I got a phone. I couldn't read the letters, but I could still figure out which icons were for calls and which were for menus just by looking at their shapes.
As soon as I received it, the Professor took my phone and saved her number, which at least made it possible for me to answer calls.
"Look, when a call comes in, it'll appear like this. This is my number, so remember it well, okay?"
"How do you read this?"
"...Professor. That's what Urr calls me every day."
I stared at the characters quietly. Even if I couldn't read them, I could at least memorize their shapes. I guess this was the first step in learning to read.
I'd been hesitant to constantly ask questions when the Professor was already so busy, but now that I could properly learn from someone, I felt a bit excited.
Lying on the sofa, I clutched the phone in both hands and stared endlessly at the screen. It was filled with strange characters that made me feel like I was in a foreign country. Well, technically anywhere outside Korea would be foreign, but still. Foreign land? Alien world? Whatever it was, it didn't matter.
"Oh, right. I should save Sera's number too."
I sat up abruptly. I pressed the contacts button with my finger, but that's where I stopped.
Which button was for adding a new number?
"..."
The Professor was smiling as she headed toward the kitchen, but I hesitated for a moment before urgently calling out for help.
"...Professor!!"
The Professor returned with a wry smile, as if she couldn't help but find me amusing. Then she handed me a piece of paper.
Though it might have been too much to teach me properly, she seemed to have no problem giving me some basic guidance as she wrote something diligently on the paper.
"This button is for adding a new contact, and this is Sera's number that Urr gave you before. And these... are the numbers from 0 to 9, so try to memorize them."
"Yes. Got it."
I nodded. I figured that even if these were unfamiliar characters, memorizing ten numbers wouldn't take long, so I committed each character to memory.
0, 1, 2, 3...
After staring at them for a while, I opened the keyboard and searched for those symbols. I spent time tapping, deleting, and repeating until I confirmed they matched Sera's number.
So this is Sera's number. And the phone number system is somehow similar yet different.
As I was thinking about this, another overwhelming moment approached.
"P-Professor! How do I type 'Sera'?"
When I approached the Professor who was cooking in the kitchen and asked, she seemed to realize her oversight and took my phone. Since she had taken the paper she'd given me earlier, I had no choice but to rely on her completely for anything related to writing.
"Sorry, I only wrote down the number."
The Professor gave a wry smile as she typed the characters into the field. I stared at those characters for a moment before looking back up at her.
"Is this read as 'Sera'?"
"That's right. Se-ra."
"Se-ra."
I followed the Professor, reading each character, then pressed the save button below. I nodded. As soon as I got a phone, I had filled two contacts.
Thinking about it, I realized I hadn't exchanged contact information with Karen, whom I knew better, which made me tilt my head in confusion.
"Professor, where are you lecturing tomorrow?"
"I have one in the morning for first-year students."
Morning, first-year students. I wasn't sure exactly what department Karen was in, but since she was researching magic, I thought she might have signed up for lectures about Demon Gods. If I had known this would happen, I should have asked during the entrance ceremony instead of worrying about it now.
For now, that was enough for today. Since there was no way to suddenly find out someone's contact information without asking, I decided to focus on what I could do now.
I opened the contacts.
Professor, Sera. I could tell them apart immediately since they differed in the number of characters.
"...Se-ra."
I deliberately read aloud as part of my reading practice. The Professor was staring at me intently, which made me feel a bit self-conscious.
"...Pro-fe-ssor."
Only then did the Professor smile. It seemed she had been waiting for me to call her name. Having overcome this small hurdle, I returned to the living room, leaving the Professor to her cooking.
Plopping down on the sofa, I held my phone and pressed Sera's contact. While I didn't understand much else, the call and message buttons were clear enough to recognize. When I pressed firmly, the screen changed completely, and a ringing sound began.
After confirming the call was connecting, I flopped back onto the sofa. I stared at the ceiling, listening to the ring, ring of the connection tone. It was the perfect environment for zoning out.
Click.
"Hello? Who is this?"
"Is this Sera?"
"...Yes, but who's calling...?"
Her voice sounded cautious, probably because she was receiving a call from an unknown number. The gap between the flirtatious Sera I knew and this cautious Sera seemed somehow funny to me, so I chuckled as I spoke.
"It's me, Urr."
