September 1 (Sunday)
4:10 AM
Binangonan, Reo's House
The academic calendar had officially transitioned into the month of September.
It was a highly significant milestone—the upcoming birth month of the apex strategist, Jiro Sanata. But more importantly for the general student population, September officially marked the beginning of the country's notorious stormy season. The academic system was tough, but the raw, unpredictable force of nature was about to remind them what actual survival looked like.
While the rest of the BEEd 1-A cohort was busy recovering their depleted HP in deep slumber, the quiet, pre-dawn hours in Binangonan told a completely different story.
The 29-year-old Lore Master was already awake and actively grinding.
Reo Bairo was currently executing a high-difficulty, dual-wielding quest. In her arms, she was gently rocking her one-year-old daughter, carefully pacing around the room to apply a much-needed sleep status effect to the restless toddler.
"Aw, go to sleep now baby ah..." Reo whispered softly, gently patting her daughter's back.
But while her physical body was entirely focused on maternal duties, her strategic mind was locked onto academic survival. Her free hand was firmly gripping her smartphone, the screen's brightness turned all the way down to avoid disturbing the dimly lit room.
Reo was voluntarily re-watching the entire grueling replay of the NSTP Common Module livestream.
She was essentially data-mining. Every time a new informational slide flashed on the screen, her thumb quickly executed a precise screenshot combo. Click. Swipe. Click. She was meticulously archiving every single piece of required module data.
She knew her party members were way too exhausted from the Saturday Curse to re-watch a four-hour virtual orientation video. So, the Lore Master took the burden upon herself. She was manually extracting the knowledge, compiling the ultimate cheat sheet so she could deploy it into the main group chat later when the sun came up. She was making absolutely sure that the Vanguard was fully equipped for their upcoming NSTP long quiz.
9:22 AM
The morning had officially arrived, but the sky over Binangonan was heavily overcast. High, thick clouds effectively blocked the sun, casting a dull, gray shadow across the town. The scattered student body was completely unaware of the looming threat, but the atmosphere was already shifting. Tropical Depression Enteng (Yagi, Typhoon No. 11) was silently forming nearby, secretly gathering strength and preparing to unleash a massive, region-wide deluge that would soon paralyze the entire province.
Reo Bairo had successfully cleared her morning daily quests. She had cooked breakfast, finished her household chores, and carefully attended to her husband's needs for the day. With her physical stamina fully utilized for her real-life wife and mother duties, she finally returned to her digital post.
It was time to distribute the loot.
She opened the KSU Taytay BEED 1-A main group chat. Knowing that blindly dumping raw image files into a chat box would completely lag everyone's phones and bury all previous announcements, the Lore Master utilized a high-tier organizational skill. She created a dedicated digital album.
She selected the files from her gallery. All of them.
Uploading...
It wasn't just a quick ten-slide summary. It was a massive, heavy payload. Exactly 225 pictures. She had literally captured every single frame of data, text, and visual aid from the excruciating virtual orientation. It was the complete, unabridged encyclopedia of their NSTP Common Module.
As the massive album successfully synced into the group chat, she typed out the user manual to wake her sleeping, exhausted classmates.
Reo Bairo: "Good morning @everyone. These are the contents in our NSTP ah. I compiled them into an album so it is much more organized and easy to see."
She quickly added a crucial navigation patch note, knowing the system's upload mechanics.
Reo Bairo: "Please start reading at the bottom ah, since the pictures uploaded in reverse order eh. Good luck reviewing!"
The ultimate cheat code was successfully deployed.
11:10 AM
A few hours later, the same main section group chat made noise once again. The topic had suddenly shifted away from the massive NSTP dump and pivoted entirely into academic inventory preparation.
The item in question: Scientific Calculators.
Jachie Marello was the first one to bring up the impending hardware issue.
Jachie Marello: "Does anyone know who sells scicals here?"
The 29-year-old Lore Master, naturally equipped with practical market wisdom, replied almost instantly.
Reo Bairo: "Try to look it up online. It is cheap there ah."
Jachie Marello: "How much po?"
Before Reo could provide a price estimate, the class Representative, Deanne Parina, dropped a brutal and highly shocking merchant update into the chat.
Deanne Parina: "It's P80+."
