What It's Like Being a Vampire

Leaving aside the truthfulness of her transformation timing and cause, from this reply alone, it was evident that the vampire behind “Kasumi of August” placed great importance on establishing contact with Xiang Kun, a potential

“vampire companion”. Although she expressed dissatisfaction with Xiang Kun’s “take it or leave it” attitude in their conversation, she still actively advanced the chat with continuous compromises.

Her question at the end of the response, “Who was your first meal?” revealed more information.

The word “who” obviously referred to people, indicating that the other party fed on human blood and assumed that Xiang Kun did as well.

Do vampires have to drink human blood? Based on Xiang Kun’s experiences, the answer is clearly no.

In his previous conflicts with people, he had tried the splashed blood. It was the same as the blood of poultry and livestock which was a relief to him. Moreover, in the past half month, he even felt that rabbit’s blood was more satisfying and hunger-satiating than others; there was no need to drink human blood at all.

Besides, they lived in a law-abiding society, consuming human blood would lead to a lot of trouble. If its potency vanished within about 3 minutes after leaving the body, like it did with rabbit blood, then it would make even less sense.

Insisting on feeding on human blood was just asking for trouble, wasn’t it?

However, her phrasing implied that vampires must feed on human blood.

Was she testing him?

Assuming her motive for all this was a “fishing expedition” to confirm Xiang Kun’s vampire identity and extract information to pursue his location, could it be that once she knew the circumstances of the first time Xiang Kun injured someone, she could narrow down his identity through data searches of related news? Or could she glean some unknown information related to the vampire mutation? Such as the “first” having some special meaning?

He instinctively began thinking from her possible point of view.

Making judgments swiftly in his mind, weighing various ways to respond,

Xiang Kun promptly replied, “I don’t know, how about you?”

Kasumi of August: “Same here, how did you handle it, specifically afterwards?”

“l don’t want to answer tnat question.”

Xiang Kun replied, unsure of what to say. Plus, the way she discussed humans as food unconsciously repulsed him, his first instinct was to report it…

The other party did not push further on this issue, and asked, “How many times have you slept?”

Xiang Kun really wanted to ask if her first “meal” was still alive, but decided against it as he might not get the truth. He had understood that the vampire behind “Kasumi of August” and himself might be very different, so he needed to be careful in his replies.

As per his understanding, this question aimed to test his mutation progress, or rather, his possible strength.

Because it seemed each blood-drinking led to a long sleep during which the body evolved or mutated according to the targeted training from that blood-drinking period. The more times one slept, the stronger one generally became.

Of course, from the memory of the “mutated owl”, its mutation period and the number of times it drank blood and slept were significantly higher than Xiang Kun. However, it hadn’t shown stronger physical growth than him. This might be related to the owl’s original size and strength, as growth was based on its own benchmark.

Should he overstate or understate?

Xiang Kun was contemplating, would it be better to appear strong or weak to her?

From the moment he mutated until now, including the first sleep after drinking chicken blood and the time when he killed the Giant Owl, he had drunk blood and slept fifteen times in total.

However, after consideration, he decided not to answer truthfully due to his suspicion that his statistical method could be different from hers as their feeding habits were dissimilar. Any answer might arouse her suspicion, speculation, or judgment.

Pipikachu: “I didn’t count exactly how many times, but there’s been quite a lot.”

Kasumi of August: “You’re really lackadaisical and don’t take your situation seriously. So, how long have you been a vampire?” Pipikachu: “About a month.”

If she said one month, then he would also say one month.

Kasumi of August: “Have you met other vampires? Or animals like vampires?”

Pipikachu: “Animals? There are animals like vampires too? You’re not talking about mosquitoes or bats, are you?” He tossed the question back, figuring she was trying to determine whether he had drunk other mutant creatures’ blood.

Kasumi of August: “Not only are there human vampires, but animals too. Normal animals that turned blood-thirsty and powerful.”

“Like what? Have you encountered any?”

“No, but I know they exist.”

“How did you know that? Didn’t you also become a vampire only a month ago?” Xiang Kun replied.

Clearly, the other party had shattered the character she had initially constructed for herself.

