Zugzwang

Another Saturday...

I have to wake up early for Clip 2006. This time, the topic was about Microsoft Excel, and boy, I'm bad at it...

Microsoft Excel... dates back to Year 2 in high school. (Imagine, we were just studying Microsoft Excel in Year 2, whereas students from other schools are already discussing about Flash and others...) I hated MS Excel because of the many formulas one is required to memorize (know to heart). Anyway...

I arrived at Gokongwei after a series of LRT and jeep rides. I looked around but nobody was around... I texted Rochelle and Yna...

"Where are you?"

No reply. Trying to look natural, I went up the stairs as calmly as I could...

I saw Apollo.

"Ummm..."
"Prospect ka diba?"
"Umakyat na ba sila?"
"Di pa. Nasa baba lang sila o nandito sa second floor."

I was relieved. I went down and occupied an empty bench near the Gokongwei lobby. I saw Rochelle approaching...

"Kanina ka pa lumilibot a. Alam ko itetext mo na ako nung linabas mo cell phone mo."
"Ha ha."
"Dadating ba kasama mo?"
"Baka malate daw, pero dadating siya."

She excused herself and went to sit with her friends.

I waited for the students to arrive as I mesmerized upon a notebook computer with a sketch of Kon (Bleach - the cute yellow doll) as desktop wallpaper. It took me some time to realize that Rochelle and the others are gone.

The students arrived at last. (They were 27 minutes late.) I escorted them to their respective classrooms and afterwards entered Gokongwei 302...

I seated beside Rochelle. Yna wasn't around yet. I received a message from her asking my whereabouts and such. I told her I was in the mentioned room and told her to come quickly. The discussion started...

This kid I was tending to didn't look like he needed my elp so I just remained silent and watch him do his stuff... I guess I enjoyed teaching my former student more than today's...

Yna arrived. When I mentioned about the RagnaReunion happenning in Portal today, my student reacted positively.

"Kuya, nagraragnarok ka rin?"

I chuckled when Yna exclaimed, "Nagraragnarok ka?! O?"

The server race began. I was in Chaos. Edmer was in Sarah, while Yna was in Loki...

We took our lunch break... We couldn't find Rochelle anywhere...

I expressed to Yna how I wanted to go to Portal for the RagnaReunion. We had lunch at Tapa King because it was located near Portal. And so... we ate...

We rushed to Portal afterwards. Wow! The place was full of posters and ads of Ragnarok and RagnaReunion. We rushed upstairs...

There was a booth in front. Sign ups for Ragna Quest and BTAX (whatever that is)... Many people were signing up for Ragna Quest, so my curiosity raged...

I asked the personnel (the GMs) about the Ragna Quest...

"Kailangan magform kayo ng team of 3 members. Tapos magpapakita kayo sa amin ng isang unused 50 peso level-up card. Pagkatapos bibigyan namin kayo ng map at 500 (imitation) zeny. Papalibutin nyo ang buong Vito Cruz..."

Wow! And I thought the quest would be done online...

How I wanted to join... I asked her...

"Kailan ho simula 'tong Ragna Quest?"
"Ngayon nagsisimula na..."

Oh no. It was 15 minutes to one, and only Yna was with me. There were in-game prizes and cash prizes at stake, and they made me want to participate more; however, we had our priorities...

Oh, how I hoped Rochelle was with us... Joining may be impossible, but getting the map (for remembrance) would be nice... Sadly, there was person we can rely upon, and I went back brokenheartedly...

10 more minutes. Nikko wants me to buy him 100 e-points. Maybe later...

My mind went berserk. Ask Yna about it. Period.

Anyway, we went back to teaching. This time, we went to room 304 and met my former students. Hello again!

"Kuya! Kayo ulit!"

From that on, I enjoyed teaching again. My students were very smart, so I taught them advanced lessons again... Ha ha!

Formulas like MIN and MAX and RAND() and RANK and so on and so forth...

Then the test... again. My students were given the test a little later than usual because of the lack of writing materials, but in the end, they did a good job. One got 21 and the other got 17 (over 26)...

Well, we were dismissed. Yna was compassionate enough to accompany me to Portal again, preferably not to suffer another round of sorrow. (Well, I believe she was anticipating for band to play...) Suddenly, I saw Cecille...

My face brightened. This may be the answer to my prayers.

"Pwede ka sumama?"
"Sumama saan?"
"Sa Portal."
"Saan yun?"
"Sa tabi ng Yellow Cab; sa harap ng La Salle."
"Bakit? Ano gagawin mo doon."
"May RagnaReunion."
"Ano naman yun?"

