August 24 (Saturday)
12:27 PM
The brutal morning marathon was officially paused.
Room 406 instantly transformed from a tense academic battleground into a noisy, chaotic safe zone. The thirty-five survivors of BEEd 1-A were currently scattered across the room, completely immersed in their post-battle chismisan. The air was thick with loud chit-chats, laughter, and the rustling of food containers being opened.
Jiro Sanata stretched his stiff back and stood up from his armchair. It was time to execute a minor side quest: claiming his pre-ordered item from the local merchant.
He navigated through the aisles and made his way to the fourth row, where his Circle of Friends was heavily gathered. The party—Niewi, Mira, Mona, Cicille, Cosma, and Ivyn—were all huddled together, laughing and exchanging their usual energetic banter.
Jiro approached the group, specifically targeting the tall muse.
"Ay, Mira," Jiro called out, momentarily breaking into their circle. "About the index card..."
He paused, a dry, knowing smirk crossing his face as he remembered the chaotic reporting marathon they just survived. "I think Sir Jeypi forgot about it ah. Maybe he will just collect it next week eh."
Mira looked up at him and let out a bright laugh. "Yeah… Right noh? Wait a sec beh."
She unzipped her bag, accessing her inventory to check her merchant loot. After a few seconds of digging, she pulled out a pristine stack of 1/2 white index cards, neatly packed and protected inside a clear plastic cover. She slid one piece out and handed it directly to him.
"Aytss, thaaaaank youuu," Jiro replied, dragging out the vowels as he graciously accepted the free loot.
The transaction was successful. Jiro was about to turn around and head back to his spawn point when the atmosphere suddenly shifted.
Ivyn Giron, who had been heavily laughing and chit-chatting with Niewi and the rest of the girls, suddenly locked her eyes straight onto Jiro. Her laughter didn't stop; instead, it aggressively redirected itself toward him.
"Uy, look at this Jiro HAHAHAHA," Ivyn pointed, her voice carrying over the noise of the group. "He looks like a crazy guy HAHAHAHA!"
The sudden, unprovoked friendly fire caught the party off guard.
Mira and Niewi immediately stopped laughing. They looked at Ivyn with genuine disbelief.
"Uy, you are so harsh naman ah," Mira reacted, her eyebrows knitting together.
But Ivyn didn't catch the cue. She kept laughing, completely amused by her own sudden observation, unaware that she had just crossed a precarious social boundary.
Jiro stopped in his tracks.
The Apex Strategist didn't say a single word. He didn't defend himself, and he certainly didn't laugh it off to preserve the group's harmony. Instead, he slowly turned his head and looked directly at Ivyn.
He gave her a flat, absolute dead-eyed stare.
It was a cold, zero-emotion gaze that instantly drained all the remaining warmth from the interaction. He held that chilling eye contact for just a brief, heavy second. Then, without uttering a single syllable, he turned around, gripping his white index card, and calmly walked straight back to his seat.
The silence he left behind in the fourth row was deafening.
Niewi and Mira immediately turned their full attention back to Ivyn, their expressions shifting from surprise to outright scolding.
"Hell, you are just too much," Niewi scolded, her tone dropping its usual playful energy. "You should say sorry to him ah."
Ivyn's laughter finally faltered. The reality of the interaction—and Jiro's chilling, deadpan reaction—crashed down on her. The energetic chatter around her suddenly felt heavy, and a sharp, sudden wave of guilt immediately pierced through her chest.
Back at his designated spot in the aisle of the second row, Jiro had successfully retreated into his isolation protocol. He dropped into his wooden armchair, pulled out his phone, and immediately plugged his earphones in. He cranked the volume up, letting his playlist build a defensive wall against the classroom noise.
He leaned back, lazily scrolling through some random feeds on his phone.
Whatever the hell was that, Jiro thought, his face completely unbothered. Social interactions are truly the hardest quests in this server.
While Jiro was busy chilling in his digital void, a figure nervously detached itself from the fourth row.
Ivyn stood up from her chair, her usual loud confidence entirely evaporated. She walked slowly down the aisle, approaching Jiro's territory with the cautious steps of a player entering a boss room.
When she reached him, she didn't just stand there. She actually knelt down right beside his wooden armchair, submitting completely to his line of sight.
Jiro noticed the movement in his peripheral vision. He paused his scrolling but didn't immediately look up.
