August 23 (Friday)
8:34 AM
Finally, it is a holiday again.
The nationwide long weekend break had officially activated. No torture for Dr. Manazaki's NSTP 1 and MMW (Math 1) activities. It was the perfect time to restore HP for those who attended the scam and mandatory re-orientation event yesterday.
But it seems someone had not fully restored their HP yet... Jachie Marello.
Her digital radar was glitching. She messaged the KSU TAYTAY BEED 1-A group chat, seeking verification for her own sanity.
Jachie Marello: "Do we have classes today?"
A minute later, the island commuter replied, confirming the server status.
Aprille Bolente: "Hoy, I thought there was none? HAHAHAHAHA"
Jachie Marello: "This is why I am asking ih 😭"
That panicked message? It just earned a laugh react from Aprille, who immediately shifted the agenda to proper holiday activities.
Aprille Bolente: "Okay, @Windy Viyago and I will swim now hahahahaha"
Swimming. Right. Because swimming across the vast waters of Laguna de Bay just to get to Taytay faster is the ultimate commuter's alternative. A top-tier sarcastic joke. But wait… how did Windy even get back to the island?
Actually, Windy Viyago was at the re-orientation yesterday... but based on Mekayla Sano's meticulously maintained attendance record, Windy only attended the morning session. While the rest of BEEd 1-A was trapped in the afternoon scam listening to VIP introductions, Windy had executed a flawless stealth mission. She successfully bypassed the Guard's invisible wall, sneaking out of the campus to catch the early boat back to Talim Island.
Maximum evasion stats. A true survivalist.
Almost an hour later, Jiro Sanata finally saw the barrage of messages on his screen. He simply stared at the chat bubbles. He didn't comment. He didn't reply to anything. Not even a single sarcastic internal monologue sparked in his head. He just remained a silent observer.
The digital silence held until exactly 9:22 AM, when the Commander initiated a new server-wide objective. Hidy Medona forwarded a link along with a quick directive to their main section group chat. It was a link straight from the COMELEC.
Hidy Medona: "Hello hello, kindly disseminate this to all. This is the google form from COMELEC. Thank you, guys!"
Jiro lazily tapped the link, his browser loading up the objective. It was the USO (University Supreme Organization) Election 2024 form.
Another mini quest, Jiro thought, swiping through the screen. He scrolled down the digital ballot, but it was just a massive list of completely random candidates. He had never even heard of these names before. It was a blind voting mini-game featuring high-level NPCs he had absolutely zero connection with. He quickly lost interest and minimized the tab.
The chat remained relatively quiet until 9:57 AM, when Hidy returned to drop a major update regarding their weekend survival mechanics.
Hidy Medona: "Good morning, as for our COE Dean, we have classes tomorrow, unless our schedule indicates the subject with TBA instructors or it depends on the prof."
Jiro read the message, mentally reviewing his schedule. The reality was brutally simple. BEEd 1-A only had two TBA ghost instructors, and both of them were locked in for Monday and Wednesday instead—right after their History class with Mr. Brackin. Tomorrow was Saturday. That meant their schedule was completely solid. The Saturday Curse was fully loaded with actual, non-ghost professors. There was no escape.
A few minutes later, at 10:05 AM, the Class Secretary decided to clarify the inventory requirements before her own sanity exploded over the weekend preparations. She sent a quick question to the group chat.
Mekayla Sano: "guys, would you all bring extra tshirt, pants, and runner shoes tomorrow for our PE?"
Jiro stared at the message, mentally calculating the weight of his "Hulk" backpack. Carrying extra clothes and shoes? That is an automatic encumbered state. Movement speed minus twenty percent.
Before the panic of overpacking could fully infect the group chat, the 29-year-old Lore Master stepped in, dropping a highly hopeful statement to bypass the inventory crisis.
Reo Bairo: "I hope it is okay for Mr. Jeypi that we are already in PE uniform so we no longer have to pack extra clothes and shoes eh. Because Sir Casto once said that he is okay for the first prof before him. But I will bring extra shirts tomorrow for sureness ah."
It was a solid tactical theory. But it turned out, the Class Treasurer had already done the recon work on this exact issue a week ago.
Lindsey Soliko: "Ay, I already asked Mr. Jeypi one time through private message if he is okay for us to wear casual attire during his class. Because he also wondered why us not wear civilian instead since it is hot daw eh."
The BEEd 1-A cohort immediately went into a premature digital celebration. No more heavy bags! No more sweaty costume changes in the cramped restrooms!
