“You know, with that amount of money, we could have bought some real weapons.”

“But they wouldn’t be as cool. Look, if I press this button on my cane, then it will spew fire like a fricking flamethrower.”

“A regular lighter would have been cheaper and less conspicuous.”

“Oh, come on Stefan, as if your bladed stick is that extraordinary. It’s literally just a short pike hidden in a wooden scabbard.”

“Hmpf, it’s a true gentleman’s armament tested by history, different than your lame parlor tricks. The sword cane, an elegant weapon, for a more civilized age.”

Great, he was quoting Star Wars now.

“Sure, with your experience, you will probably do more damage if you throw the pommel at your enemy. I can assure you, your opponent will be very impressed.”

The banter went on for a while before we decided to accept the fact that we had different passions. However, both of us had wanted to buy a cane gun or a boomstick. Sadly, the disguised weapon shop didn’t sell any because they were too impractical. You could also only fire a few shots before the cane would break. For that reason, I gave the store a one-star review.

We decided for matching telescope batons instead. They were very handy and could easily be hidden under our clothes. They also had a nice gimmick. Built-in tasers. Most of the money spent went into this, but I think it was well worth it.

Stefan folded his arms. “Ok, we shouldn't be making such purchases anymore, or at this rate, we will deplete our bank in less than two weeks, and I don’t fancy our chances of getting another batch of valuable horns. At least I am not going into that forest again.”

“Don't worry, we already have everything we need, so, for now, we will mainly buy food and water. Speaking of the devil, I have seen a wonderful pie shop on our way. They even sell homemade butterscotch pudding.”

“Do they have apple pies too? Freshly baked, flaking crust, cinnamon icing sugar, what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

We went to the pie shop and ordered our favorites. I ate a meat pie with pudding as dessert while Stefan devoured a big apple pie. An unknown meat flavor lasted on my tongue. The tender chunks of beef like meat, savory gravy, and mixed vegetables stuffed in a pastry shell created a divine composition that I have never tasted before. This was it. Everything became clear.

“I have found it. The true goal of every isekai.”

Stefan raised an eyebrow at me but didn’t stop munching.

“Why are so many stories focused on food or have food as an integral part of many major scenes? Farming, Food wars, cooking system class, gourmet hunter, food magic, food spirit, foodgasm, bribing powerful people with food, weird ingredients, revival dishes, tavern management, the power of friendship platter. Regardless of whether the protagonist himself or one of his companions can cook, the author will always describe some food scenes every so often. Especially if the author is Chinese. Novels are getting out of hand lately, why do we need bacon that can talk back? The fat friend is already an inherent part of every Xianxia novel, for sure he can eat the heavens. So, what I conclude is (…) I will have every cooking receipt in the universe and win over the masses as their food god.”

Hehe, look at me cracking the secret of existence. Stefan was for certain awestruck by my thesis.

“Nice weather we have today.”

“Tsk, what would a pleb like you understand.” I totally wasted my breath on this mongrel.

“Hahaha, I am just joking. Your theory does have some merits. Anyway, while you were blabbering, a daring thought occurred to me. We can clearly discern that this city’s technology is quite advanced, and you have told me that this is a steampunk city. There are electricity, industrialism, guns, motor vehicles, and we have even sighted power armor before. Some areas should be even more developed than what we know from our world, right? I mean, look at this monstrous Terminal building. Because of the portals, they have access to all the knowledge and inventions from other dimensions and even from future Earth.

My point is there should be some phones here. Although I haven’t seen any phone booths or cellphones, they should exist in such an advanced world, right?” Do you understand what I'm getting at?”

…

“Don’t just stare, say something!”

“I've thought about it, and you're right. I know of a place where we could make a call. But are you sure you want to leave this world already? We just arrived yesterday, and there is still so much to discover.”

“Hmpf, this is just a test to see if the method will actually work. Also, I need to check if everything is alright back at home. I know that you live alone, but I still hang out at my parent’s house. In case there is no time dilation, my family must be worried sick about my sudden disappearance.

We can always go back to this world by using the link from Bob after we have confirmed that everything is A-okay. It will be even better if we can properly prepare for the return trip. Just imagine if we had a cellphone with us when we were chased by the monster. The number on speed dial, and we would be safe back at home.”

