August 18 (Sunday)
Sunday morning. The ultimate recovery phase. The designated day to do absolutely nothing after surviving the Raging Road and the chaotic, sweaty mess of college orientation week.
Plus, today was a special milestone. It was officially Mekayla Sano's 18th birthday. The legal age of adulthood had finally been reached.
But for the students of BEEd 1-A? Peace was just a scam.
8:53 AM.
Jiro was not asleep. He was already locked in, lying flat on his mattress and busy scrolling on his phone. He was actively checking the stats on his Reddit post about that legendary "passed 1st year" grammar fail on the freedom wall. The upvotes were still climbing. He chuckled quietly, swiping through the sarcastic comments.
Since his phone was strictly on tactical silent mode—no rings, no vibrations allowed in his sanctuary—the digital frontlines had to use a different strategy to breach his defenses.
It was the ultimate college student jumpscare.
Pop.
A wild chat head notification suddenly appeared at the top of his screen, completely blocking his meme feed.
It was the main section group chat: KSU Taytay BEED 1-A.
The President's anxiety meter was already spiking bright and early.
Hidy Medona: "Good day! May I ask if someone took a note here if how long or how many mins that Doc Rick requires regarding the duration of video recital?"
Jiro blinked, his groggy brain trying to process the sudden influx of academic logistics.
Wait. A time limit? His internal database quickly scanned the memories from Friday afternoon. He pictured Doc Rick (Dr. Manazaki) standing at the front of Room 406, laying out the quest parameters for the Vision, Mission, and Values (VMV) vlog.
Did he mention a maximum duration? Five minutes? Ten minutes? Jiro's brow furrowed. No. I am the project manager of Group Falcon, and I definitely did not hear any time constraints. Just shoot the video and submit it.
Before anyone could type out a serious reply to alleviate the sudden panic, Hidy followed up her own message.
Hidy Medona: "Or if he said anything or I am just simply overthinking about it"
Jiro let out a tired, breathy chuckle.
Ah. The classic President debuff. Overthinking the mechanics.
Then, a tiny notification icon popped up under Hidy's second message.
Haha.
She literally hit her own message with a laugh react. It was the ultimate Filipino group chat coping mechanism—laughing at your own spiraling panic to lighten the mood.
Seconds later, two more icons popped up right beside hers.
Haha.Haha.
The birthday girl, Mekayla Sano, who was apparently already awake and actively monitoring the battlefield on her special day, dropped a laugh react.
Following right behind her was Reo Bairo, the 29-year-old class veteran and mother, reacting with the exact same laughing emoji. It was a silent, collective acknowledgment of the President's weekend stress.
Jiro let out a long exhale, his eyes still glued to the screen.
Okay, false alarm. No new rules added to the quest. He finally closed the group chat and swiped away his Reddit app. The digital panic had successfully ruined his meme-scrolling momentum, but it also served as a brutal reminder. The weekend procrastination was officially over. He sat up on his mattress, stretching his arms. The Editor was now online.
But before he could even switch over to his Google Drive app to process the raw files Group Falcon had dumped last night, the main group chat resurrected itself with a fresh wave of chaos.
Pop.
Lindsey Soliko sent a link.
It was a news article thumbnail declaring a long weekend holiday from August 23 to 26, courtesy of two consecutive national holidays on Friday (23) and Monday (26).
Lindsey Soliko: "So, it means, no reporting on Saturday eh."
Lindsey Soliko: "It said Holiday."
Lindsey Soliko: "HAHAHAHAHAHAJAJA"
Jiro stared at his screen, an invisible sweatdrop forming on his head.
Wow. She is celebrating way too early.
Did she forget the conversation from last Friday afternoon? Princess literally sent this exact same announcement from the governor, and I already told everyone, "So, we are not on a long weekend break." The Saturday Curse is immune to regular holidays.
Before Jiro could burst her bubble, the class Auditor chimed in to support the false hope.
Brittany Bausta: "Bet HAHAHA"
Jiro couldn't help himself. The tactical mathematician inside him had to lay out the real calendar. He tapped his keyboard, dropping the facts.
Jiro Sanata: "So six days we don't have a class? Since we have no class every T/TH eh."
His logic was sound. If Friday and Monday were holidays, and Tuesday/Thursday were blank on their portal schedule, Wednesday and Saturday were the only actual battle days left in the week.
