Good. Stay safe, kids.

I crouched next to the Flat Truck, quickly opened the side hatch and jumped on the drivers seat.

Ah, I was out of breath already. I'm not used to this kind of sudden dashing in high stress situations. I need a stamina boost.

All right, let's just turn this baby on and hit the road –

– and that's a nope.

Driving this Flat Truck in real world is not going to happen, is it? The real mining vehicle was very different from the game where you could just jump in and crank virtual joysticks.

There was no steering wheel, just a bunch of horizontal and vertical levers combined with mysterious pedals. Who designed this user interface, H.R. Giger?!

I don't even know how to start the engine of this thing. Of all the details to leave out of the game, why this?

I should have taken the Humber Pig instead. It probably had an easier driving wheel setup.

Strangers had the general tendency to make things craggy and impractical. Actual practical details, like how all these impractical artifacts were used by normal people with normal appendages, were left out of the game. Mu-Ur had difficult dialogue puzzles and combat technique combos, but it wasn't built to be a flight simulator.

I need a manual. No, I don't have time read manuals, I need a tutorial mission. Where's an exposition fairy when you actually need one?

Abort mission? Abort mission.

I checked the situation outside. The music was still going strong, and soldiers were screaming about “half-faces”, light ghosts and Strangers.

Good, let the fear and confusion flow through you.

There were actual yōkai that existed in the anime series (if you wanted to call the dreamlike beings in Winter Forest and Deep Basement with that name), but they might not exist in this world, or they might only exist as urban legends or something. Either way, the soldiers seemed to know the name of the beings called Half-faces, so I should probably be very careful with the locations they appear in, just in case.

The first track on the playlist ended, there was a full second of sudden silence and darkness, then the next track kicked in and the light show became more intense.

The hard-hitting industrial glitchstep track sampled in chopped horror movie quotes and low drone sounds. The new track was so threatening that some of the soldiers started shooting towards the building, ignoring their commanders orders to hold fire, spread out and move closer.

Yep, that's a classic seinen anime opening. Too spooky for you.

Right then, I need to get out of the camp before the soldiers get their heads out of sand. But I need to take something with me, I can't go back with empty hands. Was there anything valuable in this vehicle?

There was soldier overcoat on the back, let's take that at least – huh? Am I seeing this right?

Isn't that a Belt of Measurement Cards?! Why here? Why is primo gear just hanging around a pole in random Flat Truck? A rare item like that should be kept in a safe or something.

In the game lore, Belt of Measurement Cards was a rare Strangers item that could be used to take accurate measurements about, well, everything. It showed players coordinates on the world map and gave numerical info about minerals and jewels, for example. The different cards in the belt measured length, temperature, pressure, density, purity, and so on. And there was a light card as well.

Granted, it was only marginally useful for a speedrunner since it was faster to just memorize all info and Mu-Ur had very few coordinate-perfect exploits. But here in a real Mu-Ur world you could probably find a lot more uses for Strangers cards.

I'll definitely take that! Thank you for your negligence, gentlemen. Nice random loot drop.

When I got back to a safe distance away from the camp, the music and lights suddenly ended. Battery out. Just in time, I guess.

I didn't have my solar charger, so there was no way to charge the phone battery in this world. Sadly, the phone had instantly turned into a limited-use item when I came here.

You did your best, old friend. You sacrificed your last juice to keep me safe from harm.

Goodbye, dear smartphone. Goodbye, flashlight and clock. Goodbye, camera and calculator. Goodbye, K-pop girls and virtual waifus. Goodbye, anime intros and webnovels.

It was the first and last time in the history of this world that music made in a parallel world was heard.

And it proved to be unexpectedly ironic development that I got the Belt of Measurement Cards in exchange.

“Let's see the loot the young ones brought.” (Shadowcut)

The younger gang members gathered in line like soldiers, brought their food packs, gaslights, hand tools and other stuff they had managed to steal on the table one by one. Then they backed up and stood next to the walls, waiting the leaders judgement.

Shadowcut inspected the goods. He took a cut from the food pack with knife and tasted the dried mush like a movie detective licking cocaine.

