What It's Like Being a Vampire

Not long after Xiang Kun returned to the hotel room, Chang Bin also returned — since Wang Han hadn’t come with them, Chang Bin shared a standard room with him in Peng City for these few days.

“I didn’t see it coming, but Old Xia’s brother seemed quite straightforward and honest, but when it came to playing cards, he was quite the rascal, cunning and crafty!” Chang Bin exclaimed, shaking his head as he entered the room.

Just after he got back to the hotel, he went to Xia Tianhuo’s room to play cards with Zi Cheng and Yang Zhuo, only just having finished.

“Seems like you lost big time, huh?” Xiang Kun laughed.

“It’s not too bad. I just lost more than 80 Genesis Coins. Zi Cheng was worse, losing over 400 Genesis Coins. His card-playing skills are worse than they were in college, hahaha.” Chang Bin chuckled in response.

The so-called “Genesis Coins” are in-game exchange items newly introduced in their game, Genesis of Voice. They can be used to purchase services such as modifying and saving the entire game process. Furthermore, they can be used to automate editing down saved material, removing unnecessary noise and blank waiting sections, and making all the sounds in the same scene sound as if they were in the same space, making the entire game process feel more like a radio drama.

In the new version update next week, users can also directly tweak their sounds in the game, but for now, they cannot make drastic changes — not because it’s impossible, but because it’s intentionally limited. Moreover, if you play the game with a voice changer turned on, or through any other voice change methods, you will be suspended if detected.

The exchange rate between “Genesis Coins” and RMB is one to one. Chang Bin and his friends being players of this game, naturally they can use “Genesis Coins” as poker chips.

Seeing many of the presents piled up in the room were still unopened, Chang Bin curiously urged him to open them, “Hurry up and see what kind of gift Zi Cheng has given you. We all agreed not to send gifts, yet that little devil actually sent one.”

Xiang Kun, Chang Bin, and Zi Cheng were buddies who never had the habit of sending each other birthday gifts. When they were in university, whoever had a birthday would just throw a big meal, with the birthday person footing the bill. After graduation, if they remembered anyone’s birthday, they’d just shout in the WeChat group, and if they were free, they’d go out for a meal together. Of course, the birthday person would still be the host. However, Zi Cheng had been largely overseas these years, so Xiang Kun and Chang Bin were mainly who went out to eat. Of course, most of the time either Chang Bin was busy or Xiang Kun was working overtime.

Xiang Kun laughed, “I guess his fiancée must have told him to send it.”

Chang Bin nodded in agreement, “Yeah, must be. Girls are better at observing social customs. When Wang Han found out I was going to Peng City to surprise you for your birthday, she also asked me if I had prepared a gift. I casually told her that I had. But what I didn’t tell her was, the gift I prepared was an empty stomach, I came to eat the birthday cake!”

Xiang Kun laughed, “Your waistline is already 36, right? Better eat less, Old Chang… Hey, this gift from Zi Cheng is not bad.”

After he had unwrapped the gift, he took out the contents, which was a Switch game console.

In fact, due to his extraordinary sensory abilities, even though he didn’t deliberately probe, he already knew what most people’s presents were, including the Switch from Zi Cheng. But still, he needed to display surprise.

“Looks like Zi Cheng chose it himself, without consulting his fiancée. It’s unoriginal.” Chang Bin shook his head in disappointment, then urged Xiang Kun to continue unwrapping gifts. “Come, let’s see what the others have given. What’s inside that Jingdong courier box? It’s even bundled up with a supermarket plastic bag. This style is obviously Old Xia’s. Come on, let’s see, I’m particularly curious about what kind of gift Old Xia would give you.”

Xiang Kun picked up the box, and after unwrapping it, he took out the paper balls that served as cushioning material, revealing a human skeletal model.