Deanne Parina: "I found a cheaper shop eh, it was P60.17 and then it becomes P82 because of the shipping fee."
The chat paused. P82 for a functioning scientific calculator? It was an absurdly cheap, almost unbelievable price for an item that usually cost hundreds of pesos in physical stores.
The Class Treasurer, always with an eye for economic efficiency, immediately chimed in to validate the loot drop.
Lindsey Soliko: "Ohh that is a good one. I also bought there eh."
With the calculator agenda fully resolved and their shopping carts checked out, the group chat seamlessly pivoted to a completely different celebration. The digital confetti rained down as the cohort realized it was Cristy Michiya's 19th birthday. The rest of the morning was spent flooding the chat with greetings, effectively burying the cheap calculator links under a mountain of cake emojis.
But outside the digital warmth of the group chat, the real world was quietly preparing for something much more severe.
As the afternoon progressed, the storm was now drawing closer to the landmass, brushing Catanduanes island while maintaining its strength. This prompted the national weather bureau to hoist Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 1 over many areas, including Rizal province. The system was likely to bear the brunt of Northern Luzon by Monday afternoon and was forecasted to strengthen into Tropical Storm status by the evening.
Many neighboring areas and municipalities had already suspended their classes for Monday ahead of the storm's arrival.
Meanwhile, Taytay... well, Taytay was still waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
It was an ongoing, sarcastic running joke among the locals that college students there were practically waterproof and floodproof. It was the town's administrative quirk—always holding out until the very last minute before dropping a suspension order for the higher education levels.
At exactly 8:00 PM, the announcement finally became official. The local government declared a suspension of all classes. The weather forecast indicated that conditions would severely worsen around Monday afternoon, just ahead of the tropical storm's expected landfall on the mainland.
September 2 (Monday)
3:10 AM
As the entire province was deeply asleep, the center of the Tropical Storm was currently brushing the Bicol region. Although it was still relatively far away from Rizal, keeping the province strictly under TCWS No. 1 conditions, something was terribly wrong.
It unexpectedly rained heavily and continuously. The relentless, torrential downpour triggered landslides in many highland areas and caused record-breaking flooding overnight, driven primarily by the severe enhancement of the Southwest Monsoon, locally known as Habagat.
7:20 AM
It was already morning, but the sky remained dark, accompanied by torrential rain and strong, howling winds. The floods were already visible across many major roads. It was highly alarming and completely unexpected; the sheer volume of water cascading from the mountains meant all the floodwaters were aggressively being redirected into the lower towns.
Taytay experienced moderate flooding, but the neighboring municipalities of Angono, Cainta, and Morong were absolutely submerged. Out on Laguna de Bay, the fierce winds and heavy rains had caused widespread, total power outages across Talim Island.
9:39 AM
The physical world was a disaster zone, but the digital server was checking in on its players. Reo Bairo sent an important message to the main group chat.
Reo Bairo: "No one was affected by the floods here right? @everyone"
A few minutes later, Deanne Parina, who lived up in the higher elevations, replied with a terrifying status update.
Deanne Parina: "Landslide for us eh 😭"
Panic immediately spiked in the chat. Both Jachie and Reo sent rapid, empathetic messages, deeply worried if she and her family were in a safe condition.
Jachie Marello: "Hala! Are you guys safe there??"
Reo Bairo: "How is your family there?"
Deanne quickly replied to soothe the alarm.
Deanne Parina: "We are okay naman po, the landslide just occurred right in front of our house eh."
It was a close call. As the morning crawled on, reports from other classmates trickled in. Many roads were impassable. Houses were submerged in muddy floods. And then, the Island Trio—Aprille Bolente, Windy Viyago, and Princess Cleria—managed to get enough cellular signal to reply to Reo's check-in, reporting that they had absolutely no electricity on Talim Island.
The storm had successfully incapacitated the entire region.
4:10 PM
The province was still being battered by the storm and the relentless Habagat enhancement conditions. It was about two hours after the tropical storm had officially made landfall in the distant Aurora province.
The environment outside was hostile, wet, and cold.
But the MMW (F-Falcon) group chat suddenly woke up, buzzing with activity as if they were completely unaffected by the massive weather event raging outside their windows. The academic grind, it seemed, was truly immune to natural disasters.
