Days slipped by in a familiar rhythm.
Wake up. Cook breakfast. Head to school. Come back home.
Occasionally, Mr. Li Mingyuan would drop by. Sometimes the other Outer Gods gathered at our place for no particular reason at all.
Life settled into something steady.
Days turned into weeks. Weeks into months. Months into a year.
Before I realized it, two years had passed.
And now—
The graduation theme echoed throughout the hall.
Rows of graduates filled the seats behind me. Because my last name was Abe, I ended up in the front row. Alphabetical order had its perks, I guess.
The weight of the cap on my head—mortarboard, that was it, felt oddly grounding.
Just minutes away.
That was all that stood between me and the end of this chapter of my life.
I glanced back over my shoulder.
Four rows behind me, partially hidden beneath a sea of black gowns and square caps, I caught sight of Anathasia.
She raised a hand faintly, waving.
It was hard to see her clearly through the crowd.
But I knew it was her.
At the very back of the hall, my sister and my parents were seated as well. Even from a distance, I could see my mother already holding up her phone.
Then the microphone echoed sharply through the hall.
Everyone—myself included, straightened almost in unison.
The voice that followed was familiar.
When I lifted my head, Professor Wang stood at the podium.
Right.
He was assigned as the MC.
Seeing him there stirred an unexpected wave of nostalgia.
Memories of me and Anathasia standing on that same stage as hosts flashed through my mind. Awkward introductions, forced enthusiasm, and that ridiculous formal gown I had to wear.
I still wasn't sure what it was called.
After Professor Wang's opening speech and a few others that followed, the awarding ceremony finally began.
"Kyle Ruzen Abe. Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in English. Summa Cum Laude."
At the sound of my name, I rose from my seat and walked toward the stage.
Applause filled the hall.
Professor Wang continued listing my academic achievements. Publications, leadership roles, awards. But the words blurred together.
I wasn't really listening.
Instead, I watched as my mother rose from her seat and made her way toward the stage.
At some point, everything began to feel surreal.
The applause. The lights. The echo of my name in the hall.
Even as my mom placed the medals around my neck, their weight heavier than I expected, the only thing that truly pulled me back to reality—
Was her.
The girl in the fourth row.
Quietly clapping. Looking genuinely happy as she watched me.
My mom and I stood there for a few seconds longer than necessary after the medals were placed. The certificates in my hands felt thicker than I imagined.
So much for keeping a low profile…
Eventually, Professor Wang finished listing every achievement attached to my name.
Just like that, it was over.
I returned to my seat.
Some of the students beside me looked at me differently now, like I had become something else entirely.
I didn't bother with it.
Minutes later, after Arianne received her final award—
"Anathasia Dunaleff. Bachelor of Secondary Education, Major in English. Summa Cum Laude."
At the sound of her name, she rose calmly from her seat.
She walked down the center aisle, the hall quieting slightly as she passed.
Then—
She stopped beside me.
For a brief second, the entire room seemed to hold its breath.
She didn't look like she cared.
Anathasia glanced at me, a small smile curving at her lips.
Then she reached for my hand.
And pulled me to my feet.
Together, we walked up the stage.
She shook hands with the guests of honor and the university directors before turning back toward me.
Professor Wang began listing her achievements one by one as he handed me her medals.
Anathasia faced me fully then, her smile radiant under the stage lights.
Carefully, I placed the medals around her neck.
Applause erupted across the hall, growing louder with every accomplishment announced.
By the time I finished, Professor Wang still wasn't done.
Some of her achievements were personal projects she pursued on her own.
Others were things we had accomplished together.
For a few seconds, we simply stood there.
Her name echoed through the speakers. Her accomplishments scrolled across the large screen behind us. The hall buzzed with murmurs and applause.
And yet—
It felt strangely quiet between us.
[It's long.] her voice echoed inside my head.
I resisted the urge to smile.
[Well, it's kinda your fault for being an overachiever.]