Sigh, explaining the details were harder than I thought...

Fortunately, Yna came out of the rest room.

"Gusto ni Mon na sumama ka sa Portal kasi kailangan ng tatlong tao para sa gustong saliin niya para makakuha siya ng map."

"A ok. Di pa naman ako uuwi..."
"So sasama ka?"
"Ok lang."

All right! Our team was formed.

I told them to wait for me as I went to EGI Taft Tower to buy my 50 level-up card and Nikko's e-points... There were also signs posted around EGI...

We headed to Portal. The place was jammed. The booth was more organized. The food was served and the crowds were increasing in number...

"May freebies kayong makukuha kapag nag-sign kayo ng survey..."

How can I resist. I told my two blockmates to sign too...

We arrived at a point where you are required to write your username, guild, and highest level character... It was not a problem with me. Hissi was my strongest character since vaudeville (or rather, since I started playing Ragnarok)... Yna and Cecille had problems...

Yna told me to lend her "my other account" (Shirlina's). Cess, in turn borrowed Yna's account... Hmmm... I wonder...

"Pili kayo kung ano dito gusto nyo..."
"Kasali ba ito sa freebies?"
"Oo."

I can't believe it. I asked Yna's and Cess's opinions...

"Syempre kukunin ko yung CD."

What a choice! Stationery and Licenced CD. Which one would you choose?

I asked the GMs, if the Ragna Quest was still ongoing yet...

"Meron pa, pero bilisan nyo na dapat."

We signed the form...

"May 50-peso card na ho kayo?"

I gave her the card which I just bought...

She stamped my hand, handed me an envelope, and "rolled" a strip of authentication paper onto my wrist...

I completed my mission successfully.

Aside from the Ragna Quest and the BTAX, there were also other activities in store... There was this 'Beat the LU RokStar' challenge... and many more...

I opened the envelope and found these things inside...

A Ragna Quest Map - for a larger version, click here...

Ragna Quest Rules - click to see...

and 500 zeny!

We were also given a name tag each...

Suddenly, my eyes feasted upon what was written on the Ragna Quest Rules page. The Lighthalzen CD was for sale...

I asked the GMs where this CD (or rather the Mastersmith's Kariton) can be found... Long story...

"Adik ka talaga." Yna told me.
"Nah... Isang character lang malakas sa akin."

The moment I came down, a GM was announcing about joining an activity (I wasn't able to hear clearly what it was...)... Visit Tristan III... receive a card which not a single pRO player has ever acquired yet... worth more than 7.5 billion zennies!

"Oo! Ganyan talaga yan kamahal! Kaya pumunta na kayo sa kabila..."

WOW! 7.5 BILLION ZENNIES! That's a lot of money! (Converted to Philippine peso... er... count that for yourselves... Before, my friends sell me 40 pesos per million zeny... The price dropped to 20 per M... compute for that...)

20 pesos* (7,500,000,000 zennies /per 1,000,000 zennies) = 150,000 pesos

Wow! Rich!

Just by looking at my blockmates, I could see that they really wanted to go home... Sigh... Broken dreams...

It started raining. I did my best to protect my Ragna Quest Kit from the ferocious drops of rainwater as I rushed to the LRT station reluctantly... I wanted to return; however, with only one person (which is myself), what can I do? I went to GUM & MUG painstakingly...

... and then arrived home... Shirlina was online, and I told her about my day. Too depressing. I'm glad Joanie was there to alleviate asome of my hard feelings by playing O2 Jam with me...

I played with her until she reached level 3; I reached level 18. She had to go afterwards...

My second aunt (father's side) visited us this evening and showed us some pictures of their glorious peregrinations. I burned them onto a blank compact disc...

Even until now... one question remains in my mind...

What if I tried going there by myself... Would I be able to attain that which I am aspiring for? Perhaps... Maybe... Hopefully...

Nonetheless...

If I went there and tried my best... I would instead say...

If only I had said this or that instead of just...

(derived from a text message I had received a few weeks ago)

Anyway, if you were able to reach this point, (of course, reading from the top), then let me thank you for being patient with me. People say that my posts are too long, but what can I do? This is all for you readers out there!

By the way, I have short term memeoy loss... It's really surprising how I can get to remember all those minute details happening in my daily life...

So, thank you for viewing my first pictopost (picture post) and have a nice day!

PS. Be sure to come back tomorrow!