The Class Treasurer took the initiative to rally the squad.
Lindsey Soliko: "Uy guys, any updates for our tasks."
She dropped the heavy quest log right into the chat. They had two massive deadlines looming: the MMW Canva presentation summarizing Module 1 for Doc Rick, and the highly anticipated NSTP proposal template for their Adopt-A-Place activity—which, for Group Falcon, meant figuring out how exactly six freshmen were going to clean the entire massive KSU Taytay Gymnasium.
The storm outside was howling, but the real pressure was coming from the syllabus.
Throughout the relentless afternoon and into the dark, rainy evening, the digital collaboration was in full swing. Niewi Voeliè, Jiro Sanata, and Windy Viyago grouped together to tackle their assigned parts for the MMW Module 1 summary.
Operating from his mattress, Jiro quickly opened the app, found a sleek, free pre-made presentation template directly on Canva, and set it up as their shared workspace. With the aesthetic foundation secured, the Class Treasurer, Lindsey, stepped up to officially divide and distribute the specific reporting parts among the six members of Group Falcon.
While they were busy typing away in their shared document, a new notification pinged across the province. The provincial Local Government Unit (LGU) officially announced the suspension of all classes for the following day, September 3, 2024 (Tuesday).
Inside their group chats, the BEEd 1-A students just laughed about it.
The legendary T/TH immunity buff was already active on their student portals. They literally did not have any classes scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays anyway. The government's suspension was just a redundant patch note to them.
September 3 (Tuesday)
7:02 AM
Even though the tropical storm's center was now off the Ilocos Coast and steadily intensifying, the weather conditions around the Rizal province remained perilous. The severe enhancement of the Southwest Monsoon, or Habagat, continued to blanket the region, causing it to frequently experience sudden, aggressive squally conditions. The skies were dark, the rain was unpredictable, and the danger was still very real.
But inside the digital realm, Group Falcon was already clocking in for duty.
Nica Rosa and Niewi Voeliè woke up early, rubbing the sleep from their eyes. They logged into the shared Canva link, deciding to finish up their assigned presentation parts while the morning was still relatively quiet.
But the quiet didn't last long. Niewi suddenly dropped a massive panic bomb into their MMW group chat.
Niewi Voeliè: "Uy guys, wait! We haven't done our Proposal letter and template for our NSTP Adopt-A-Place activity!"
Niewi Voeliè: "Plus, we haven't submitted our soft copy formal pictures with our names below! Pres Hidy said she can only wait until 10 AM ah!"
10 AM.
It was already past 7 AM. They had less than three hours to clear multiple administrative requirements.
The chat instantly exploded into action. They crammed. They rushed. They typed furiously on their phone keyboards. It was a completely different kind of rush hour—not one filled with exhausting roadworks and traffic fumes, but a brutal, high-speed marathon of paperworks and digital formatting.
Jiro, fully awakened by the ticking countdown, immediately stepped up to carry the bureaucratic heavy lifting. He efficiently drafted the formal proposal letter for their massive KSU Taytay Gymnasium cleaning project, perfectly outlining their ambitious objective in just a single, optimistic, goal-focused paragraph.
Meanwhile, the Class Treasurer executed a crucial diplomatic maneuver. Lindsey immediately sent a private message to President Hidy, asking if she could still accept the soft copy formal pictures by 12 PM instead of 10 AM for an extension.
The Commander, merciful as always, agreed.
With the picture deadline successfully pushed back, the pressure slightly eased. But the relief was short-lived. Gathering the formal pictures from the rest of the group proved to be an absolute nightmare, as some members were painfully slow to respond. Mekayla Sano, for instance, only woke up around 10:48 AM because she was not feeling well. They barely managed to format and forward the written proposal files right at the 10 AM buzzer. The formal pictures, however, dragged on. After aggressively pinging their unresponsive party members all morning, they finally compiled the images into a Google Drive link and forwarded it to Hidy at exactly 12:14 PM, clutching their newly granted extension by the skin of their teeth.
But as the day dragged on, the sheer volume of their pending quest log became impossible to ignore. The activities were looming over them like dark storm clouds.
