It had been a long day at Yamagoto Industries, just like any other day. All the programmers were sitting quietly in their cubicles, actually accomplishing work ... save for two. On one end of the cubicle row sat Ando Masahashi, opening and closing windows to pretend to work. Secretly, though, Ando was busy watching his favorite online stripper, Niki. Luckily, no one seemed to notice. At the other end of the long stretch of windowless cubes, sat Hiro Nakamura. Now, at first glance, Hiro seemed to be just an average underpaid employee working that day. But little did most people know that Hiro was different.

Hiro was a hero. He could bend time and space, just by concentrating.

Normally, talk of heroic deeds got several eyerolls from his friend Ando, but lately he just shrugged and went along with Hiro's little fantasies. It wasn't hurting anyone, and Hiro was his best friend. So it was no surprise that around 4:30, Ando wandered down the aisle to check up on him. Like normal, Ando expected to find that Hiro wasn't paying any attention to the programs on his screen; but today, something was different. Hiro wasn't there! Ando began to panic, but wasn't ready to alarm their boss just yet. Maybe Hiro had just slipped out to use the men's room. Sure, that was it, Ando thought, and he wandered back to his own desk, glancing over his shoulder ever so often to look for Hiro.

Meanwhile ...

Hiro didn't know where exactly he was. It looked like a normal cemetery that people visited on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.The stones were well worn and weathered, but not in disrepair. The sky was dark overhead, even though Hiro's watch read 4:30. He called out for help, but there was no one to answer him. Well, almost no one.

The sounds of Hiro's shouts echoed through the open cemetery field, and like an ancient horn sounding the alarm, it brought from nowhere dozens of slow-moving people. Hiro stood, transfixed, as all the bodies moved closer and closer until he could see that these were no ordinary people. These were zombies. He almost screamed at his misfortune, but then felt a weight on his back. Ah! He thought. Takezo Kensei's sword! This will save me from the hordes!

Hiro ran screaming forward into the fray, Yatta! The zombies began to swarm, but Hiro never wavered. He pushed his slipping thin-framed glasses back up farther onto his nose, and swung the sword with all his might in every direction. Each swing brought him closer to freedom from the swarm, and with each fallen zombie, he felt a little more confident. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, all but one zombie remained. The zombie lord. Hiro had seen this type of showdown in all his favorite movies, and was prepared. Leaving out the heroic speech declaring how he would slay the beast, Hiro lunged the blade straight into the chest of the zombie. Surprised, the slow-moving zombie lord could do nothing but fall helplessly back to his death.

Just as he was about to bend down to claim his prize from the fallen zombie lord, Hiro felt a strange sensation. He was back at his desk in Tokyo! He couldn't believe it, but there was only one person who would ever listen to such a fantastic tale. Hiro ran down the aisle straight for Ando's cubicle.

"Ando-kun! You'll never believe where I just was," said Hiro, panting for breath.

"Slow down, you'll give yourself asthma. Did someone threaten to beat you up in the men's room again, Hiro-kun?"

"No, not today. Listen. I was sitting at my desk, but then suddenly I wasn't. I was on Hokkaido, I think. In a cemetery. Fighting zombies! Yatta! It was amazing, and I slew - or is it re-slew - anyway, I fought them and defeated them honorably!"

"I think someone's been slipping sake into your water bottle," said Ando, shaking his head. "Either that, or you've been staying up too late watching monster movies again."

Hiro wouldn't be dissuaded. He held out Takezo Kensei's blade for Ando to see. "Look, it's got stuff all over it now. How else would you explain that?"

"You've been dousing your sword in modeling clay?"

"No, Ando. It's zombie parts. I fought several dozen of them, plus their zombie lord. And right as I was going to claim my treasure, I ended up back here."

"Alright. No more sake or late night movies. Kimiko will have our hides if you aren't productive at work."

Hiro finally shrugged. When Ando played the big sister card, he knew it was just time to drop it. He bowed slightly to his friend, and began to walk slowly back to his cubicle, when Ando shouted in surprise behind him,

"Oy, Hiro! What's that on your leg?"

Hiro looked down; there was a human hand, aged from the grave, lightly clasping his ankle. He reached down to pull it off, then looked up and grinned at his best friend.

"You see? Zombies, just like I said. Maybe next time you'll believe me without me bringing back war trophies."

Ando was speechless, and Hiro walked back to his cubicle triumphantly. Today, he finally convinced Ando that his stories weren't stories at all. He mouthed a quiet cheer of accomplishment, then resumed his tiring work on the computer. Maybe today wasn't such a normal day after all.