Her face was a picture of pure, panicked regret. She looked worried, her eyes glistening like she was about to cry.
"Jiiiirrooo, may I talk with youuu??" she asked so softly, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and desperate pleading.
Jiro stared at her for a second. He let out a long, heavy sigh.
Ah. Yes. The guilty girl has been triggered.
He paused his music. "Okay, where?"
"Hallway," Ivyn replied quickly, pointing a shaky finger toward the door.
Jiro nodded. He stood up slowly, unplugging his earphones and leaving them on his armchair desk while holding his phone. He followed her outside.
They stepped out into the open corridor, standing just right in front of Room 406's open windows. The afternoon heat was thick, but the tension between them was thicker.
Before Jiro could even establish a comfortable standing distance, Ivyn suddenly lunged forward.
She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a sudden, tight hug.
Jiro completely froze. Physical contact initiated. Error 404: Response not found. He didn't hug her back. He just stood there like a stiff wooden plank, his arms pinned to his sides, still awkwardly holding his phone.
"I am so so so really sorry, Jiro, about what I said, ha..." Ivyn pleaded, her voice muffled against his shoulder. "Please forgive me, I will never do it again."
Jiro just stared straight ahead, his deadpan expression unwavering. He let her release her emotional damage.
Ivyn pulled back slightly, her eyes tearing up as she kept pouring out apologies. "Please please, I will not do it again, I am sorry, Jiroo if it hurts youu."
Looking at her teary, desperate face, the Apex Strategist finally broke his stoic silence. A dry, knowing smirk crept onto his lips.
He didn't launch into a deep, dramatic speech about his feelings. He kept it painfully efficient.
"That is okay," Jiro said simply.
While the dramatic, tearful reconciliation was playing out in the hallway, an entirely different genre was broadcasting just a few feet away.
Back inside Room 406, the rest of the Circle of Friends had activated spectator mode.
Because the classroom windows facing the corridor were left wide open for ventilation, Mira, Niewi, Mona, Cicille, and Cosma had a front-row, high-definition view of the entire interaction. And since the hallway was relatively quiet, they could hear absolutely everything.
Mira leaned heavily against the window frame, her eyes shining with pure, unfiltered entertainment.
"Yieee, romance yan?" Mira teased loudly, grinning from ear to ear.
Niewi burst into laughter, completely losing it at Mira's commentary.
Never one to miss an opportunity for premium content, Mira instantly whipped out her smartphone. She aimed the camera through the window grills, framing the stiff, smirking Jiro and the emotional Ivyn perfectly in the center.
Click. She captured the reconciliation scene flawlessly.
"I feel like I was watching K-drama," Mira giggled, staring at the fresh photo in her gallery.
After a few more apologies, Ivyn finally went calm. The heavy guilt debuff had been successfully lifted from her stats.
They separated and re-entered the classroom, but they took completely different routes. Ivyn walked down the corridor and entered Room 406 through the back doorway, slipping quietly toward where the back rows were located. Meanwhile, Jiro casually strolled through the main front doorway, right where the blackboard was located, effortlessly returning to his seat in the second row.
As soon as Ivyn sat down, Mira and Niewi immediately swarmed her, launching a rapid-fire interrogation about what just happened in the hallway. They eagerly listened to her side of the story, nodding and whispering—but they strategically kept their mouths shut about the fact that Mira took a stealth picture of the entire scene. Secret acquired. Leverage saved for later.
Lunch break!!
Well, there was nothing particularly special about the menu today, but the environment decided to spawn a completely unexpected random event.
Instead of going down to the cafeteria, Jiro decided to just eat his packed lunch inside Room 406. He sat comfortably in his armchair, opening his container.
Meow.
Jiro paused, a spoonful of rice halfway to his mouth.
Meow. Meow.
He looked down. A small squad of stray cats had successfully breached the perimeter of the fourth floor and entered Room 406. They immediately locked onto Jiro's lunch, circling his feet and begging for loot.
"Shoo. Go away," Jiro muttered, waving his free hand.
But the feline mobs were relentless. They weren't just begging on the floor; they started jumping and climbing onto the nearby empty armchairs, trying to get a tactical height advantage over his food container.
"Ay, shoo! Get down!" Jiro shooed them away, his annoyance meter rapidly rising. He shifted his body, guarding his lunch like a dragon hoarding gold.