Because of the severe weather and campus closures, President Hidy was entirely unable to submit the physical copies of their 500-word RPH reaction papers to Mr. Brackin's office due to schedule conflicts. The heavy rain meant they still had to brave the flooded markets to purchase their required scientific calculators for Dr. Manazaki. They needed to physically practice their grueling 8-minute TABATA workout routine for their Saturday PE class. They had to review the massive 225-slide album for their incoming long quiz in NSTP, as well as prepare for another long quiz in Math 1.
The academic pressure was so intense.
And then, the environmental mechanics stepped in to alter the timeline once again.
The weather remained in highly stormy conditions due to the extended enhancement of the Habagat. The LGU subsequently suspended classes across all levels for September 4 (Wednesday), and eventually for September 5 (Thursday) as well.
September 4 (Wednesday)
3:46 PM
Binangonan, Cristy Michiya's House
While the scattered student body was trapped in their homes dealing with the digital panic, a specific rogue faction decided to openly defy the environmental weather debuffs.
Deep in the heart of Binangonan, the faction that slightly operated outside the Commander's strict agenda—Reo Bairo, Hurd Onasa, Aira Berdez, Jayter Celda, Gracie Masado, and Francine Cenia—braved the flooded streets and heavy rain. They gathered at Cristy Michiya's house for a highly critical, offline co-op mission.
Their official objective? Practice the grueling 8-minute TABATA workout for Mr. Casto's upcoming PE class.
But the 29-year-old Lore Master knew the real agenda.
"Happy belated birthday, beh!" the group cheered loudly as they unpacked the food they had managed to bring through the storm.
Cristy had just turned 19 on Sunday, right in the middle of the cheap calculator chaos and the incoming typhoon, and the squad had decided to sneak in a late, proper celebration. They pushed the living room furniture aside, clearing a space that was supposed to be their designated workout arena.
Reo stood in the middle of the floor, attempting to initiate the academic quest. "Ay guys, we really need to stretch and practice the squats and high knees ah. Sir Casto will end us if we forget the steps eh."
"Yeah, yeah, we will practice," Jayter agreed, setting up the TV. "Just wait, let me connect the Bluetooth speaker first."
But instead of queuing up a high-intensity interval training track, a completely different interface popped up on the screen. The iconic, brightly colored lyrics of a Karaoke system illuminated the living room. Someone immediately handed Jayter a microphone.
The TABATA practice was officially abandoned.
For the next three hours, the Binangonan faction completely forgot about squats, lunges, and the academic syllabus. The stress of the overlapping deadlines and the raging storm outside was entirely drowned out by the chaotic living room concert.
Jayter took the lead, passionately belting out karaoke hits in front of the T.V. Beside the singing lead, Hurd, Aira, and the birthday girl, Cristy, were comfortably seated on the couch, chilling and staring at their phones while occasionally looking up to enjoy the free performance.
From a different chair in the corner, Reo had dropped her strict Lore Master persona to play the role of the official videographer. She was holding her phone up, capturing every single moment, recording videos and snapping pictures of Jayter's intense birit performance.
"Go on, sing more, Jayter!" Gracie teased loudly over the music, laughing at his passionate delivery. "That is why the rain isn't stopping eh hahahaha!"
Beside her, Francine burst into laughter, shaking her head. "Huy, you are just so harsh hahaha!"
Even Reo couldn't hold back her laughter while recording. "Huy, Jayter, that is enough already hahahaha!" she called out, her phone shaking slightly from her giggles.
They were having the absolute time of their lives, eating, laughing, and completely forgetting their main objective. The grueling TABATA routine was dead and buried.
It was the perfect filler episode. A cozy, musical shelter right in the middle of the stormy week, proving that sometimes the best way to handle a full quest log is to simply ignore it for an afternoon.
September 5 (Thursday)
By Thursday, the aftermath of the karaoke session and the relentless rain finally caught up with the province.
Even though Tropical Storm Enteng (Yagi) had already exited the Philippine territory and was rapidly intensifying into a Super Typhoon heading toward Hainan and Northern Vietnam, the severe weather was far from over. Rizal province remained highly unstable, continuing to experience squally conditions and relentless rainfall due to the severely enhanced Southwest Monsoon (Habagat).
