10 The City of Midway

"Woah."

"Miles, It's neat... don't you think?"

This girl is mocking me. And this is Midway?! It's like Abu Dhabi all over again! If the word busy was a city, it'd be this! No matter where I look, something is always happening, and in a place this big! That's no joke!

If you look at the sky, you'll see giant birds flying as if they were planes.

And the city's silhouette from afar is like a hundred mountains towering, and within those mountains, you'll see lights, a lot of them. It's like witnessing a million fireflies sitting apart from each other in an organized manner.

If you look at ground level, you'll see an uncountable amount of people. It's like observing a well-established colony of ants with a population of over a million doing their daily duties. This is the polar opposite of what I was expecting!

"Ria... Is this really your hometown?"

"Do you really trust me?"

I guess I let my expectations get ahead of me. I don't think we'll do well in a massive city, but this is what we have, so screw it!

"So, Ria... since this is your hometown, do you have a plan?"

"No, I don't have one!"

That confident tone and a smile oozing with pride! I wish I'm as stupid as her! Knowledge is a curse! I wish I didn't know how hard life is! And how can she be so calm?!

Forget it. I should be getting used to Ria's tendency to be bizarre. The best course of action now would be to walk around the city and survey the area, but before we do that...

"Ria, do you know anyone here who could help us?"

"Not a single person!"

The impudence behind those words! That's depressing to hear, yet she said like it's nothing. I thought she'd have someone who'll lend her a hand since she's a ball of pure kindness, but Ria told me herself. I'm the first person Ria has talked to, and I can tell that's a fact, but there's still a chance.

Maybe there's someone who wants to help her, but she isn't aware of it. Someone like her father... It's obvious what happened to her mother, and I give my sincerest condolences, but she hasn't said anything about her father!

"Ria, what about your father?"

"..."

No response? She suddenly got quiet, and the mood she gives off abruptly changed. Maybe I shouldn't have asked that-

"I don't have one!"

She bit her lip and clenched both fists... and those words are filled with bitterness. It seems like I touched a nerve. I brought up a past that I should never bring up... I should apologize.

"Sorry... I shouldn't have asked that."

"It's okay... we should get going."

She stole my hand again and started walking. She's back to her usual self, but what she just said, she said it's okay?

I consider that an insult! She's obviously not okay. That face is something only those who encountered the devil of regret makes.

A certain pirate made of fire taught me to live a life without regret. If she's shouldering that pain, I won't be able to make up for the last seventeen years of her life.

I can't ask about that now since it'd be like asking someone how is their mother during their parent's funeral. So, I should wait for an opportunity, and I should be focusing on our current problem! I may find out more about her past. It's her hometown, after all.

"Miles... I'll start running."

"Oy! Don't!"

"Three...two,"

"Not this again..."

Yet another reckless action she had taken. I may not survive in this city if I'm with her.

"One!"

And she started running! And now she's giggling!

"Miles... close your eyes again."

You don't have to say that! I don't want to see people's reactions!

|...|

"Now open it!"

That was fast. It only took a few seconds.

"Miles... are you ready?"

"Ready for what?"

Except walking on air, there's nothing bizarre happening in front of me, and all I see is the city in front and the forest in the back. Maybe Ria has something in mind again,

"Miles, look."

She's raising her right hand... And It went through nothing?! What the hell?! Half her hand is missing! I'm getting used to the unusual nature of this world, but it seems like I've underestimated it! Ria's hand is gone!

"Ria, your hand!"

"Hmm... it's gone."

How the fuck is she so calm?! She's so relaxed most of the time that it's frightening.

"Miles... I'll run through."

"Eh?! I trust you, but this is too far!"

Running through is too reckless! I don't know what will happen. I need to think.

"Ria, Wait!"

What's the best course of action when dealing with something unknown? It'd be best to know more about it, but how will I gather information? I should experiment on something.

Maybe I should throw an object through it, but that's a futile effort if I can't get what I threw back. I know! Ria's hand! If she pulls her hand back...

"Ria... pull your hand back,"

"Sure, but I'm telling you... it's useless."

Okay! She pulled her hand back, and so far, nothing happened to it. That's good news, but just to make sure...

"Ria... give me your hand."

"I'm telling you!"

That pout face is adorable, but now's not the time to be admiring it. Okay! First contact! Her hands still have that divine sensation.

I glommed Ria's heavenly hands and caressed every single centimeter...

"That should be enough... Miles, I'm running through,"

"Eh?!"

I'm going to die. God, if you're going to reincarnate me, I want to be a bear!

"Here we go!"

|...|

It's strange. I can't feel anything except Ria's hand and wind blowing on top of my head. Should I open my eyes? Of course! If we went through that thing, I don't know what to call. We could be in trouble. But wait, I can hear something nostalgic...