To fully secure the buff, Lindsey messaged Mr. Shono again that day, asking for final confirmation if they were officially allowed to wear PE or civilian attire during his 7-hour marathon class.
She quickly forwarded Mr. Shono's reply to the group chat.
Mr. Jeypi Shono (Forwarded): "Ask your Dean for that matter. For me, there is no problem with that."
Aha. The classic NPC quest redirect. The part-timer boss was chill with it, but they still needed to clear the highest authority in the College of Education.
The Commander immediately took charge.
Hidy Medona: "I will ask the COE Dean first po. Let's wait for her reply ah."
The group chat fell into a tense, waiting silence. The fate of their weekend laundry and backpack weight rested entirely on the Dean's shoulders.
The lunch hour came and went with flying mystery. Jiro just scrolled through his phone, waiting for the final patch notes.
At around 1:04 PM, the Commander finally returned from the administrative frontlines.
Hidy Medona:Forwarded a message.
COE Dean (Forwarded): "Yes, you may wear white shirt and pants."
Boom. The group chat practically vibrated as heart reacts suddenly popped up as fast as they could render on the screen. It was a massive victory for the entire section.
And just to lock in the parameters of their newly acquired buff, Hidy dropped one last announcement.
Hidy Medona: "Again every just Saturday po 😊"
Jiro smirked, locking his phone. Guaranteed. No more hassle bringing extra clothes and shoes. The Apex Strategist approves of this massive inventory weight reduction.
As the lazy Friday afternoon unfolded, the Commander continued to tidy up the quest logs.
Hidy Medona: "Guys, I will collect your reflection paper activity by Wednesday po."
Jiro nodded in quiet agreement. Well, it makes perfect sense. Their student portal clearly stated they had no classes every Tuesday and Thursday. The original deadline of August 27 was geographically impossible unless they wanted to travel to the campus on their day off just to hand in a yellow pad. Wednesday was the only logical extraction point.
A bit later, the main group chat pinged again, reminding the cohort to prepare the most basic college starter pack items: the 1/2 white index card and the 1x1 picture.
Suddenly, the Lore Master transformed into the local Merchant NPC. Reo generously offered her printing services to the class for the 1x1 pictures.
Classmates: "Pa-sabuy po Ate Reo! Me too!"
But for the 1/2 white index cards, another merchant emerged in their own Circle of Friends group chat.
Mira Palida: "Guys, I am buying 1/2 index cards. Who wants pasabuy? P1 each ah."
Jiro read the message. Technically, he knew he had a whole stack of index cards buried somewhere deep inside his bedroom cabinet. But finding them required initiating a tedious, stamina-draining search quest.
Why grind for an item when you can just buy it from a party member for 1 peso?
Jiro Sanata: "Me. One piece."
Mira Palida: "Since you all are my COF, that is free for you guys!"
Jiro smirked. Free loot acquired. Peak efficiency.
As for the 1x1 picture, Jiro remained completely unbothered. While the rest of the class was scrambling to secure their photo prints, he pulled out his wallet and fished out a small, slightly worn square of glossy photo paper.
He stared at the 1x1 portrait picture. It was from 2022.
Heh, Jiro smirked, examining his slightly younger, Senior High School face. This is still me. This is fine. No need to spend on Ate Reo's printing.
He took his 2022 photograph, ready to paste it onto Mira's free index card tomorrow. Then, he carefully secured the vintage picture onto his iconic hard blue clipboard, right next to his flawlessly written 626-word reflection paper.
His loadout was perfectly optimized.
At exactly 3:45 PM, despite previously deciding to leave his final boss reporting task to "November Jiro," the extreme boredom of the holiday afternoon initiated an unexpected side quest. The Apex Strategist decided to do some early grinding.
He opened his presentation app on his phone to draft his slide deck for FIL 1. His solo final boss topic: Pagninilay at Pag-unlad sa Diskurso (Reflection and Development in Discourse). It was a heavy, intimidating title. It demanded a sleek, professional, dark-mode aesthetic to match his stoic, strategist aura.
But Jiro did the exact opposite.
He selected a template heavily inspired by his favorite Paramore album, After Laughter. It was blindingly vibrant. Pastel pinks, loud teals, squiggly retro shapes, and highly saturated colors exploded across the screen. It looked less like a profound college discourse and more like a Sunday morning cartoon intro. It completely shattered his dark, mysterious vibe and fully embraced the chaotic, colorful archetype of his newly assigned course.