Because of the remaining floods, the ongoing unstable weather, and the widespread logistical nightmare across the towns, the KSU administration finally made the ultimate call. They officially suspended all face-to-face classes and campus transactions for the rest of the week until Monday.
The scattered student body breathed a massive, collective sigh of relief.
The physical activities, such as the exhausting TABATA performance and the brutal in-person long quizzes, were officially postponed.
But before they could completely relax, the Commander dropped a morning directive into the main section group chat. She forwarded a link for a campus-wide donation drive organized by the USO (University Supreme Organization) to help the victims of Tropical Storm Enteng (Yagi) and the severe Habagat floods. To maximize efficiency, Hidy announced a strategic consolidation: their required NSTP Donation Drive contributions would now be merged and forwarded directly to the USO's initiative.
They needed to secure their donations by Monday.
The day dragged on in relative peace inside their homes, but the academic system was never that merciful. The illusion of a free night was violently shattered at exactly 7:13 PM.
The MMW (F-Falcon) group chat suddenly pinged. Niewi Voeliè dropped a massive reality check on their previous Tuesday morning victory.
Niewi Voeliè: "Uy guys, our format is wrong eh! We lack so many things hahahaha!"
She forwarded a sample of the Adopt-a-Place proposal letter from Group Charlie (Cosma Ibana's group). Jiro opened the file and stared at it in horror.
It wasn't a literal, one-paragraph optimistic letter. It was a full-blown, structured academic proposal.
The template demanded strict sections: Title, Introduction, Objectives, Proposed Activities, Estimated Costs, Funding, Expected Outcomes, and a Conclusion.
Jiro looked back at the single, optimistic paragraph he had proudly drafted on Tuesday. My masterpiece. A complete failure.
"Okay," Jiro sighed, rubbing his temples. "Here we go again."
They crammed. For the next five hours, Group Falcon transformed into a digital sweatshop.
Lindsey and Niewi took on the heavy lifting. They drafted the Introduction, Objectives, and Proposed Activities. Because their assigned location was the massive KSU Taytay Gymnasium, they specified their main tasks: Cleanliness, Sanitation, and Decoration—knowing they would inevitably be the ones tasked to set up the gym whenever there were campus events anyway.
When they reached the 'Estimated Costs and Funding' section, the Treasurer stepped up. They agreed on a monthly contribution of P50 per head to fund their cleaning supplies, primarily focusing on buying rubbing alcohol to sanitize the area.
Both Niewi and Lindsey started furiously hunting for cheap alcohol sprays online to maximize their budget.
Lindsey Soliko: "I will also spray this alcohol on people's faces ah hahaha!"
Jiro smirked at the threat, typing out his own contribution to the document. He officially bestowed a title upon their Adopt-A-Place squad.
Jiro Sanata: "Let's name our group... Gymnasium Guardians."
The grind dragged past midnight, crossing the timeline into the next day.
September 6 (Friday)
At exactly 12:10 AM, Jiro took on the final piece of the puzzle. He drafted the Conclusion on his own. It was a decent paragraph, but to ensure maximum academic impact, he smoothly fed his draft into an A.I. tool, expanding and paraphrasing it into a highly polished, professional conclusion.
He dropped the final text into the group chat.
Six minutes later, at 12:16 AM, the Class Treasurer gave the final verdict.
Lindsey Soliko: "Ayun, this is okay now hahaha."
The files were finally compiled, properly formatted, and officially complete. The grueling late-night side quest was over.
Jiro locked his phone and let his head sink into his pillow. He stared up at the dark ceiling from his mattress, feeling the heavy exhaustion settling deep into his bones.
The stormy week was slowly coming to an end. They had survived the floods, the power outages, the frantic digital cramming, and the late-night format disasters. They had successfully navigated the chaotic mechanics of their very first natural disaster as college freshmen.
But as he closed his eyes, Jiro knew the harsh reality of the academic system.
They are postponed... but they are not canceled.
Next week, the heavy storm clouds would be gone, but the real flood was waiting. The massive, unmanageable wave of stacked academic requirements, delayed quizzes, TABATA workouts, and donation drives was gearing up to crash down on them by Monday morning.
The natural disaster was finally over. But the real boss fight was waiting for them on Monday.
END OF THE STORMY WEEK