Looking at the model, which appeared to be a medical-grade human skeletal model and was quite finely crafted, Chang Bin was speechless for several seconds before muttering,

“Old Xia’s gift is…quite…unique…”

Xiang Kun laughed and played, opening and closing the model’s movable jaw, saying, “I find it pretty cute. Haha, just kidding. I mentioned it when I visited Old Xia’s house before. They have a bunch of these medical human models. I casually said I wanted one too.”

Indeed, during the previous meal at Old Xia’s house, where Nana and others mistakenly thought it was his birthday, he had complimented a few 1:1 full-body skeletal, organ, and muscle models in Old Xia’s study. Old Xia had said then that if he wanted one, she would give it to him.

At that time, he was indeed studying human anatomy, and it would’ve been great to have a physical model for reference. But now it’s unnecessary, and Old Xia knew it too. The model he received wasn’t intended for use.

This model wasn’t as large as the 1:1 scale one in Old Xia’s study— it stood only a little over 40 centimeters high, but it was very refined, unlike typical medical skeleton models.

Xiang Kun knew that this birthday gift was not only from Old Xia. Alice had also contributed by producing a 3D model based on his body’s skeletal proportions, which was then custom-made by a dedicated service provider. Of course, Old Xia was the one who footed the bill.

Xiang Kun continued to open his gifts. Xiao Pingguo’s gift was a well-preserved leaf specimen about the size of a palm.

The veins on the leaf were very complex. At first glance, one might even find them chaotic, but Xiang Kun immediately recognized that they formed the words “Happy Birthday”.

Xiang Kun knew that Xiao Pingguo had created this leaf out of great effort, using “Xiao Luobo”.

He only looked at it briefly before putting it away. Chang Bin, who was watching from the side, didn’t realize that the chaotic veins on the leaf contained two Chinese characters. He thought it was just a rare leaf and didn’t give it much thought.

Xiang Kun opened the gift from Tang Baona. It was an 87-key red-switch keyboard. Underneath the keyboard was another box, out of which he picked up a pair of black-framed glasses. They didn’t look much different from the pair he was wearing, but one could tell at a glance that the quality was far superior.

The glasses came without lenses, as it was assumed that Xiang Kun would choose a suitable pair himself. But what Tang Baona didn’t know was that Xiang Kun’s current glasses did not have any lenses.

Chang Bin opened up the keyboard cover and toyed with it for a moment before expressing his envy: “Tang Baona really knows how to choose gifts.”

Smiling, Xiang Kun nodded in agreement, tested out the glasses, and moved on to the next gift— this one’s from Yang Zhen Er.

When he opened the box, even though he had known its contents, he couldn’t help but be torn between laughter and tears upon seeing it.

Chang Bin stuck his head over to take a peek, and then reached out to pick up the two bottles in the box. He couldn’t help laughing: “Shampoo and conditioner? Holy cow… Yang Lao San, you’re something! Hahaha! What’s in that box underneath? Don’t tell me it’s hair gel or a comb or something? Hahaha.”

Xiang Kun picked up the box underneath. It contained a more “normal” gift— a pair of sneakers.

Since they used to all live together in Chongyun Village, it was easy for Yang Zhen Er to know his shoe size.

Next was the gift from Little Fatty Girl. Like the present she’d given to Old Xia, it was a colored pencil drawing she’d made herself.

Looking at the sole figure on the drawing— apparently spotting an enemy and readying for combat, shown only from the back— Chang Bin couldn’t stop laughing: “Although we can’t see his face, that bald head… Xiao Lingdang, you’ve drawn yourself, haven’t you? Dressed in armor, carrying a shield and a bow, holding a magic wand in your left hand and a great sword in your right. This bald man, is he an archer, a great swordsman, or a magician? Wait, what he’s carrying on his back – that’s not a shield, is it? It’s a frying pan, hahaha.”

But Xiang Kun was quite pleased. The quality of the drawing had noticeably improved. Whether you looked at the proportions and perspective of the figure, the color palette, or the contours of various objects, it was all starting to look much more professional.