She paused, then gave a faint shrug.
[Fair. I got dragged along by my man in the process. Must be why.]
[Yeah… and I actually planned on keeping things low-key too.]
[Looks like you failed spectacularly, huh?]
I let out a small laugh.
[Yeah. But I don't really regret it. I think it helped me get over my own tendency to sabotage myself.]
She went quiet.
Then her hand tightened around mine.
Anathasia glanced at me, smiling softly.
"I'm glad you did."
—
The ceremony eventually came to an end. Out of six hundred students, a little over a hundred received academic distinctions.
Arianne, Robert, and even Joseph who had slowly stepped out of his own shell over the years, all graduated as Summa Cum Laude.
All five of us.
Later that afternoon, the celebration at home was already in full swing. It only intensified when Anathasia and I arrived.
Relatives, laughter, food, endless congratulations.
But once the noise settled and everyone was finally done celebrating—
Anathasia and I slipped outside.
"This strat sucks," she muttered, staring at her phone. "I'm pretty sure I funneled properly."
I leaned over to glance at her screen. My expression flattened instantly.
"You were just spamming troops," I said. "And that layout directly counters that unit. It's slow. One poison tower and you're done."
"That content creator said it was meta right now," she argued, switching back to her village.
"It definitely isn't."
"You do know something being meta doesn't automatically guarantee three stars every attack, right?"
She quietly closed the game and handed her phone to me as I passed mine to her.
"Well, yeah," she sighed. "I'm too lazy to wait for proper funneling like you do."
"That's why you usually get two stars."
She flinched.
Then huffed.
While she opened another game on my phone, I opened the app she usually used to read manga and manhwa.
We sat there in silence for a few seconds, each minding our own business.
"…Hey," I said suddenly. "Why is this girl kissing her own step-brother?"
She froze.
Slowly, she turned her head toward me.
"What the hell are you reading?"
"What's the title of this one again…" I muttered, scrolling up until I found it.
"Right. My Mom Remarried After a Year, My New Step-Father Had a Beautiful Daughter and We Ended Up—"
"Okay, enough." She raised a hand, inhaling slowly. "What the fuck?"
"It's messed up, I know," I said dryly. "I don't even know why I'm still reading it."
"In fact…" I glanced at the panel on the phone in my hand—her phone, technically. "I'll probably drop it after this chapter."
A brief pause.
"Oh yeah. I kinda saved up around a hundred grand over the past two years."
Silence.
She stared at me blankly.
"…Were we really that cheap with our expenses?"
"No…? I think we were pretty normal about it." I frowned slightly. "Mr. Mingyuan just kept sending me money for some reason…"
"That guy's still in contact with you?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. He insisted that ever since he recovered and got involved with us, his companies' revenue skyrocketed by more than five hundred percent."
Her blank stare returned.
"So the hundred grand was just the start… I still have another fifty grand in an account he listed under my name. Apparently he's planning on visiting again once things finally calm down."
I paused, then glanced back at the phone screen.
"He's talking about dollars."
She froze.
Her eyes widened instantly.
"Okay. Let me get this straight," she said slowly. "You have a hundred grand in pesos right now."
I nodded.
"He gave us a chess set worth eleven million."
Another nod.
"And now fifty grand in dollars because his business exploded?"
"Yeah. He said it's barely even a fraction and he wouldn't mind sending more."
She slowly looked down at the phone in her hands. The screen went black.
"What are we supposed to do with all that?" she whispered, burying her face in her hands.
"Well…" I trailed off, setting her phone down on my lap as I stared into the distance. "We could officially buy the house in the city from Mom. And we'd still have more than enough left to invest in something."
"And… I kinda have to start working around four months from now, too."
She lifted her face from her hands and glanced at me.
"Already?"
"Mhm. Scholarship obligations and things…" I paused. "What about you?"
Anathasia looked at me.
Then at my phone.
"A housewife…?"
"…what?"