Chapter 29

August 4, Wednesday.

The gentle morning sunlight filtered through his bedroom curtains, casting a warm, golden glow on his comfy room.

He stretched and yawned, enjoying the peaceful moment before the busy day ahead.

The world outside was still cloaked in darkness, but he valued the peaceful quiet that allowed him to collect his thoughts and prepare for the day ahead.

As usual, he does his morning routine, and at around eight, he leaves his apartment and arrives at the university.

Entering the classroom, Edward glanced around and found that he was the first to arrive, as usual.

As he waited for others to come, he couldn't help but feel bored. He thought for a while, then pulled out his smartphone, took a selfie, and then uploaded it to Facebook.

A few minutes after uploading, his post already has dozens of likes, and various comments have also started to flood the comment section.

Candy: "Wow, you look great!"

Pinky: "I love your lips. I wonder how soft they are..."

Ronald: "Upstairs, please respect yourself."

Pinky: "What!?"

Reading the comments, Edward smiled and responded to some before turning off his smartphone.

After a while, students started filling the room, and hushed conversations gradually filled the space, creating a lively atmosphere.

As always, the talkative guy, James, came over to chat with him about various topics like girls, games, songs, and more.

Moments later, Ms. Alicia Sanchez arrived, marking the start of another day of learning.

After some friendly exchanges, the class began with an introduction to entrepreneurship, led by her engaging teaching style.

As before, class began at nine in the morning and ended at two in the afternoon.

As the final class of the day came to an end, Edward rose from his seat to collect his belongings, paying little heed to the rustle of papers and the sounds of zipping backpacks around him.

He carefully arranged his notes, making sure that everything was neat before putting them in his bag.

As he was about to leave and head back to his apartment, Patricia, the nerdy girl, came to his side as she adjusted her glasses.

"Give me your notebook in finance."

"What?"

"You weren't paying attention, were you? Professor William assigned us some homework."

"Oh."

Edward slapped his forehead, recalling the forgotten task, and couldn't resist complaining.

Attending school again is really troublesome.

It's so boring and monotonous.

Not as fun as those in novels.

Shaking his head, he stopped his inner monologue, took out his notebook, and then handed it over.

"Is it hard?"

"Nah, just some charts and graphs; nothing too tough."

"..."

"Sigh, I feel like I'm not doing enough. Are you sure you don't want me to help you? I can teach you things that they won't cover for another two years or so.."

"... You've studied the entire curriculum for the next two years?"

"Well, it's not that difficult, as long as you put in some effort. I'm sure you could do it as well."

"... How? I mean, they don't even give us books or lesson plans, and you've learned it already?"

"Through the internet, of course!"

"..."

Talking to Patricia made his head more dizzy, so he immediately ended it and left the school grounds.

Arriving at the apartment, he drank some cold water to freshen up and then headed towards his makeshift studio.

Well, calling it a "studio" might have been a bit of an exaggeration, as it only consisted of a computer, a camera, and a guitar.

Still, compared to his previous setup, it was thousands of times better.

Entering the room, he ignored everything else and delved into editing the cover he had just finished earlier.

The rhythmic click of the keyboard and the soft tunes of his guitar playing filled the room as he poured his heart into his creative work.

The process of editing lasted for more than an hour.

After completing it, Edward played it for a while, saved it for later upload.

Stretching his arms, he stood up, made some snacks to munch on, and then started preparing for the next draft of his song cover.

Anyway, it was still four in the afternoon, and there wasn't much to do.

He might as well complete the draft for the next song so that he could begin recording early and accumulate more contents for later uploads.

...

Times passed..

The morning went as usual, and the same routine followed in his classes.

After completing another draft of a song cover, the recording process started the following day.

This time, he wasn't recording at the usual shooting site but inside his makeshift studio.

The previous shooting location was too far from his place, making traveling between them time-consuming.

Moreover, the need to carry various recording equipment and instruments made it very inconvenient.

On the contrary, shooting indoors was much more convenient considering the type of song cover he was making—split screen.

A split-screen song cover is when you record performers in different spots or frames and then put them together into a single video.

Indoors, there's no need to bother with lighting, backgrounds, audio stability, or logistical challenges, making it a far more suitable choice than the unpredictable outdoor recording.

"Well, there may be some viewers who will complain," Edward thought, and he couldn't help but feel concerned about the changes to his content.

After all, many viewers consider the beautiful background part as his content style.

A sudden change might cause dissatisfaction for some.

However, as long as there aren't too many changes, there shouldn't be a problem.

...

And so, the days passed, and now it was Saturday.

Edward woke up early in the morning, dressed in comfortable, casual attire, and made his way to the nearby Internet cafe.

Once inside, he rented a computer for an hour, logged into his YouTube account, and began the process of uploading his content.

After uploading, he played it for a while and then switched to Facebook to browse his news feeds, chat with his acquaintances and some soon-to-be acquaintances... If you know what I mean.

At around 10:00 AM, he left the cafe, got into a jeepney, and made his way towards the group's usual meeting place.

Since classes had started, the different majors and different schedules had reduced the time they spent together.

In his memory, this was also one of the reasons why he slowly parted from them during college days.

He has a lot of things to do: studies, projects, reporting, commuting, etc. He doesn't even have time for himself, let alone to catch up with them.

This time, because of the hectic schedule, Jake and others changed the date of the meet-up from daily to every weekend.