AHHH! WHY ARE THERE CATS IN THIS CAMPUS??!! his internal monologue screamed, completely baffled by the spawn mechanics of the KSU Taytay server. We are on the fourth floor! How did they even get up here?!
While Jiro was busy battling the furry invaders, another party member was dealing with a much more serious debuff.
Niewi suddenly felt unwell. Her skin started to flare up, and she quickly realized she had gotten rashes. Her HP was visibly draining.
"Uy, I need to go to the clinic ah," Niewi told Mira, scratching her arm uncomfortably.
Luckily, unlike the tragic irony of the "Nurse is Out" sign from the previous weeks, the campus clinic on the ground floor was actually open today. Niewi went down, consulted the nurse, and was advised to stay there to rest and recover.
She quickly typed a message to Mira in their chat. I couldn't attend Mr. Casto's PE 1 class later ah. I need to rest here eh.
With one member officially benched in the recovery zone, the rest of the cohort prepared for the afternoon shift.
2:10 PM.
The transition phase began.
Since the cleaning duties had been officially assigned, together with President Hidy and Group Beta—consisting of Aira, Aprille, Sayra, Jayter, Princess, and Francine—stayed behind to sweep the floors and arrange the armchairs in Room 406.
The rest of the BEEd 1-A cohort, including Jiro, grabbed their belongings and began the mass migration down to the gymnasium.
Before leaving the room, Hidy Medona was doing a final sweep of the area. As she walked past the rows, she spotted a stray item left behind on one of the armchair desks. It was a binder notebook.
She picked it up, checking the cover. Ah, it's Brittany's. Instead of leaving it vulnerable to being looted by other sections, the Commander carefully placed the binder notebook securely above the teacher's desk at the front of the room. Lost item secured. Quest updated.
2:36 PM.
Gymnasium.
The layout of the arena had completely changed from the grand orientation setup. It wasn't a massive, forward-facing theater anymore.
The monobloc chairs were now neatly arranged into a traditional classroom formation. At the front of this makeshift setup was a simple table holding a flat-screen T.V., an extension cord running across the floor, a blackboard nearby, and a big Bluetooth speaker to amplify the audio.
Interestingly, they weren't facing the elevated stage this time. Instead, the entire setup was rotated, facing the open-air side of the gymnasium. It provided a surprisingly good lighting condition, with the natural afternoon sun illuminating the space without blinding them.
Jiro navigated through the rows and claimed his spot: far left, in the second row.
He looked around the "room." Out of the 34 students, 33 were currently present and wearing their respective white shirts and pajamas or dark pants, perfectly compliant with the strict PE dress code Mr. Casto had established last meeting.
Meanwhile... Jerline Rama was sitting in the crowd, looking like a lone lost wolf. It felt like she had completely missed the memo or skipped a cutscene, because she was sitting right there in the middle of a PE 1 class wearing the complete KSU COE blue uniform.
Fashion mismatch detected, Jiro smirked internally. She is definitely feeling the heat right now lol.
Shortly after, Mr. Casto arrived. He strode in with his usual athletic, chill mentor aura, set down his laptop on the table, and quickly connected it to the T.V. via screencast.
The presentation for PATHFIT 1 (PE 1) flashed onto the screen.
"Alright, class, good afternoon," Mr. Casto smiled, clapping his hands once to get their attention. He clicked to the very first slide of the syllabus.
He leaned against the table, looking at the 33 students in white shirts and the one rogue student in a blue uniform.
"So, let's start with the basics. Oh, you always know this ah," Mr. Casto challenged the room. "What is Physical Education? Anyone?"
The gymnasium fell silent. The freshmen blinked, their brains desperately trying to retrieve the stock definition from their high school memory banks.
But before the silence could stretch into awkwardness, a hand shot up from the far left aisle of the second row. It went up so fast it practically broke the sound barrier.
Mr. Casto looked over, slightly surprised by the immediate response. "Ay, okay. What is your name again?"
"Jiro Sanata po," Jiro answered clearly.
"Okay, Jiro. What is Physical Education?"
Jiro calmly stood up from his chair. He locked eyes with the professor, his posture perfectly straight, and flawlessly executed the ultimate meta-knowledge drop.
"Physical Education is an integral part of the educational program designed to promote the optimum development of the individual physically, socially, emotionally, and mentally through total body movement in the performance of properly selected physical activities po."
