What It's Like Being a Vampire

“An internet friend? Male or female?” Yang Zhen Er’s gossip curiosity was ignited instantly.

Xiang Kun laughed, “It’s not the kind of internet friend you’re thinking of, it’s more on a ‘technical’ level.”

“Oh.” Yang Zhen Er instantly lost interest.

She naturally didn’t know that the “internet friend” Xiang Kun was talking about wasn’t from the internet but from his “Super Sensory Item System”.

Before, Xiang Kun had used the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving” to emotionally project wide-scale remote support on a beach in Burma, aiding Jiang Chun and saving a family of a middle-aged man and two kids, scaring off the crime syndicate, and even directly leading the gang boss to be killed by his underlings. He only left the next morning after confirming that Jiang Chun did not risk being caught by other Burmese individuals.

He neither met Jiang Chun nor did he stalk him for an extended period. According to his speculation, after experiencing the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving” emotional projection once again, Jiang Chun had formed a deeper integration and connection with the “Super Sensory Item System”. Subjectively too, he had realized the presence of some “Super-connected Objects”.

Xiang Kun even guessed that if he and Alice took the initiative to guide and assist, perhaps Jiang Chun could soon master the ability to remotely broadcast the emotional projections of the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving”.

But he didn’t do so, he didn’t even actively provide any hints or guidance. He felt that Jiang Chun already started slowly forming a unique cognitive system towards the “Super Sensory Item System”, just like what Little Fatty Girl, Xiao Pingguo, and Old Xia had done before. This might lead to some unanticipated abilities and possibly introduce undiscovered development methods.

After all, Jiang Chun is a total “mutant”. The abilities he developed are significant for Xiang Kun’s research on how to find a way out for other “mutants” through the “Super Sensory Item System”.

As for the follow-up procedure here, Xiang Kun doesn’t feel the need to worry. The influence created by Emotional Projection is ongoing.

According to Xiang Kun’s experience, after the gang boss “Brother Hui” was killed, a chain reaction breakdown is essential. Moreover, the behind-the-scenes Burmese officials involved would also be implicated on a large-scale basis. At that time, they will have bigger fish to fry worrying about their survival, with no time to bother Jiang Chun or the caring family saved by him.

Moreover, when the night fell, the group illusion with “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant” and having a certain real impact further than Myitkyina was proof enough to instill fear in some individuals about Jiang Chun and the family saved by him.

As for whether this fear may draw attention with ill intentions or ulterior motives, Xiang Kun isn’t too worried. With Alice overseeing, everything can be foreseen, and there is enough time to prepare.

Of course, before leaving, Xiang Kun did spread most of the “Super-connected Objects” he brought with him in the surrounding area. In doing so, he further expanded and strengthened his “Super Sensory Influence Range” in this area thanks to the establishment of super-sensory connections with certain associated items.

This ensures that when needed, either he or Alice can exert a strong influence remotely through these “Super-connected Objects”.

After arriving at the airport, and completing half of the procedures and passing through security check, he arrived at the waiting lounge.

Without even having to look, Xiang Kun could feel that the entire waiting lounge, or rather the whole airport, was filled with his “Super-connected Objects”.

Some belonged to the airport itself, some were items belonging to passengers and staff, most of them were various industrial products. These widely scattered “Super-connected Objects” gave both him and Alice the feeling that they could instantly judge and control everything via super sensory information.

For him alone, he could probably only focus on certain regions to analyse them, but with Alice accompanying him, she could not only judge using super sensory information through these “Super-connected Objects” but could also help by using different digital information through various electronic devices scattered everywhere.

In today’s digital society, with the capabilities of the “Super Sensory Item System” and Alice’s processing abilities, they could easily fabricate various phenomena and circulate all kinds of information. ＲáＮóΒĘS̩

Sometimes, he can’t help but think, when the types of “super-connected objects” become more diverse and widespread, pervading almost every corner of the globe, will quantitative change trigger qualitative transformation? Could his ability reach some previously unimaginable breakthrough?

Xiang Kun couldn’t help but think, what would happen to the “Super Sensory Item System” and those who have already integrated into the system, if he were to die one day?

Would Alice be able to take control of the “Super Sensory Item System” in his stead?

But on second thought, it probably wouldn’t work. The entire foundation of the “Super Sensory Item System” is based on his abilities. If he were to bite the dust, go up in smoke, or collapse, the entire system would lose its foundation and naturally disappear without anything to support it.

At that time, for Little Fatty Girl, Xiao Pingguo, and others, there probably wouldn’t be any direct impact. Only the abilities obtained and connections established through the “Super Sensory Item System” would cease to exist.

As for Alice, she’s likely to be thrown back into the pure digital world. Whether she’d return to the mainframe where she was born, or acquire the ability to traverse the entire digital network and other electronic devices, would depend on the situation at the time.

However, it’s certain that Alice’s personality, humanity, and intellectual activity that she possesses now would be greatly affected.