The Vice President immediately stepped in to enforce the reality check.
Princess Cleria: "Friday and Monday are only holidays eh."
And then, the Class Escort delivered the final, fatal blow to Lindsey's celebration.
Jesper Arufe: "We have a class teh. It didn't even say Saturday is a Holiday."
Almost instantly, a tiny laugh react icon popped up right beneath Jesper's message. It was from Aprille Bolente, quietly enjoying the destruction of Lindsey's dreams from the sidelines.
Realizing her massive calendar miscalculation, Lindsey finally dropped the mic on her own defeat.
Lindsey Soliko: "So we are not even safe HAHAHAHAJAHA"
Another rapid-fire laugh react from Aprille locked in the tragedy.
Jiro shook his head, a wry smile on his face. Nope. No one is safe. The weekend boss fight is inevitable.
He finally closed the main group chat for real this time. It was time to deal with his own impending deadline. The real battle of the weekend was about to begin.
He was now transported into his Falcon alliance.
Right at the bottom of the recent message, he noticed a subtle change. The plain, boring "MMW" group chat had evolved.
Niewi Voeliè named the group MMW (F-Falcon).
Jiro smirked. Nice. The guild finally has its official banner. He was now ready to drop his project manager instructions. But before he could even type a single letter, a new message popped up.
9:39 AM.
Windy Viyago: "Uy, may I take a look at our vid hahaha."
Jiro paused, his thumbs hovering over the keyboard. Look at the vid? What vid? It's just a bunch of raw files in the Drive right now.
A minute later, the response came.
9:40 AM.
Niewi Voeliè: "Ay, witt, I am not done yet with editing."
Windy Viyago: "Go sis."
Jiro froze. He stared at the screen, completely paralyzed.
Wait.
Hold up.
Editing? Niewi is... editing it?
His brain short-circuited. He had mentally prepared himself all night for this. He had structured the Google Drive, created the subfolders, and braced himself to carry the heavy burden of screen and sound. He was The Editor.
But Niewi had just completely bypassed the entire chain of command. She moved the glass early without any prior notice. A rogue editor had entered the battlefield and stolen the main quest!
Jiro slumped back onto his mattress, a mixture of pure shock and sudden, overwhelming relief washing over him.
Wow. Okay. Plot twist.I guess I am just a supportive NPC for this vlog then. Honestly? I am not even mad. Less screen time for me.
Since his role had been forcefully outsourced, Jiro accepted his new fate. He decided to just sit back and wait for the edited clip to be magically delivered to the group chat.
But as the morning ticked on, the Shonen strategist inside him couldn't just stay entirely passive. He needed to contribute something to the creative direction. He was still the one who taught Lindsey the tilt-down cinematic shot, after all.
10:23 AM.
Jiro finally tapped the chat box.
Jiro Sanata: "Guys, what do you all want for our intro?"
Jiro Sanata: "Retro + Tense?"
Jiro Sanata: "Cartoonish + Adventure? Or you may suggest anything eh."
He waited, feeling pretty proud of his high-concept cinematic suggestions. He was ready to add dramatic tension or goofy sound effects to whatever Niewi was brewing.
Two minutes later, the verdict arrived.
10:25 AM.
Niewi Voeliè: "Ay, just normal."
Niewi Voeliè: "Since there is already a filter in our video eh."
Jiro blinked. Just normal? No epic anime opening vibes?
Before he could argue for the 'Retro + Tense' aesthetic, the backup support chimed in.
Windy Viyago: "True just nornal."
Windy Viyago: "normal"
Jiro sighed, letting his phone rest on his mattress.
Normal. Ah, yes. The ultimate enemy of a creative over-thinker.They already put a filter on it. The creative vision is locked. The rogue editor has spoken. "Well," Jiro muttered to himself, crossing his arms. "Just normal it is. Let's see what Group Falcon's final product looks like."
But his curiosity was eating him alive. He couldn't just blindly trust the word "normal." He needed visual evidence. He picked his phone back up and tapped the keyboard.
10:26 AM.
Jiro Sanata: "what kind of normal, like what"
A minute later, the rogue editor delivered the goods.
Niewi Voeliè:Sent a video.