According to the anime lore, these army rations were similar to the food packs that Strangers fed to mining slaves hundred years ago. After the Strangers disappeared, people kept eating the Strangers food packs that were left in their vast warehouses underground, and after all those packs were gone, people started creating their own imitation rations re-using the containers, smashing and packing all kinds of random ingredients inside.

The kind of food rations mining slaves ate before and soldiers ate now were the most valuable source of nutrients for gangs who didn't cultivate crops. And for players who didn't care about farming simulations.

I ate a half-pack for breakfast on the way back. The taste wasn't fresh, but it filled my stomach and I didn't feel like I got acute food poisoning from it at least.

The leader sighed at the meager pile of stolen goods in front of him.

“Is this all? You only got food and tools? No ammunition, nothing?” (Shadowcut)

The kids looked at me and started to explain, almost in panic.

“We wo-worked with big brother! Big brother got good loot, we distracted!” (random boy)

“We made noise, big brother made big noise, and we got it, we helped!” (random girl)

“I see. So, then, big brother from Stray Dog City, what did you got?” (Shadowcut)

“This.”

I placed the Belt of Measurement Cards on the table. The leader glanced around, and saw that both the younger ones and the elder ones were waiting his ruling. Was it good, was it bad? No one seemed to understand what the belt on the table was.

The leader looked at me, clearly not knowing either, but before he could say anything, I explained to save his face.

“Yes, big brother, it is exactly what you think. It's a full belt of measurement cards. I took from one of their vehicles. It's usefulness to us is questionable, but it's very rare item and worth at least 600 krúricks if you sell it to a noble who's into dungeon mining and related things.”

The younger kids shouted and whistled in awe.

“Six hundred?!”(random boy)

“Yes, well, selling it for 500 krúricks or less for a ship merchant is probably safer...”

The leader was suspicious and touched the belt with a serious expression.

“It's not good to take too much. If the loot is too valuable, the soldiers come after us.” (Shadowcut)

“Leader is making a good point. Big brother, you've done something unnecessary.” (Magic Word)

Ugh, why are you taking his side on this, Word?

But it certainly is a point I didn't think. I'm disturbing the delicate balance between the soldiers and war-gangs. Taking an item that cannot be easily replaced makes a large splash and may lead to purge of the whole gang territory. What should I say?

“Well, I'm slightly overestimating the belt's value here, it's not that –”

“So it's actually cheap and useless tool, then? Are you saying you brought only cheap junk? Is this cheap junk enough to pay for you stay, brother from Stray Dog City?” (Shadowcut)

"No, it has value, like I said –”

“Is it cheap junk, or is it rare and valuable?” (Shadowcut)

It doesn't matter which one it is, huh?! He just wants to humiliate me again. He can't outright kill me, if I'm an elder gangster from Stray Dogs as I say, but he can isolate and force me out like this. He just saw an opportunity to get rid of me and took it immediately.

“I'd like to propose that there are nuances between cheap junk and valuable rarity, degrees of –“

"Big brother, you idiot! Take it back!" (Snowstone)

Et tu, Snowstone?! Why are you all stabbing my back?!

“Silence!” (Shadowcut)

After a brief commotion, there was silence in the room again. The leader stood up with a malicious smile.

“Little brother from Stray Dog City, I understand now what you are doing. Little sister Snowstone here is exactly right. You wish to take this mission on yourself.” (Shadowcut)

What the hell is this guy talking about now?

“...I am simply doing my best to pay for my brief stay, brother Shadowcut.”

“Yes, you've proved your strength to me and other elder brothers, and clearly you have also earned the respect of the young ones. Then, sell this item of unknown value called called Belt of Measurement Cards back to the Onion Hat's soldiers for kruricks or food packs. I expect a suitable amount of compensation."

"Wha...t?"

"I leave this important mission to you, little brother.” (Shadowcut)

The gang leader left the room before I could protest. I turned to look at the gang kids for support, but they could offer only pity for me. Then I looked at Magic Word and Snowstone, and they clearly had the same stance: don't drag us down into your problems, outsider.

Oh.. crap... Please don't tell me... Did I sacrifice my smartphone for nothing?

I need to take the artifact belt back.

No, I have to sell it back to the guys I stole it from! How do they expect me to do that?!