He delivered the longest, most textbook-accurate definition smoothly, without a single stutter, pause, or hesitation.
Oh, I memorized this hehehe, Jiro's internal Apex Strategist cheered, basking in the absolute perfection of the speedrun. I literally memorized this word-for-word back in Senior High. Easy.
The entire BEEd 1-A class went completely speechless. They stared at Jiro like he had just recited an ancient incantation.
And then, the quiet awe broke. The class erupted into spontaneous, loud clapping, highly impressed by the sheer overpowered nature of the answer.
Mr. Casto stood at the front, visibly shocked. He blinked at Jiro, then looked down at his own laptop screen, realizing Jiro had literally just recited the exact paragraph on his upcoming slide.
"Ay, okay," Mr. Casto laughed, shaking his head in amusement. "It's like he already finished our lesson ah hahaha!"
With the ice flawlessly broken by Jiro's speedrun, Mr. Casto seamlessly transitioned into discussing the actual fundamentals of Physical Education.
The entire vibe of the afternoon class was incredibly chill. Mr. Casto didn't lecture like a strict academic; he talked like a cool senior coach, often dropping random jokes and relatable punchlines that kept the class laughing and actively engaged.
While the rest of the cohort was focused on the presentation, someone in the back rows was entirely distracted by a different kind of visual.
Ivyn Giron sat in her monobloc chair, but her eyes weren't on the T.V. screen or the chill professor. She kept taking stealthy glances at her seatmate, Cristel Basha.
Cristel was sitting there quietly, her cute headband perfectly in place, paying attention to the lecture with her usual smart, composed aura.
Ivyn just stared at her. Her internal monologue was practically screaming.
Oh, my crush is here!! She is so beautiful omgg.
She couldn't help it. The soft, intelligent vibe of the Business Manager was a critical hit to her heart. She spent half the lecture just admiring her seatmate's profile, completely ignoring the PE fundamentals being discussed up front.
3:45 PM.
As the lecture wrapped up, Mr. Casto clapped his hands, signaling the end of the theoretical phase and the beginning of the physical grind.
"Alright, class, for our first homework," Mr. Casto announced, turning to the nearby blackboard. He picked up a piece of chalk. "Group yourselves up to 6 members ah. By next week, you will perform a tabata steps exercise."
He started listing the mechanics on the board.
"You need to include basic movements like 8 squats, 8 jumping jacks, and so on. It must be performed with music, and the routine should be a minimum of 8 minutes ah."
The class immediately buzzed with the usual panic of finding groupmates.
In Jiro's territory, a logistical error was instantly detected.
Wait. Group of 6? The Magnificent Seven (even with Niewi currently in the clinic) was a 7-player party: Jiro, Mira, Niewi, Ivyn, Cosma, Mona, and Cicille. If the party limit was strictly locked at 6, someone was going to get kicked from the guild.
Mira, stepping up as the ultimate party protector, didn't hesitate. She raised her hand high from the back of the gym, stood up, and confidently approached the professor.
"Excuse me po, Sir," Mira asked politely. "Do you allow 7 members in a group instead?"
Because of Mr. Casto's openness and casual nature, he didn't even drop a strict academic frown. He just looked at her and simply nodded.
"Yes, as long as you all can perform ah," Mr. Casto replied smoothly.
"Yay! Thank you po, Sir!" Mira beamed, rushing back to their row.
Party limit successfully expanded. No member left behind. At exactly 4:18 PM, the PE class ended.
"Alright, that's it for today," Mr. Casto smiled, grabbing his laptop. "Class dismissed! See you next Saturday."
The gym erupted into motion.
While the rest of the cohort bolted for the gate, Group Beta officially clocked in for their cleaning duty. Aira, Aprille, Sayra, Jayter, Princess, and Francine began stacking the hundreds of monobloc chairs, restoring the gymnasium to its default state.
Niewi had already successfully fast-traveled home around 2:48 PM after getting clearance from the clinic. The remaining active party members—Jiro, Mira, Cosma, Mona, and Cicille—navigated their way out of the campus and finally went home around 4:30 PM.
Meanwhile, Ivyn Giron had a very specific, high-stakes side quest to complete before she could rest.
She separated from the pack and headed straight to the bustling New Public Market of Taytay.