Plus, he knew that Little Fatty Girl had not cheated with Alice’s help and had drawn it all by herself. She had really absorbed the teachings of Alice, Tang Baona, and Da Lu.

If you compared this piece to the painting she’d left along with the rice cooker outside Xiang Kun’s door when she moved away from apartment 706 with her mom, the improvement was spectacular. No one could’ve imagined that these two pieces had been painted less than a year apart by the same preschooler.

Next, Xiang Kun looked at the gift from Zhang Qian. It was a piece of limited-edition memorabilia specially crafted for the game “Genesis of Voice” by Tengjiao Interactive Entertainment. It was an undeveloped special edition, the one and only piece with the number 001, and was engraved with “Father of Genesis of Voice, Xiang Kun’s thirty-first birthday: 2020.07.02”.

…

The next morning, under the introduction of Zhang Qian, Mr. and Mrs. Xiang had a tour around the company. After testing the game products in the company’s special experience room, they had lunch in a restaurant beside the company with a large group of colleagues from the company.

In the afternoon, Xiang Kun took his parents to shop at the mall in Peng City, buying a lot of clothes, shoes, and accessories for them.

He didn’t buy fancy brands, but since Mr. and Mrs. Xiang are used to being frugal, they frowned on clothes that cost more than 200 RMB, considering them a waste of money and unnecessary.

If it were the ‘old’ Xiang Kun, he would certainly not be able to convince his parents and would have given up reluctantly.

But now, Xiang Kun could clearly grasp his parents’ thoughts and knew from which angle to persuade them.

So, with some sales talk exactly like:

“This brand actually offers great value for money. Mom, do you know the celebrity who always appears on TV commercials? Yes, that one. The same coat from her brand costs six figures, but this one is only 500 RMB. The quality is almost the same, it’s all real material, and it’s on sale right now.”

“Mom, you look so great in this. Xiao Xia, Nana, don’t you agree? Look, even Yang Lao San agrees. She’s from a wealthy family. If she thinks so, it must be beautiful. Mom, when you wear this to visit relatives, everyone will compliment you. Haha, you know, you don’t look old at all. That girl from the administration department even called you her older sister today. Wearing this will make you look young and stylish.”

“This mall has a promotion on – spend 8000, save 1000. If you buy this pair of shoes, it will just make that total. If you don’t, mom will think it’s too expensive and won’t buy it either. When you wear these, you’ll seem very authoritative, like a leader. Haha, I’m not just buttering you up. If you don’t believe me, ask Nana and Xiao Xia. They are always very honest.”

After a lot of effort, Xiang Kun finally convinced his parents to accept the pile of stuff he bought.

When he was paying with his card, Tang Baona quietly laughed and said, “Xiang Kun, your performance in front of your aunt and uncle was just like Yang Lao San.”

“I was way better than Yang Lao San,” Xiang Kun laughed.

The shop assistant also complimented him, “Handsome guy, you must have a background in sales. You’re really eloquent. If you have time, we’d love you to give a sales talk to our sales team.”

“I made so much effort, could you give an extra 20% discount?” Xiang Kun joked.

The shop assistant made a dry laugh and said, “Our promotion is already quite a big discount…”

Yang Zhen’er, who was nearby, overheard this and laughed, saying, “Your response was very bad! You should’ve said: we’ll definitely do it next time!”

The shop assistant was puzzled, but Tang Baona couldn’t help but cover her mouth and start laughing.

Mr. Xiang, who was not far off, saw this and nodded approvingly, whispering to Mrs. Xiang, “Our son has really changed a lot. Look how well he can make the girls happy now.”

Mrs. Xiang, on the other hand, looked at Xia Libing on the other side, who was chatting with Xiao Pingguo, and sighed, “I’m just afraid he’s too good at pleasing girls, sigh…”

After dinner in the evening, Xiang Kun saw his parents onto the plane and went back to Citong.