I introduced myself with a chuckle. In response, there was silence on the other end, as if she'd had an "oh" moment. While I was giggling alone in the silence, an excited voice continued from the other end, as if she hadn't expected me to call like this.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to contact me like this! Is this Urr's number?"
"Yeah, the Professor bought it for me earlier."
"Right, you said you were with the Professor... So? Did you call to let me know you saved my number?"
"Mmm, that, and also so you could save my number? I know Sera's number, but Sera doesn't know mine."
I stated what seemed obvious to me.
When I didn't have my own number, there was no contact information I could give, so whatever I did was fine. But now that I had contact information, if I didn't share my number, it would be awkward to explain later when we met, and I wanted to avoid that situation.
Besides, I already had Sera's number, so there was no reason to wait until next Tuesday.
"Hmm, so you were that eager to hear my voice?"
"...No. I just called to give you my number. I'm going to hang up now."
When I said that so firmly, a desperate voice came through.
"Wait! Are you really going to hang up like this?"
"Yeah, we don't have anything else to talk about, do we?"
"The Professor said before that you're Supplies."
"Yes."
"So when can I borrow you?"
"...Huh?"
My mind went blank for a moment. I had been granted permission to become Supplies and follow the Professor's lectures diligently. But I had never thought about being lent to others just because I became Supplies.
Momentarily brain-frozen by Sera's words, I began to seriously consider what she meant.
Right? If I'm Supplies, I can be borrowed? But what do I do when I'm borrowed...? I thought I was just supposed to follow the Professor around, should I ask her about this?
After various thoughts, I concluded that I couldn't decide this on my own.
"I don't know! I'll ask the Professor and get back to you!"
I jumped up and scurried back to the kitchen. The Professor was putting on a fire show with a frying pan. Not a wok fire show, but more like a fire show using a ladle.
Does she have some kind of flamethrower attached?
No, that's not what I came to see.
"Professor, Professor."
"Yes? Urr, what's wrong?"
When I called urgently, the Professor paused and looked at me. I slightly showed her the screen of the phone in my hand. After letting her know I was on a call with Sera, I carefully asked.
"Um, Sera is asking if she can borrow me since I'm Supplies. Is there a specific time for that?"
"Hmm, you are definitely a student, so borrowing is allowed... but not when I have lectures. I need to introduce Urr each time, so..."
The Professor wore a serious expression, perhaps thinking about her schedule. After wiping her hands on her apron, she took the phone from me.
"Sera, when would you like to borrow Urr? Tomorrow? Well... I have a lecture for first-years in the morning, so come to my lab after lunch in the afternoon and you can take her. But you must return her properly."
It seemed Sera had successfully persuaded the Professor.
This way, I thought I could study reading with Sera, as well as look at magic formulas for growing my body. I grinned happily, and the Professor gave me a wry smile in return.
"Hello?"
"Urr, I've made a reservation, so I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Okay, I'll hang up now?"
"Yes, sleep well!"
"Sleep well."
I ended up exchanging good night greetings unexpectedly. We weren't originally that kind of relationship, but I couldn't help feeling like I was going along with Sera's atmosphere.
I pressed the back button and turned off the phone screen. The Professor looked at me and asked quietly.
"Do you like Sera?"
"...Well, she seems like she'll teach me to read, and she said before that she'd help with magic formulas..."
"I see. Tell me if anything difficult happens while you're there."
"I will."
I nodded at the Professor's words. Then the Professor smiled and patted my head firmly. I felt dizzy as my head shook from the vigorous patting, and I staggered.
Before I could fall, I leaned against the Professor.
"Are you dizzy?"
"...Yes."
"I see."
Without apologizing, the Professor simply pulled me into a slight embrace. I wondered if the Professor was the type who got lonely easily. They say people who get lonely often tend to hug others.
Of course, I'm not saying my knowledge is correct, but that's just how it felt.
No matter how strong or smart the Professor was, she was alone, so I wondered if she was filling that void with me.
Still, since I couldn't manage without the Professor, I was willing to do this much if she needed it.
"Professor..."
"What is it?~"
When I carefully spoke up, the Professor responded gently, as if she thought I was about to act spoiled.
"Something's burning."
"Oh, what am I thinking!"
The Professor immediately let me go and devoted all her energy to saving the burning food in the frying pan.