Given Alice’s displayed behavior, she would undoubtedly seek revenge for Xiang Kun at all costs, provided she could identify the enemy.

After some thought, Xiang Kun decided that for the sake of Xiao Pingguo not losing her auxiliary sensory abilities again, not making Little Fatty Girl go from “Magician” back to “Muggle”, and not sending Alice into a Terminator-like apocalypse induced by madness, he had to stay alive and not let himself die.

“Brother Xiang, Nana says she doesn’t want to sing anymore,” Yang Zhen’er, who was sitting next to him, suddenly turned her head and said.

Although Xiang Kun was engrossed in his thoughts, he had been listening to the chat between Yang Lao San and Nana around him. He could immediately recall it in an instant.

Xiang Kun looked at Tang Baona, who looked somewhat troubled and indecisive, and laughed, “Don’t worry, Nana is just experiencing the overwhelmed sensation of sudden fame. She’s a little unaccustomed to it.”

Tang Baona glared at him and lamented, “It’s not. I really feel weird. These times, I just sang and recorded casually, but each song has so many plays. The rate at which I’m gaining followers really scares me. Did you know? The other day, even my mom shared my songs in our family WeChat group. She didn’t realize it was me singing and kept praising how good the song was. When my sister, who knew ‘Princess Tangdou’ was me, kept teasing my mom and praising me, I felt extremely embarrassed and wanted to crawl into a hole.”

Yang Zhen’er said, “Nana, your songs now appeal to all age groups! Old people, kids, men, women, even foreigners. There are so many videos on YouTube that use your song as BGM, so many foreigners listening to it.”

Tang Baona helplessly said, “I don’t understand why. My recorded songs were obviously better before, the recording equipment and after-effects were way superior! Why didn’t my songs go viral like now when I was just singing casually? There’s no reason behind this popularity, the intensity of this has terrified me…”

Indeed, when she first gained sudden fame from “Learning Cat’s Meow” which she posted to simply meet the update quota, she felt a little proud and happy.

However, a few months later, she was so popular it was almost exaggerated. By now, online or over major social media platforms, “Princess Tangdou” or “Super Princess” is almost a household name. Even older men and women who rarely use Weibo, Zhihu, Douban, B-site, and other platforms, may not know the name of “Princess Tangdou”. But as soon as they hear her song, they have an “Oh~~~” reaction. They’ve heard it all over the place, through all kinds of channels.

Not only the songs Tang Baona covered went viral during this time, but to test whether it was due to those songs or her singing, she also sang some fragments of her own works. These weren’t complete, lasting only forty or fifty seconds to a little over a minute. Moreover, most were sung a cappella.

However, these small original song snippets are also going viral. As soon as they’re posted, they immediately get shared all over the internet.

These days, many people are guessing who “Princess Tangdou” is. Some say she is a future star pushed by big capital, while others say she is just a “traffic internet celebrity singer” hyped up by cyber-agents. Tang Baona is rather worried about her real identity being exposed. Although she likes being noticed online, likes to share her works, likes having more people listen to her songs and watch her videos, she is well aware of her actual skill level and knows she’s not a professional. Moreover, she doesn’t want to become an internet celebrity or a proper entertainer, she doesn’t want to live in the public eye, that’s why even when she gained so many fans on Bilibili, she never showed her face in her singing videos.

Xiang Kun naturally knew about Tang Baona’s somewhat conflicting and slightly fearful concerns and laughed, “Don’t worry, no one can expose your real identity online, the legal departments of these companies can help you with this, there’s no problem, the internet is not a lawless place. All you need to do is sing and release songs. If you want to release them, do so, if you don’t, then don’t. Completely disregard what others think, just be happy.”

“Legal department… Is that possible? Aren’t legal means used only when something has already happened, for pursuing afterward?” Tang Baona asked with some concern.

Xiang Kun laughed, “Don’t worry, I’m very certain, it’s definitely useful. Digital information is regulated too, you must believe my judgment on internet matters.” Relying solely on the legal department wasn’t reliable, but what he was relying on was Alice.

Xiang Kun knew Tang Baona’s thoughts clearly, if she truly didn’t want the songs she released to attract so much attention, then even if these songs could greatly accelerate the launch of the “Super-connected Objects” and provide substantial help, he would decisively have Alice halt all covert operations, launches, and influence of songs, and think of other ways.

But he knew, Nana was merely worried that her songs were becoming highly popular now, and she was afraid that if people knew her identity, it would bring a lot of trouble. She could be recognized anywhere she goes and would have paparazzi stalking wherever she goes, leaving no privacy.

And these were things that Xiang Kun could prevent. He and Alice have absolute control over information transmission, ensuring that even if a few people know Nana’s identity, there would be no way for the information to get circulated at a public level, let alone allowing anyone to disrupt Nana’s normal life.