He took a screenshot of the blindingly colorful title slide and deployed it into the COF - BEEd 1A group chat.
Jiro Sanata: "I am already making a ppt for my reporting in FIL 1 AHHAHAAHA."
Jiro Sanata:Sent a photo.
He stared at the vibrant, elementary-looking masterpiece on screen, chuckling at the sheer absurdity of his own creation.
Jiro Sanata: "Does this look good? HAHAHAHA Or maybe it is now okay because we are elementary educ HAHAHAHA"
If I am stuck in this server, I might as well weaponize the aesthetic.
A few minutes later, the rogue editor of the squad validated his creation.
Niewi Voeliè: "That's already okay for me... and I will create mine this Saturday or Sunday."
Jiro smirked, locking his phone. The early prep was officially approved by a party member.
7 AM tomorrow... let's go!
August 24 (Saturday)
It was supposed to be a "long weekend holiday" for the rest of the country. A time for peace, sleep, and family outings.
But Saturday is not an official holiday. In the KSU Taytay server, classes continued. The Saturday Curse spares absolutely no one.
Jiro Sanata arrived at the KSU Taytay campus at exactly 6:41 AM.
He walked past the quiet ground floor, heading straight for the stairwell. Without a second thought, he bypassed the proper routes and climbed using the DOWN ONLY stairs, breaking the rules as usual.
He reached the fourth floor, his breathing steady, and stepped through the open doorway of Room 406.
As he entered the room, he immediately noticed the spawn rate was incredibly low today. There were only four students sitting in the wooden armchairs. The rest of the BEEd 1-A cohort was evidently still battling the final boss of the morning: The Raging Road.
Jiro didn't dawdle. He bypassed the empty armchairs and occupied his designated seat immediately.
He slid the "Hulk" bag off his shoulders and initiated his unpacking sequence. First, he grabbed his heavy insulated tumbler from his backpack and placed it securely on the concrete floor, right in front of his chair. Next, his hands dove back into the bag, fishing out his towel-covered phone and his most sacred artifact: the red earphone pouch.
Music time again.
He plugged in, isolating himself from the quiet, stagnant air of the classroom. He scrolled through his playlist and hit play. Good Girls (Don't Get Used) by Beach Bunny blasted into his ears, the upbeat indie-pop guitar riffs perfectly masking the silence of the room. To complete his survival setup, he also grabbed his portable mini fan, clicking it on to fight the rising humidity.
Buffs applied. Isolation mode engaged.
In a completely different scene, while Jiro was entirely deaf to his surroundings and heavily focused on scrolling through some feeds on his phone, the room went noisy again.
Lindsey Soliko marched into the room together with a few other arriving BEEd 1-A cohorts. She looked around the sparsely populated room and sighed.
"Ay, Jesper will be late pala," Lindsey said aloud, practically talking to the air since her designated runner was missing in action. She turned to the island dweller sitting nearby. "Aprille, I'll go get the remote and extension downstairs ah, please watch my bag."
Aprille, who was currently doing something on her phone, simply nodded in acknowledgment.
Lindsey dropped her things and immediately descended the stairs to execute her fetch quest. Shortly after, she came back, successfully carrying the loot—the remote and the extension cord—after surrendering her SHS I.D. as collateral to the storage staff. She marched straight to the front, plugged the extension cord into the wall socket, connected the Smart T.V. cord, and clicked the remote.
The screen glowed to life. The arena was fully prepped.
At exactly 6:53 AM, Mr. Jeypi Shono arrived at the classroom.
While the vast majority of the BEEd 1-A class was still hopelessly facing the different chaotic routes of the Raging Road, the chill part-timer instructor calmly stepped through the doorway. He executed his usual morning routine with practiced ease: he walked to the teacher's table, put his minimalist bag there, his insulated tumbler, pulled out his laptop, and opened the soft copy attendance sheet.
He looked up at the few students currently inside the room.
"Okay, so good morning, everyone. So today, our reporters for Filipino 1 will be Alpha Agane, Jesper Arufe, Anila Bakuda, and Cristel Basha," Mr. Shono announced clearly. "The topic is Estruktura ng Diskurso: Mga Bahagi at Estruktura (Structure of Discourse: Parts and Structures). Please prepare your presentation here in our T.V. ah."
Right on cue, as if he had perfectly timed his entrance to the announcement, Jesper Arufe finally rushed through the doorway.
The Vanguard has arrived.