Jiro sat up immediately, his director instincts flaring. He tapped the play button on the short screen-recorded clip. It was the intro montage Niewi was currently piecing together on her editing app.
He watched it intently.
Okay, let's analyze the damage.
Visually, it was... distinct. It wasn't the dramatic, high-contrast anime opening Jiro had envisioned. It was akin to an Indie film. It had a bit grayish and grainy filter slapped over the footage, giving it a muted, vintage vibe. The text spelling out their group name popped up in a classic typewriter style, using a simple white font with a harsh black outline.
That's it. Very basic. Very... aesthetic, I guess.
But then, Jiro's ears picked up on the real tragedy.
The audio.
Wait. Where are the footsteps?!
The low-angle shot of their shoes walking past the camera was there, but his carefully recorded ASMR footstep sounds—the ones he had battled the chaotic hallway traffic to capture perfectly—were completely gone. Deleted. Scrubbed from existence.
Instead, it was replaced by some generic, calm, royalty-free acoustic background music.
Jiro stared at the screen, completely deadpan. His internal Shonen director was screaming in agony. My masterpiece. My cinematic vision. Replaced by coffee shop BGM. Let's be real—this was absolutely not the kind of intro he was expecting.
Before he could even process his cinematic grief, Niewi followed up with a hesitant message.
Niewi Voeliè: "This is my first try today… I am not sure if this is already okay..."
Jiro let out a long, heavy exhale. He stared at her message. He couldn't crush her spirit. She was doing the heavy lifting of editing, after all. A good strategist knows when to compromise for the sake of party morale.
He swallowed his pride, forced his thumbs to type, and deployed the ultimate diplomatic response.
Jiro Sanata: "Ahh, just like in indie films"
He couldn't even admit or say that he didn't like it lol. The lie of a supportive teammate.
Niewi's relief was instant.
Niewi Voeliè: "yesss"
But the peace lasted for exactly three seconds before the editor encountered a new critical error.
Niewi Voeliè: "Plus for outro, we didn't even think about that we really need it for our vid HSVWHHAHAHA"
The keysmash of pure realization.
Niewi Voeliè: "It would look lame the full ending of our video if the ending was abrupt eh"
Jiro smirked, his Project Manager mode finally getting a chance to shine. Ah. They hit a wall. Time for the strategist to step in and save the ending sequence.
He tapped the screen rapidly, formulating the perfect, classic anime-style conclusion.
Jiro Sanata: "we can use bloopers and our pictures while there is a credits roll (written casts)"
It was foolproof. Every good presentation needed a blooper reel to show their "fun" side, masked by the rolling credits of their names.
The idea landed perfectly.
Niewi Voeliè: "okiokiii"
Niewi Voeliè: "lemme do the outro now"
Jiro thought his job as the supportive NPC was finally done, but the digital battlefield was highly unpredictable. Their conversation was far from over.
Just a minute later, Niewi replied to her own message—specifically to the indie-style sample intro clip she had sent earlier.
Niewi Voeliè: "Kindly send the intro latur if there are any changes here eh."
Jiro blinked at the screen.
Wait.
She just suddenly handed the steering wheel right back to me! Lol.
With the control partially back in his hands, Jiro immediately seized the opportunity to salvage his cinematic masterpiece. He needed to rescue his ASMR footstep sequence.
Jiro Sanata: "Do not remove the sounds there ah, but kindly lower the noise because there is also background music."
But Niewi was apparently battling her own creative demons. Completely ignoring the audio crisis, she focused purely on the visuals.
Niewi Voeliè: "It seems like the font is not suited well eh."
Then, a few seconds later, she finally processed his request about the sounds and replied to him.
Niewi Voeliè: "I haven't put any bgm yet ah."
Jiro's brain started to scramble. No BGM yet? Then what was that generic acoustic sound? Was that built into her editing app's template?
Before he could even type a clarification, Niewi dropped a brand new bomb into the group chat.
Niewi Voeliè: "@Jiro Sanata the audio that you sent for vision has a bad quality eh."
Oof.Critical hit.
Jiro stared at the tag. He was supposed to just do a little editing or take a well-deserved rest today, but the quest had just forcefully upgraded to a Boss Level troubleshooting phase.
Bad quality? Sabog? Impossible. My phone's microphone is perfectly fine.