Hmm, Stefan made a convincing argument. I surely won’t say no to some convenient tools like smartphones or a backpack. I could also go back to write some chapters, I guess. I didn’t want to disappoint my loyal readers just because I was having so much fun here, and at the same time, I could give God Bob an honest review about everything that had happened. Yeah, let’s do that.

“Alright, you have convinced me. I remember that there are phone booths for public use at the trading center, the place that was closed yesterday. They are often used to exchange pieces of commercial information. Come on, let’s see if the trading center is open today.”

We swiftly departed from the pie shop, having paid for the food in advance. Carrying a shopping bag stuffed with our old clothes in our hands, we walked the way to the already known location. Luckily the trading center was open this time. A constant stream of men and women in business clothing entered and left the building.

We set foot into the center. The inside reminded me of a cross between a stock exchange and an airport. The place was huge. Small trading islands were set up everywhere, and countless copper-colored monitors showing all kinds of information hung from the flat ceiling. People shuffled around, yelling and arguing noisily. I could feel the heat in the atmosphere. Whatever you were looking for, this place had it. There were no upper floors, but I could make out a staircase leading downward.

“The phone booths are downstairs together with the private cabins. That's where the bigger deals are made. There is also a hidden floor further down the basement where the black market is located.“

“Why is the black market always under the ‘legal’ market? What a cliché.”

Dunno. I shrugged my shoulders.

“That shouldn’t be our problem now. After all, we just want to use the phones.”

“Right.”

We moved to the basement. A long corridor stretched out before us with some closed and some open cabins on the sides. As we passed the closed doors, we could sometimes hear loud rattles and heavy breathing. Honestly, the rooms need better soundproofing. At the end of the hallway, we finally found our phone booths. Like the phone booths we were familiar with, they had little space and could be closed for better privacy.

However, when we looked closer at the calling devices, we realized that we had a small problem.

“What the heck is this?”

Ok, maybe we had a big problem.

Everything was familiar with exception of the number pad. The reason was the numbers, or the lack thereof. It wasn’t even a dial telephone, but there were strange symbols instead of numbers, and there were 18 of them instead of the classical 10.

“Markus!!! What dunderheaded idea was that? Can you not write something normal instead of reinventing the wheel?”

“What, I am as surprised as you are. I haven’t mentioned anything like that in my novel. It has to be Bob’s idea. Maybe he thought that this would be more in line with this world’s theme. Anyway, you cannot blame me for this.”

“Ahhh!!! What do we do now? We cannot select the phone number with this.”

“Hmm, let me try, maybe it will work.”

I threw in a blue credit chip and clicked on the keys corresponding to numbers (the second key from the left is 2 for example). I dialed 01666777888.

Brrring, brrring, brrring, clack!

“Hello, and thank you for calling Indy, your specialist in tech support. Our experienced employees will shortly be there for you.“ Linnda mathew o wara to...- I hung up.

“Nop, doesn’t work.”

Stefan was visibly dejected.

We left the building the same way we entered. Outside, the orange sky announced the dawn of night. My eyes focused on the divine tower, the door to my imagination.

“The Terminal.”

“Hmm, what did you say?”

"The Terminal! If there is one place in this world where we can find a usable phone, it will be there. This city and everything else may be built by the natives, but the Terminal is definitely a product of the Explorer Foundation from Earth. So, all structures and devices there should work based on Earth's system such as the numerical system."

“Really? And can we enter the Terminal as we pleased? As important as it is, I would think it's pretty well guarded, and only certain people could use it.”

“It IS heavily guarded. After all, it was built to withstand a local rebellion. Even if the whole city suddenly attacked the terminal, the state-of-the-art defense mechanisms and trained soldiers on-site could hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive from beyond the portals. Only certified explorers of the Explorer Foundation can go in and out at will. Other people will need a special pass or decree to use the Terminal. Although we don’t have something like that, we could still surely check out the place and maybe find another way in.”

“Alright, we have nothing else to do anyway.” Stefan marched toward the Terminal.

As I watched Stefan's dejected demeanor, I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I wasn't sure if there were any phones at the terminal at all. The unexpected change from Bob unsettled me quite a bit, and I lacked the confidence to say that everything was in my control.