Seeing that the class was about to officially start, Jiro began his un-equip protocol. He reached up, removed his earphones, coiled them neatly, and placed them back into the red earphone pouch before shoving it deep into his bag. He sat up straight. The Apex Strategist was now fully preparing to listen, observe, and analyze the frontline reporting tactics.
Mr. Shono turned to his laptop and officially checked the attendance using his Excel soft copy, tapping 'P' or 'A' on his keyboard as he called out surnames alphabetically from Agane all the way down to Sanata. He noted that there were still a few latecomers trickling in, but the show had to go on.
Around 7:03 AM, Mr. Shono stood up from his desk and walked all the way to the back of the classroom. He casually grabbed an extra wooden armchair, sat down, and crossed his legs. He was now fully ready to watch and listen to the reporters from a tactical vantage point.
The Boss is now observing.
Before the first group could officially begin, they had to tackle the inevitable mini-boss of every modern classroom: Technical Difficulties.
They opted to use Anila Bakuda's phone to connect to the Smart T.V. through screencast. Anila stood near the screen, navigating her settings. There were a few moments of awkward buffering and connection errors—the classic technology delay—but it was mercifully short.
Boom. Their Canva presentation finally flashed onto the screen. Since it was cast directly from her device, Anila had to stand at the front, actively swiping her phone to move to the next slide while they presented.
Jiro watched the setup from his seat. A heavy Canva presentation running continuously on screencast? Good luck for Anila's phone getting baked, he mused, anticipating the serious overheating debuff her device was about to suffer.
With the visual aids successfully deployed, the reporting officially began. And it was incredibly fast-paced—a relentless onslaught of academic delivery.
Jesper Arufe took the floor first, and he instantly dominated it. He showcased the most quirky and powerful energy, utilizing his natural high charisma stats. He kept the whole class constantly laughing, expertly weaving random BEEd 1-A candid pictures—especially highly unflattering photos of Lindsey Soliko—straight into their professional presentation slides. It was incredibly random, but beneath the comedy, he actually reported his assigned structure very well.
Next was Anila Bakuda. She stepped up, completely shifting the dynamic. She possessed a much louder voice and carried a bit of a strict, authoritative aura. She commanded the room effortlessly, articulating her points perfectly and demonstrating a highly impressive, deep knowledge of their topic.
Cristel Basha followed. Her delivery was much softer, matching her cute headband aesthetic, but the smartness radiated off her. She knew exactly how to break down the complex parts, providing incredibly detailed and precise information to their report topic that the others hadn't covered.
And lastly, Alpha Agane took her turn. As expected, she was extremely shy, but she bravely stood her ground. She was still wearing her standard face mask, but even with half her face covered, everyone could see her cheeks visibly turning bright red. She had an intermittent voice—fading soft, then suddenly getting loud—as she fought through her nerves. Yet, despite the visible panic, she managed to report her entire assigned part perfectly.
The Vanguard held the line.
But the presentation was only phase one. After their final slide, Mr. Shono immediately initiated phase two from the back of the room.
The Final Boss Questioning. Mr. Shono started throwing sharp, analytical killer questions at the four reporters. But the first group was prepared. They parried his academic attacks, managing to answer his inquiries very well, proving they hadn't just memorized the slides.
Satisfied with their defense, Mr. Shono nodded approvingly.
With the boss defeated, the reporters dropped their final loot requirement on the class: an Activity.
"Okay guys, for our activity," Cristel instructed, holding Anila's phone. "Create an essay discourse using the discussed parts and structures. Just pick your own topic, write it on a yellow pad paper, and then you will present it here in front."
As if writing an essay and presenting it wasn't enough to drain their morning stamina, they immediately followed it up with a heavy debuff.
They also conducted a quiz consisting of 10 items covering the structures and parts of discourse they had just discussed.
The class scrambled for their papers, but Jiro just casually grabbed his black pen. He had absorbed every single detail while silently analyzing their reporting mechanics.
He breezed through the questions effortlessly.
Too easy. When the papers were checked, Jiro looked down at his score. He got a perfect 10.
After the quiz, Cristel moved to the blackboard, her chalk clacking against the surface as she quickly drafted the scoring mechanics for the essay activity.
"Okay guys, here is the criteria ah! Grammar 5%, Content 5%, and so on..."
With the parameters set, the class commenced their writing. One by one, classmates who finished early marched to the front to read their outputs to the room.
Jiro just sat at his desk, watching them. He didn't stand up. He didn't volunteer.
Nah, I am good, Jiro smirked internally. Just writing the essay is already enough to secure my grades. No need to farm for extra spotlight lol.