He couldn't just accept the debuff. He had to investigate. Jiro immediately minimized Messenger, switched tabs, and opened their Google Drive folder. He navigated to the Voiceovers/Recorders subfolder and located the specific audio file for the Vision recitation—the one they recorded in front of the gloomy campus gate.
He tapped play.
The voices of Group Falcon came through the speaker. It was crisp. It was clear. It was perfectly synchronized.
It's fine. It's completely fine! Armed with the truth, Jiro switched back to the group chat, launching his counter-attack.
Jiro Sanata: "How eh, just checked it now, it was fine."
He lay there, staring at the chat bubbles, waiting for her response. His Shonen strategist brain was calculating the variables. Is it her phone speaker? A download error? Pure confusion? A need for clarification? Or are we just literally wasting time right now lol?
A moment later, Niewi's definitive ruling arrived.
Niewi Voeliè: "dunnooo. but that is already okay, it is already audible eh."
Jiro let out a long, heavy sigh.
Dunnooo? Really? We just went through an entire technical panic attack for a 'dunnooo'?
He shook his head, a wry smile creeping onto his face. The rogue editor was unpredictable, but at least the files were usable, the outro was planned, and the intro was... whatever normal indie aesthetic they were going to end up with. The Sunday grind was real.
But Jiro wasn't just going to sit back and watch his cinematic vision die in the hands of an indie filter. He immediately minimized Messenger, navigated to their Google Drive folder, and downloaded the raw video clips directly into his local storage.
He opened his own video editing app on his phone.
Time to take the steering wheel.
While he was busy uploading the raw intro clips into his editing timeline, the group chat was having a wholesome, supportive moment without him.
Lindsey Soliko: "Go Niewi, sorry I can't help you to edit because I don't know how eh."
Lindsey Soliko: "But if you need it, I'll try to help ah."
A minute later, the rogue editor replied with full affection.
Niewi Voeliè: "That's ok, the most important is that you are included in the scenes ganern. Tenchuuuuu <3 <3"
Meanwhile, Jiro was completely unbothered by the exchange of digital hearts. He was in the zone.
He dragged the intro clip onto the track and finally unleashed his desired style. He dropped in a heavy, banger rock BGM. He sliced the clips, adding sharp, action-style transitions that punched right on the beat. He kept the filters minimal to retain the gloomy, dramatic aesthetic of the cloudy campus gate. He sprinkled in some aggressive glitching effects for that extra adrenaline rush.
And most importantly? He put the sacred ASMR footstep sounds perfectly.
For the final touch, he dropped in some sample text in plain white just to mark the timing.
He reviewed his timeline. It was a masterpiece of Shonen opening energy.
He screen-recorded the preview to bypass the rendering time, switched back to Messenger, and tapped the send button.
10:57 AM.
Jiro Sanata:Sent a video.
Jiro Sanata: "Kindly take a look, guys HAHAHAHA. I am not done yet with font/texts eh."
He waited, letting the rock BGM echo in the digital space. The bait was planted.
A few minutes passed. Then, the class treasurer, who had just offered her helpful services, chimed in.
11:03 AM.
Lindsey Soliko: "Just a suggestion po, kindly change the text because it is too white so maybe it is much okay if you change the color of the font ah."
Jiro stared at the screen. His eyes twitched.
Oof. Wait.
Did she even read my message? I literally just said, "I am not done yet with font/texts."Reading comprehension has officially left the group chat. She just watched the video and completely ignored the warning label.
Jiro inhaled deeply, channeling his inner patience. He tapped the reply button on her message.
Jiro Sanata: "Yeah, but it is not done yet ah, but I only show to you all the effects and transitions eh."
Almost instantly, a red heart icon popped up below his message. Lindsey reacted. Message received. My bad.
But the real validation came a few seconds later. The rogue editor herself gave her verdict on his aggressive, glitchy, rock-infused masterpiece.
Niewi Voeliè: "ooooohhhhhhh, that is already a go omji."
Jiro let out a satisfied exhale, leaning back on his mattress.
Omji indeed. He just secured another batch of aura points for that simple technical flex. The quest was cleared, the cinematic vision was successfully hijacked back, and the squad was hyped.
Oof. But then he looked at the rest of the raw files sitting in his gallery. That was just the intro. The real heavy lifting of the VMV vlog was still waiting to be forged.