She navigated the crowded, narrow alleys of the tiangge, her eyes scanning every stall and vendor. She was on a desperate hunt. She needed to find a similar red foldable umbrella—the exact same type that she carelessly left in front of the grocery store last Monday while doing that viral TikTok dance.
If I go home empty-handed, my sister will absolutely end my life.
After fifteen minutes of frantic searching, she finally found one. It looked almost identical to the lost artifact.
"How much for this po?" Ivyn asked the vendor.
"P180," the vendor replied.
Ivyn winced. Oof. P180? That is so expensive for a basic umbrella! But it was the price of survival. She handed over the cash, securing the item.
At least, I can bring back "her" own umbrella now, Ivyn rationalized, letting out a massive sigh of relief. My HP is saved.
4:59 PM.
While the students of BEEd 1-A were busy navigating their commutes, taking naps, or surviving umbrella-related guilt trips, the digital server of the main section group chat suddenly pinged.
Brittany Bausta: "Guys, did someone find my binder notebook in the room po?"
The class Auditor had finally realized her inventory was missing a crucial item.
Shortly after, the Commander herself responded, delivering the intel she had gathered during her final sweep of Room 406 earlier that afternoon.
Hidy Medona: "Ay, yes, I saw it earlier po."
Instead of simply thanking her, Brittany's sanity meter instantly leveled up into the red zone. The paranoia of losing her precious notes took over.
Brittany Bausta: "Hala, do you think it is still there? Maybe someone will take it eh!"
Hidy Medona: "I am the last one who left the room po, Group Beta just left it there. I think no one will take it on Tuesday ah."
Despite the logical reassurance that the room was empty and Tuesday was a vacant day for their class, Brittany's anxiety couldn't be quelled that easily. She kept spamming the crying reaction emoji (😭) on all of Hidy's messages, vividly imagining her binder being looted by phantom students.
Brittany Bausta: "Was it on the chair?" she asked once again, needing exact coordinates to calm her nerves.
Hidy Medona: "We put it above the teacher's table first, and later we moved it on the chair, since there was no drawer in the table eh."
The exact, detailed confirmation of its secure location finally did the trick.
The crying emojis stopped. Brittany dropped a single, relieved heart reaction (❤️) on Hidy's final message.
Lost item status: Secured in Room 406. But the chaotic Saturday wasn't officially over just yet.
8:58 PM.
The Commander was not finished yet. Hidy Medona had one last administrative side quest to push before she could safely log off for the night. She dropped an important announcement into their main group chat once again.
Hidy Medona: "Guys good evening @everyone! Is there no one here who wants to join the contest for Buwan ng Wika? Even just the poster making hihi"
Jiro was comfortably lying on his mattress, currently scrolling through some random feeds on Reddit to restore his mental HP. When he saw that second message pop up on his screen, his thumb stopped swiping.
Ohh... Poster making...
His mind instantly flashed back to his elementary days. The dusty skill tree he hadn't touched in exactly a decade. Hmmm. The Apex Strategist decided to pause and plan carefully. Do I have the stamina for this? Is the loot worth the grind?
Before he could finalize his decision, Hidy followed up with another message, deploying the ultimate bait for college students.
Hidy Medona: "Don't you guys want a certificate yieee credentials"
She immediately put a laugh react on her own message. Well, she couldn't help it. The desperation to recruit a tribute for the section was getting hilariously real.
Suddenly, the chat was hijacked by the chaotic duo of the class. Anila Bakuda and Deanne Parina jumped in, trying to make trouble again. Anila boldly declared that she wanted to participate in the fashion show (Kasuotan), but Deanne immediately started joking and trolling her about it, turning the serious recruitment drive into their personal comedy stage.
Jiro watched the banter for a few minutes. He weighed the pros and cons. A certificate for my portfolio. A massive credentials buff. A ten-year comeback arc.
The decision was locked.
At exactly 9:02 PM, Jiro Sanata tapped his keyboard and officially accepted the quest.
Jiro Sanata: "Me. I want to participate in poster making... But I don't have coloring materials huhu."
Skill acquired. Inventory lacking.
Shortly after, the chat exploded. The Commander was absolutely thrilled to finally have a tribute.
Hidy Medona: "GUYS LETS SUPPORT HIM 🥳"
The class had found their champion. The quiet, analytical guy from the front row was officially stepping into the arena.
END OF THE SHATTERED FEELINGS