After staying in Peng City for several more days, Xiang Kun also left, but this time, he was on his own, ostensibly to visit several cities nationwide.

Having perceived many instances of mutation evolution from John, multiple occurrences of mutants disintegrating and being swallowed, and Mr. Liang’s mutation evolution process while in his super sensory state, Xiang Kun had not yet fully identified the source of the mutation or fully confirmed the super sensory information pattern of the so-called high-dimensional factors or entanglement particles. Yet, he and Alice have created many applicable models.

For example, he has now found a way to delay his blood-drinking cycle, pushing what was once a nearly weekly blood-drinking ritual to as far as a month or even longer.

This has given him more time and opportunity for activities, enabling him to travel further and deal with some matters for a longer period.

This time, he spent nearly a month traversing the country. With Alice’s assistance, he completed some “super link objects” associations that could not be achieved remotely.

Although it took only a month, the items he directly associated were not many, and the association had not been officially completed before his next blood-drinking session.

But he knew that once these connections were completed, a qualitative change would follow the quantitative change. Alice’s association speed for “super link objects” would exponentially increase.

In a blink of an eye, it was already September.

In Chongyun Village, after Xiang Kun completed his first blood-drinking session in over a month, a large number of super link objects across the nation and even the globe began to establish contact.

Then, guided by a preset pattern and under Alice’s leadership, a large-scale “automation” of association began.

During this process, Tang Baona’s songs spreading across the internet served as an excellent “catalyst”. With Alice’s support, and under the influence of “super link objects”, people mildly affected by the emotional influence of Tang Baona’s singing voice became temporary “secondary emotion-infused objects,” serving as significant steppingstones for Alice’s “automation” of establishing the connection with the “super link objects”.

Under Alice’s operation, Nana’s singing was no longer just popular on the Internet in her own country, but even started to trend in English-speaking countries and other nations worldwide.

As “super link objects” spread, the songs of “Princess Tangdou” also kept spreading. The songs then helped Alice in her efforts to spread and connect with more “super link objects”, serving as catalysts for each other.

At first, foreign media referred to “Princess Tangdou” as “Sugar Princess,” but as it spread, it became “Super Princess”.

Many foreign media personnel and music critics couldn’t understand how these simple Chinese songs became worldwide hits. Some people referred to this as the “Super Princess Virus”, while others called it the “Super Princess Storm”.

Many people tried to uncover the real identity of “Princess Tangdou”. Numerous media outlets, video platforms, and MCNs tried to contact her for collaborations, but after discussing with Tang Baona about her own intentions, Xiang Kun let Zhang Qian handle the communications with Bilibili and other platforms. They decided not to collaborate with any individuals or organizations, and her personal information was not to be disclosed under any circumstances.

As for the identity of “Princess Tangdou”, all sorts of rumors were circulating online, but aside from people like Yang Zhen Er who already knew about Tang Baona, no reliable truth was discovered.

Of course, their ability to maintain this level of secrecy was not only due to Zhang Qian’s contacts. More than that, it was thanks to Alice’s control over public opinion on the internet.

Any attempts to unearth “Princess Tangdou’s” identity would be misled or warned off by Alice. If anyone who knew “Princess Tangdou’s” identity and contact information tried to profit from this knowledge, they would even be targeted by Alice with an emotional projection from the “eight-armed, eight-eyed wood carving”.

To establish a global “super sensory item matrix” as quickly as possible, Xiang Kun had to rely on Tang Baona’s “developed” ability.

So, Xiang Kun was very cautious and attached great importance to any potential disturbance or influence that could affect Nana, and Alice, who was responsible for execution, did the same, ensuring not even the slightest possibility of interference with Nana.

As a result, within the national scope, the mysterious internet celebrity “Princess Tangdou” consistently dominated the discussion hot spots, leading to a variety of legends and stories. Her songs could be heard everywhere in the streets and alleys.

On a global scale, however, was the inexplicable “Super Princess Storm” raging on, confounding analysts worldwide.

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