This time, it took a longer pause before the other side sent another message:

“Actually, the mutation that happened to us, and the so-called vampires, are not what the online rumors say. There is a foreign company that has conducted relevant research. If you wish, you can check their website at

.com, or directly search their company name. However, you probably won’t find it on domestic search engines.”

Heh…

Xiang Kun didn’t need to click on the link or search to know what it’s all about.

He could imagine that the vampire behind the ID “Kasumi of August”, who had just been chatting with him, was scratching her head in front of his blank Zhihu user page.

Unless she entices Kun to do something, it would be rather difficult to find Kun’s real IP, locate him, and discover his identity.

The information revealed in Kun’s chat was water-tight, making it hard to estimate any related details.

Of course, Kun won’t attempt to investigate the other party’s location and identity. Though he doesn’t know her technical skills, he’s confident about his defense. Yet, he’s not certain about a counterattack. If he probes and gets caught, he might break his defensive line.

A last-minute goal in injury time after leaving the defensive line in a soccer game, happens not only on the field.

Moreover, he distinctly sensed that the other party is becoming more active and urgent.

Why?

When he thought of the “Giant Owl’s” reaction and his feeling when he saw the Owl, he roughly understood.

He wondered if, after a certain level of feeding, ordinary fresh blood could no longer satisfy the need, and only the blood of other mutated beings was needed.

That could explain why the “Giant Owl”, which always hid in deep forests and deliberately avoided humans, suddenly approached human habitats.

It also explained why “Kasumi of August” went fishing online with so much effort and urgency, trying to confirm his location.

Does she want me for food?

Xiang Kun’s face distorted momentarily but quickly returned to normal. A diner in the quiet dumpling restaurant seemed to sense something. He looked up, stared around blankly, shook his head, and continued eating.

After a while, Pipikachu said, “Hey? What the hell is this website you gave me? My computer almost crashed when I clicked on it.” Of course, he never actually clicked.

Kasumi of August: ‘

“How do you solve your blood-drinking problem?” Xiang Kun immediately shot back with a question.

“I understand you have many questions. How about this: let’s meet face to face. I’ve actually been a vampire for more than a month. I know much more than you imagine. For instance, the cause of our mutation, what our future will be like, how to safely and conveniently find food.”

Obviously, she realized she was too eager and had inadvertantly dropped the facade of “Kasumi of August”, the newbie vampire girl. She also realized that the vampire behind the ID “Pipikachu” was very cautious and not easily fooled. It seemed unfeasible to secretly identify his location and identity behind the screen.

“You need to spill something first.” Kun took the offensive, as he noted the other party’s eagerness. He wasn’t going to lose this opportunity to extract more information. Whether the information was true or false, more clues would facilitate his decision-making.

After yet another prolonged silence, she replied:

“If you can’t find enough food, and are becoming manic and close to losing control at night, how would you cope?”

Indeed, this reply was targeted. Because when Kun was proving he was a vampire, he said he became more irritable at night when he was hungry and had no blood to drink.

Kun recalled he had done an experiment before. After feeling hungry, if it was at night, he would feel irritable in about four hours. This lasted about 22 hours, including daytime. Afterward, he would behave uncontrollably. He hadn’t ventured further.

If it happens now, he would probably swallow two affiliated stones. The stomach discomfort due to the stones would divert his attention, not allowing hunger to influence his sanity.

He replied, “I can only find food as quickly as possible, do you have any coping methods?”

Kasumi of August: “I’ll tell you, take your own blood, controlling the amount, and then use other animals’ blood to relieve thirst. Whether it’s chicken, duck,

cow, or pig, it’s your choice. Then you’ll fall into deep sleep. When you wake up, you’ll feel a little weak, but it can help you through this famine.”

It was then that Kun realized that by “food”, she specifically meant human blood.

And it seemed other animals’ blood could only be used as “snacks” to “relieve” hunger?

Without waiting for Kun’s reply, she sent a message: “If you want to know more, wait for me at **Town in * *City at 2 p.m. the day after tomorrow. Give me your contact information, either WeChat or mobile number. I’ll contact you then. I won’t send this message twice. If you’re not interested in meeting, it’s okay. Do not contact me again, I’ll block you..”