But then, Cosma stepped up to the front, holding her single sheet of yellow pad paper. She cleared her throat, her posture confident, and began reading her essay aloud.
It wasn't just a simple, generic reflection. It was a heavily structured discourse about the people and the nation, fearlessly criticizing the government's flaws and systematic failures. It was heavy, articulate, and brutally brave.
As she finished her final sentence, the entire class erupted into genuine applause.
Wow, Jiro noted, thoroughly impressed. High intellect stats from the working student. Respect.
A short break followed, providing a tiny sliver of HP recovery for the class. They stretched, chatted, and refilled their tumblers.
But at exactly 10:15 AM, the grind violently resumed.
Mr. Shono returned to the front for his second consecutive subject: Art Appreciation (ART 1). And to everyone's absolute shock—and massive pity—the Vanguard was summoned to the stage once again.
Jesper, Anila, Cristel, and Alpha stood up. They had drawn the ultimate bad luck of the schedule: two reporting in a single day.
Double boss fight. Brutal. Jiro shook his head in sympathy. But in fairness to them, their academic debts are officially cleared now. They won't get burdened next time eh.
They moved to the front and initiated the exact same setup. They used Anila's phone for the screencast again.
Poor Anila's phone, Jiro mused, watching the device connect to the TV. The processor is definitely crying. Overheating debuff at critical levels.
Their new topic flashed onto the screen: What is Art; Introduction, Assumptions, and Categories.
The rotation was slightly mixed this time. Cristel took the opening strike, delivering her soft, smart precision. Anila followed, her loud voice commanding the room's attention. Jesper came next, and once again, his Canva template was an absolute visual fiesta. It was still noticeably packed with candid, weird BEEd 1-A photos and random internet memes slapped right in the middle of classical art definitions. Finally, Alpha wrapped up the presentation, pushing through her assigned parts bravely despite the obvious shyness.
They arrived at the conclusion. Mr. Shono unleashed another wave of probing questions from the back. The group successfully parried them all.
And then, they dropped their final AoE (Area of Effect) activity on the exhausted class.
"Okay guys, for our activity," Anila announced, flashing a wicked smile. "Group yourselves into 6 groups! Every group is going to create a mini-presentation report featuring different forms and works of art!"
The class groaned. Hard mode engaged.
"Dancing, music, drawing, anything you can think of!" she added. "Get to your groups now!"
The rest of the morning dissolved into pure, chaotic scrambling as the six groups frantically brainstormed, rehearsed, and ultimately performed their mini-art presentations right there on the spot.
Finally, around 12:10 PM, the marathon officially concluded.
"Alright, that's it for our morning session," Mr. Shono announced, packing up his laptop. "Class dismissed and goodbye everyone. Take your lunch break ah."
The room let out a massive, synchronized exhale.
While his COF members instantly started complaining about their aching backs and immediately began planning their lunch logistics, Jiro remained firmly seated in his wooden armchair. His brain, fried from the back-to-back lectures and double activities, suddenly snagged on a specific word. A word he had been hearing relentlessly all week.
Educator.
Jiro frowned, staring blankly at the empty blackboard.
What does Educator really mean? Crap, I keep hearing this word everywhere. It sounds so premium. So heavy. But I still do not know why we are called 'future educators' instead of... simply 'future teachers'.
His internal Shonen radar had completely convinced him there was a hidden lore behind it. Was it a higher tier? A grand architect of minds? The Archmage to a normal teacher's basic Mage?
His curiosity reached its absolute peak. He pulled his phone from his pocket, quickly toggled his mobile data on, and opened Google.
He tapped the search bar.
Search: Educator meaning.
The loading bar crawled across the screen. Jiro held his breath, ready for the philosophical truth of his newly assigned life path to hit him.
The Google Dictionary snippet dropped down instantly.
Educator(noun): A person who provides instruction or education; a teacher.
Jiro stared at the glowing screen.
He blinked once. Twice.
He read it again. ...a teacher.
He slowly lowered his phone, his face completely devoid of all emotion. A deadpan stare leveled at the empty space in front of him.
THAT'S IT?! his internal monologue screamed, completely shattering his grand epiphany. A teacher???
He let out a dry, cynical laugh, shaking his head at his own over-calculated theories.
It turns out, it was literally just a fancy, capitalized word for Teacher... no secret meaning found.
Top-tier anticlimax. The system completely scammed him with a premium vocabulary word.
END OF THE SECRET MEANING