And so, the ultimate co-op editing operation officially began.
Since the creative ice had been broken, Niewi and Jiro formed a rapid-response tag team. While Niewi handled the indie aesthetic base and the blooper outro, Jiro took over the technical heavy lifting. They were practically passing the files back and forth through the cloud like an anime training montage.
But a montage wouldn't be complete without a ticking clock.
1:34 PM.
The main section group chat suddenly buzzed.
Hidy Medona: "Good afternoon guys! For the VMV vlog, kindly send the GDrive link to me before 9 PM tonight ah, so that by Monday morning, all our videos are already prepared."
Jiro stared at the deadline.
Before 9 PM. The casual Sunday editing session just turned into a high-stakes speedrun. The Falcon group went into frantic mode. Niewi was rendering the visual cuts, while Jiro was aggressively patching up the technical damage.
They faced a barrage of mini-bosses. The biggest challenge? The audio quality of the Mission recitation. The background noise of the fourth-floor hallway was competing with their voices.
But it was a good thing Jiro knew his way around the editing app. He aggressively layered noise-reduction filters, boosted the vocal frequencies, and smoothed out the jagged cuts. He elevated the overall production value, turning their scattered clips into a cohesive, surprisingly dramatic presentation.
By late afternoon, the final export bar reached 100%.
5:45 PM.
The rendering was complete. The final boss of the weekend was defeated.
Jiro uploaded the finished masterpiece into a brand-new Google Drive folder, specifically creating a clean, shareable link for the President.
Mission accomplished. Time to submit the quest item.
He searched for Hidy Medona's profile on Messenger, ready to drop the link directly into her inbox. He pasted the link, typed a quick professional message, and hit send.
Message Not Delivered. This account restricts who can message them.
Jiro blinked. He tapped send again.
Error.
He let out a sharp, incredulous laugh.
Are you kidding me? The Class President, the collector of all requirements, has her DMs restricted? How is anyone supposed to submit anything?!
He didn't have time to decipher her privacy settings. He immediately pivoted, dropping the link into their MMW (F-Falcon) group chat instead.
Jiro Sanata: "Guys, the video is done and uploaded ah. But I can't send it to Pres Hidy, her DMs are restricted eh. Can someone kindly forward this to her? Please."
The class treasurer immediately answered the call to action.
Lindsey Soliko: "Ay, sure! I'll send it to her now."
Support class to the rescue. A few minutes passed. Jiro thought he could finally put his phone down and eat dinner. But the digital realm had one last glitch to throw at him.
Lindsey Soliko: "Uy Jiro, Pres Hidy replied eh. She said she can't see the link. It says unavailable."
Jiro rubbed his temples. His patience was wearing dangerously thin.
Unavailable? It's a public viewing link!
Jiro Sanata: "How come? The access is literally set to 'Anyone with the link' ah. Tell her to just message me directly so our chat box will open, and I'll send it to her myself."
Lindsey relayed the instructions. A minute later, a new chat head finally popped up from Hidy Medona. The restriction was lifted. Jiro forcefully dropped the Google Drive link directly into her inbox.
This time, it worked. The video was successfully received and sorted.
8:05 PM.
The submission was officially acknowledged. The digital warzone fell completely silent.
Jiro threw his phone onto his mattress and collapsed backward. They finally rested. The vlog was done, the weekend panic was over, and they still had to face the reality of regular classes tomorrow morning.
But the universe wasn't done setting the stage for their Monday.
9:11 PM.
Jiro was just chilling on his phone when a sudden, violent crack of thunder rattled the windows of his room.
BOOM.
His soul jolted awake.
The sound was immediately followed by the aggressive, torrential hammering of heavy rain against the metal roof. The weather had completely flipped in a matter of seconds. Flashes of lightning illuminated the windows, turning the peaceful Sunday night into a dramatic, stormy scene.
He received a message.
COF - BEEd 1A (Circle of Friends)
Mira Palida: "Uy, the rain is so heavy ah! Hope there are no classes tomorrow hahahaha!"
Jiro smiled faintly, listening to the thunder rumble in the distance. The entire town of Taytay was quickly soaking in the downpour.
It was the perfect weather for sleeping. A cinematic transition to end the chaotic weekend. The dramatic entrance of the rain finally gave way for the tired editors to rest.
END OF THE ENTRANCE