The sound of birds chirping? No, it's something more complicated.

Is it the sound of people chattering? I can hear some similarities, but it feels like something is missing...

Is it the sound of a horde of people walking? Yeah... that might be it, but something is lacking.

Are the noises I hear the sound of a marketplace? Yes! That's one step closer! But that description is too minuscule.

Is it the sound of a city? Finally! That has to be it! It's different, but it's similar to the noises I heard when I walked around Abu Dhabi! Now I just have to open my eyes to confirm it.

"Eh?"

This is yet again strange... Just a moment ago: we were walking in the air with a vast grass field below us, the forest behind our backs, The ocean to the west, more forest to the east, and the city of Midway in front of us, barely within reach, but now we're in the city?!

How?! It's like we got teleported! My memory is speaking, and she says it's nothing unfamiliar.

Looking back to what happened so far: I fell from an apartment room in outer space, landed on floating islands in a sea of white, met a stupid angel who nursed me back to life, had a conversation with her which led to us falling from the floating islands, had another conversation with her while freefalling which led to me making an oath, miraculously survived the fall by walking on air, suddenly got taken away by a mysterious force which somehow led us to our destination and now this... it's definitely nothing new!

This world can't throw anything bizarre at me anymore, and if it did, that's no problem! I'll solve America's debt problem. Now it's time to deal with another bizarre occurrence Mr. New World has thrown at me!

"Ria... are you okay?"

"Woah! Miles! We're in Midway!"

"It's neat... don't you think?"

That amazed face is adorable, and it looks like she made it out in one piece. That smile is too precious to interrupt, so I'll let her admire the view for a few seconds, and after that, we'll get serious.

"This is my first time outside! Thank you...Miles,"

"Your... welcome?"

First time outside? This is her hometown, right? Her reaction did seem like it was, but I thought it was something like, "Woah! this place hasn't changed!" or "Woah! This place has changed a lot!"

I get it now. Why Ria knows no one who could help us, but how? Unless she was a sheltered rich kid during her childhood, but that's just assumptions. That adds to the list of things I want to ask her.

"Miles... I'm hungry,"

"Do you have money?"

"No... but I have this!"

A card? I've seen that before. I don't know when, but it's probably nothing significant. It looks like a toy, but it may be something valuable in this world, so I have to trust her again.

"I know a place!"

She has never been outside before, but she knows a place? That's like saying you support BLM after profiling a black man.

"I thought this was your first time here?"

"It is! But mothe-... but someone mentioned it to me,"

There she goes again. Her mother must be the only person in this world to acknowledge her existence, excluding me. What an unwelcomed coincidence...

"Miles, let's take the long route!"

"I thought you were hungry?"

"M-My hunger w-went away!"

Is she three years old? But taking the long route may not be a bad idea. We came here to survey the city anyway, so seeing more of it wouldn't kill us.

"Fine... lead the way, but don't run!"

"Yehey!"

That smile again! For some reason, every time she does that, I feel rewarded. Heck, I already feel satisfied with walking around the city while holding Ria's hands...

|...|

This city is something else... At first glance, it feels like I entered a time machine, went back 300 years, returned to the age of discovery, and somehow managed to spawn in a prosperous European city. But as we jaunt towards downtown, everything starts to modernize, everything starts to mature, and everything starts to look familiar.

It's like we're walking on a timeline... a timeline of human history, and as we venture deeper into the city, this world slowly starts to feel like the previous world, and I don't... want that.

"Ria, are we there yet?"

"We should be halfway there."

It looks like we'll get there shorter than expected, so I have to use the remaining time for surveying the area.

|...|

Midway and Abu Dhabi are both similar to an extent. Both have structures barely embracing the clouds, both have hordes of people that it's comparable to an ant colony of trillions, and both are by a seashore. The only difference is the architecture. The buildings in Abu Dhabi are more sophisticated and modern.

That's a bit of a surprise. Ria said humans in this world have superhuman abilities called enhancements, so I expect this place to appear like some mythological region beyond human comprehension like Valhalla, but it's like any other flourishing city in the previous world with a nineteenth-century theme.

Well, that's a letdown, but I should be grateful for the similarities.

If this city proves to be what I think it is, it'd be easier to survive in this world.

Everybody in this place appears to be human. Everybody acts human except the way they use their enhancements; it's like a superhuman society. Their language, their body movements, and how the people interact with each other... It's like I never left my world.

But what I love about this place the most is how everybody minds their own business. Everyone here seems too focused on their lives to care about ruining others. The people here have their own little world and do their work with the help of enhancements to improve their lives and subconsciously contribute to their society. I envy that.

The only flaw I've discovered in Midway is the lack of phones. For loners like me, it was my best friend!

"Miles... we're here."