46 Back in the Second District

I found myself underneath the bright blue sky in the middle the city in the second district. I was in a park surrounded by children laughing and playing on the swings. I felt a slight pull on my sleeves. When I turned my head, I saw Shelly holding onto my sleeve. "I couldn't let you go there alone."

'What about Ben?' I thought.

"The teleportation gate only had enough power to teleport two people to the second district," Shelly answered like she read my mind.

Teleporting to another district without using the gate consumed so much mana that people barely did it in the first district. There was a low chance that Ben would be here soon unless he refilled the gate with his mana.

"Then we have time," I smiled.

It has been a while since I played on the swings and slides. More like I never had the chance ever since I entered the first district. Meaning, this was my first time going to a playground in this life. I jumped onto the swing and swung myself into air.

Shelly looked at me like the slides and the swings were strange foreign objects. She watched me enjoy myself going down the slide after getting sick of the swings while sitting down on a bench. I started to teach Shelly how to play on the swing, feeling bad she didn't have a normal childhood while we overheard, "Noire, you're back!"

"Who are you?" A girl with the loveliest smile tried to kick the boy while asking with smirk.

The boy dodged the kick while chuckling and shouted, "Of course you didn't change Noire!"

The girl pretended to trip to hide that she was flustered and unintentionally bumped into him. Fortunately, the boy caught the girl from falling into the grass as she blushed heavily.

The girl accidentally kissed the boy when she tripped again when trying to get back up. After realizing we were staring at them, the boy wiped his lips as he blushed from embarrassment as he tried to get up.

"Isn't this the scene in Doki Doki Pure Heart Kingdom?" I shouted to Shelly, pretending I wasn't reading the mood between the couple.

Shelly nodded. I never knew scenes from otome games would actually happen in real life. This was really rare!

"Are you acting out the scene in Doki Doki Pure Heart Kingdom?" I went up to them.

"Doki Doki Pure Heart Kingdom?" The couple flashed a hint of confusion.

"Nevermind. We're from the first district and Doki Doki Pure Heart Kingdom is just a game," I introduced ourselves to the couple.

"The first district! I've never been there before!" The girl appeared surprised.

People from the lower districts could not usually visit the higher districts. I guessed I was an exception since I attended school in the first district.

"We're just visiting the second district during our summer vacation," I continued.

The girl looked at her watch, "I guess I do have some time to give you a tour in the city."

"Really?" I perked up.

"Yea. I think the amusement park is a good place to start since you seem to enjoy the swings."

Shelly thanked the couple as we took the bus that was self-driven to the amusement park. My eyes were glued to the scenery outside the window. My heart panged from the people who lived in a world that appeared fifty years in the future of my previous life.

I admired the view as the technology has advanced so wonderfully in the second district that the rides didn't even compare to the amusement parks in the third district or my past life. The colourful rides all moved without human instruction.

But it was odd there wasn't a single person besides us even if it was the weekday. There was no smell of snacks or other drinks sold as we followed the couple. I imagined a seeing a broken screw on the ground after waving it away.

"Where should we start?" Noire faced me.

"The rollercoaster!" I pointed to the rollercoaster that went upside down the majority of the time.

There was no line to ride the rollercoaster as Shelly and I quickly buckled in. "Aren't you also getting on?" I asked.

"Nope, this amusement park is actually abandoned. Who knows if the rides are still working properly?" The girl suddenly smirked.

The ride started and Shelly and I screamed while hoping the rollercoaster wouldn't fall apart. After waving with a smile, the boy muttered, "We can take them to the warehouse after they're unconscious so we can get a ransom since they're from the first district."

Shelly soon lost her consciousness due to her first time riding a rollercoaster after the first round.

"Shelly!" I screamed while trying to shake her awake.

'How were we going to get out of this ride without using mana?' I started to panic.

My mana started to go haywire and out of control as I desperately plead to go anywhere other than the ride. Answering my pleas, I found Shelly and I at the entrance of the abandoned amusement park from my unconscious spell.

"How?" The girl stumbled few steps back in disbelief.

I hastily tried to lift Shelly using my mana to quickly run away from the couple. As soon as I was able to carry Shelly in a piggyback, I started to run to a crowded place as the couple was likely not going to try to kidnap us in front of many people.

When I confirmed the couple was nowhere to be seen, I found myself in front of the cafe where I met Ben and his friend. I spotted a teenage boy with familiar opaque blue eyes filled with dread and worry asking the people crossing the streets if they saw a two young girls around the age of eleven.

When he turned behind to spot me carrying Shelly, he thanked the person for their time and stormed towards my direction.

"Riikaa!" Ben yelled angrily.

"Do you know how-"

I abruptly turned the other way to see a gun pointing towards my forehead by the girl with a bright smile that mouthed, 'caught you'.

"Don't move if you don't want me to shoot!" The girl narrowed her eyes.