Chapter 62

Another factor that Edward thinks significantly contributed to their rapid progress was age.

After all, they were at a prime age for rapid learning and development; their young minds functioned like sponges, eagerly absorbing a vast array of knowledge and skills effortlessly.

To be honest, even Edward was skeptical at first when he thought of this kind of progress. It sounded almost magical to him. However, when it was his turn to experience such rapid development firsthand, he realized what it truly meant.

It's somewhat similar to specialized training centers where children are introduced to sports at a tender age. In theory, such early training can provide them with a foundational advantage over their peers; however, the extent of this growth still depends on talent and dedication.

Their situation is kind of similar; although they're not as young as those who went to those places, they're facing a fair amount of pressure, and improvement is vital.

"What do you think?" he asked, looking at the others while leaning forward in his chair. He wanted to hear their opinions.

"Honestly, I think there are still many flaws." Danica was the first to state her thoughts, and the rest of the team nodded in agreement, their expressions thoughtful and analytical.

Hearing her words, Edward didn't think too much; it's normal to find flaws when reviewing their work, as it happens to him all the time.

At the beginning, he felt that the version of the song cover he made was flawless. However, after playing it several times, nuances and imperfections began to surface.

"I think we've made a lot of improvements compared to before..." Jake said, rubbing his chin, and then paused, as if organizing his thoughts. "Well, before, we couldn't even do simple acting, but now it looks more natural."

At this, everyone at the table exchanged looks of understanding, nodding in agreement.

Shortly after, it was time for each member of the group to express their thoughts in a sequence, and each one shared their honest opinions and assessments.

To sum it up, everyone also thinks that the skit that was shot this time still has many flaws. However, compared to their previous skits, they have made a significant improvement.

A while later, after each person had taken turns expressing their thoughts and opinions, Edward suddenly had an idea and decided to propose to the group.

"Do you think we should conduct these reviews more frequently, gathering everyone's thoughts on the skits and reviewing the details so that we can understand it more and make more improvements?"

"..."

Silence enveloped everyone after his suggestion, looking at each other with a hesitant and reluctant expression.

"Ahem..." Jake coughed as if to break the awkward atmosphere and then went to ask. "How long will the review take?"

"I think about... 1 to 2 hours?" Edward said after pondering for a few seconds.

"I disagree! I mean, weren't we already talking about skits in GC?" Alfred, with a dismissive undertone in his statement, emphasized his rejection of the idea.

Everyone also nodded in unison, clearly against the idea, and at this, Edward was stunned, as he didn't expect them to act aggressively at the idea.

"Well... can you explain why?" Edward nodded his head. Although he was a bit annoyed that things were not going as he wanted, he forced himself to calm down and then went to ask others.

"It's like this..." At this time, Jake spoke and sighed. "Look, I knew that you really worked hard for the skit... But not everyone is like you; we can barely balance our study and skit..."

Jake paused, not wanting to elaborate further, but Edward, who understood what he meant, was stunned.

After all, everyone has to attend school, and they have to do all kinds of schoolwork: attend lectures, make notes, make projects, do homework, do research, and more... And besides that, they also have to work on various tasks regarding the skits that he deems miscellaneous.

These tasks involved buying props, searching for a suitable shooting site, spending hours of brain-storming in order to form a script, and more... if one were to think about it, everyone has pretty packed schedules.

Although a lot less than his, considering their age... It can be seen how much pressure they are going through.

No wonder Alfred reacted aggressively.

From Monday to Saturday, besides attending regular school classes, they discussed the details of the skits, and Sunday was their only rest day.

To think that it would be reduced by another hour just because of his casual suggestion... is indeed frustrating.

"That... I see. I'm sorry about that." Edward sighed and apologized as he realized his mistakes.

He's not a stubborn fool who thinks that he was always right on everything, and even though he was indeed a hypocrite sometimes, he still knew how to measure.

"This..." seeing Edward apologize, everyone hesitated and looked at each other uncertainly.

They were deeply moved, and even Alfred, who had reacted aggressively just now, had a shameful look on his face.

After all, they knew that, compared to them, Edward's schedule was a lot more hectic... if Edward could do it without complaints, how could they not?

"Well, how about this.." Not wanting to dwell too much on it, Edward decided to liven up the atmosphere and made another suggestion. "How about we spend some quality time every Sunday? Like doing outings, swimming, or anything? What do you think?"

Hearing his suggestion, everyone's expression noticeably lit up, as they found that the idea was feasible.

After a tireless month of doing the same monotonous work, they think that doing such activities can relieve a lot of mental fatigue.

"I don't think it's a good idea." At this time, Angela refused, and upon hearing her refusal, others looked at her confusedly.

"I think instead of resting, doing such activities will tire us even more. After all, we have to do more things such as preparation, planning, traveling, researching, and more... Do you know how much time it requires to do all that?" Angela elaborated, to which everyone sighed in disappointment.

"I agree; I also don't feel like the outing was complicated."

"I see." Edward sighed and was also helpless. "Then let's just hang out casually every Sunday then. Let's get a regular venue or whatever and have fun."

"How about going to a bar?" Alfred suggested with bright eyes.

"What bar? Are you an idiot? We're minors. Do you think they will let us in to have a drink?" Danica refuted with a snort and then went to suggest, "How about we had a boodle fight?"

(P.S A boodle fight is a Filipino way of sharing a meal where different dishes are served on banana leaves over a long table. People eat together, and it's a fun and social way to enjoy a variety of foods.)

"Boodle fight also required a lot of preparation, idiot." Alfred fought back and refuted her claims.

"No, we don't have to cook everything on our own," Edward interjected, stopping their banter with another suggestion. His eyes scanned the room, searching for agreement. "I mean, why don't we just buy pre-cooked food from some small local restaurants (karinderya) in advance? What do you think?"

"That's... I think that's fine." Angela nodded, thinking about the practicality of Edward's proposal.

"Yeah, and since it's a boodle fight, we can also invite others—like the entire neighborhood... What do you think?" Jake added, nodding as well.

"I think that's good, but what if some beggars come?" Danica voiced her concern, considering various angles.

"We can't let them approach the food because they are dirty. However, since the theme of boodle fights is free food, we can offer them some and kindly ask them to leave, so they won't disrupt our gathering," Angela suggested.

"That's okay.. What about the theme? Are we going for traditional?"

"No, that's a lot more hassle; we can just put on a long table, banana leaves, and place various dishes atop the table... We can also make it more hygienic, like using plastic gloves, plates, and utensils."

"That's okay for me... but where should we host it then?"

"... do you guys have any ideas?"

"Oh, I have one. We can hold boodle fights in each of our streets; that way, every neighbor can have their turns to enjoy as well. What do you think?"

"I think it's good.."

"Then Ed.. how much are you going to spend?"

"I think five to eight thousand should be enough. We can cook the rice ourselves. I mean, buy two sacks of rice for only 2,000. Then we can ask the neighbors to cook for us."

"Isn't that... too much?"

"No, it's okay; I even thought that's not enough, In my mind, I really wanted to have enough for thousands of people..."

Edward briefly discussed the details of the boodle fight with them before moving on to more pressing matters.

Next, he logged into NG's YouTube account and navigated to the upload section, where he meticulously filled out all the necessary forms and provided the required video details.