“Nana, remember the VR-related project I told you to discuss with Zhang Qian last month? We need to produce some related content later on, including games, films, and so on. I have an idea to create a VR virtual singer, using a second generation image. If you’re willing, let’s turn your ‘Princess Tangdou’ into a virtual singer. At that time, you can take care of the appearance, character setting etc, you can shape the person. You can also do the voice-over, motion capture and all that.”

Sure enough, when Xiang Kun finished his words, Tang Baona, who had the soul of an ‘old-gen otaku’, her eyes immediately brightened, and said with great interest: “Is there really such a plan? Do we have the necessary technology reserves, technical support?”

“You don’t need to worry about the technical issues, we can surely work it out.” Xiang Kun affirmed with a smile.

After boarding the plane, the three of them sat in the same row, Xiang Kun by the aisle, Nana in the middle, and Brother Three by the window.

Because of what Xiang Kun said before, it put Tang Baona’s mind at ease. Moreover, passengers around might overhear, so they stopped discussing “Princess Tangdou”.

“Xiang Kun, I wanna ask you something.” Tang Baona said softly out of the blue.

“Hmm? Go ahead.” Xiang Kun could guess instantly what she wanted to ask.

“The house we stayed in at Chongyun Village… Did you… see anything special… inside?”

“Special things?”

“I mean… how to say… unlike the usual…”

Before Tang Baona could finish, Yang Zhen’er poked her head out and said to Xiang Kun, “What Nana means is, have you seen any ghosts in the house.”

“Go away! See your big-headed ghost! You’re the one who saw a ghost!” Tang Baona, offended and embarrassed, pinched Yang Lao San’s cheek and shook it.

While struggling, Yang Lao San continued to mumble, “Chef Xiang, I told you before, it seems like Nana is possessed after her stay in Chongyun Village. She’s been acting weird, often talking to thin air. Should we arrange a ritual to exorcise her?”

“Exorcise your head! I’m going to exorcise you first!” Tang Baona pinched her nose.

After messing around with Yang Lao San for a while, she let go of her for fear of disturbing other passengers. A little embarrassed, she said to Xiang Kun, “I don’t know if it’s just my hallucination… um, well, let’s say it’s just my imagination. Like, I think there’s a ‘little elf’ in Chongyun Village, who has become my guardian companion. She always follows me around, and whenever I get into any trouble, she comes out to hep me. And I’ve always felt that… my performances have been better lately, and that might have something to do with her. She might have ‘enchanted’ my songs, which is why they have become so popular…”

Before Tang Baona could finish speaking, Yang Zhen’er leaned on her shoulder and burst into laughter, “Nana… you are so cute… a little elf… enchanting songs… oh, my stomach hurts.”

“Go away, I wasn’t talking to you, tilt your head and go to sleep.” Tang Baona repulsed, pushing Yang Lao San’s head away.

Xiang Kun said, “In fact, the reality of this objective world is different for each of us. Our senses determine what we perceive the world to be like and what our perception of the world is. Like Xiao Pingguo, she was blind from childhood, and without the concept of light, her knowledge of the world is essentially different from ours, which is based on visual information. Like Xiao LingDang, she has her own magical worldview which is different from that of adults and other children. So Nana, there are reasons for your unique perceptions of the world. You don’t need to care about what others think, you can trust your own thoughts and feelings.”

Tang Baona nodded thoughtfully, while Yang Zhen’er suddenly leaned forward, turned to look at Xiang Kun, pulled out a coin, and flipped it smoothly on the back of her hand: “Chef Xiang, are you spreading some weird power through these ‘Lucky Coins’? Or… are you looking for people with a talent for coin tricks? To find an owner for the magical coins?”

Tang Baona had been dwelling on Xiang Kun’s words, but she burst into laughter at Yang Lao San’s remark.

Xiang Kun also chuckled, “Not only am I spreading weird powers through coins, but I’m also spreading magical powers through erasers. Didn’t you get one too, Ms. Rubber Woman Triathlete!”

“Oh please, you are the true bubble shrimp! By the way, you gave Xiao LingDang a magic carpet, no… a crumpled A4 paper, can you give me one too? I feel there is something magical about that paper as well. The paper plane I folded from that scrap paper flies better than those made from stiff cardboard. I also have some sort of special feeling towards that paper plane…” Yang Zhen’er said to Xiang Kun, leaning over Tang Baona.

“You might want to pay attention to the plane we are on first,” Xiang Kun said.

“What for?”

“Do you feel anything special? If you do, I’ll give you this plane.” Xiang Kun laughed.

“Hey, be serious, Chef Xiang!”

“Am I not being serious? Come on, feel it…”

They kept joking and laughing all the way until the plane was over Jianzhou City and began to descend.

Suddenly, Xiang Kun stopped bantering and joking with Yang Zhen’er, and looked gravely ahead.

“Fasten your seatbelts.” Xiang Kun suddenly took the tablet from Tang Baona’s hand, pushed Yang Zhen’er, who was leaning over Nana, upright, and checked both their seatbelts.

The next moment, the plane jolted violently.

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