What It's Like Being a Vampire

From the moment he entered, Xiang Kun had actually already started establishing cognitive models for everyone in the room. This process is continuous, especially with people like Xie Peng and Linlin, whom he barely knew or Qin Ping, whom he was meeting for the first time. A word, an action, an expression from them all could change Xiang Kun’s cognitive model of them.

Through this cognitive model, merging and incorporating all the information, Xiang Kun could make judgments in social settings involving multiple people more smoothly and efficiently.

Just like now, seated at his left is Chang Bin, who is laughing while introducing the status of their wedding preparations to everyone along with Wang Han.

However, based on the cognitive model, Xiang Kun instantly concludes Chang Bin is actually rather worn out and not in high spirits, even somewhat irritable. From his physical reactions while discussing certain matters, the main reason was likely tied to wedding preparations. Perhaps the numerous tiresome details that needed hashing out as well as having to handle his company affairs, made him a bit tired.

In contrast, Wang Han, who was seated on Chang Bin’s other side, was in much higher spirits. When discussing the same matters, her physical responses are much more positive. Also, her taste in food was very similar to Tang Baona’s. Hence, she was enjoying most dishes on the table and often taking food from them.

Next to Wang Han was Baoting, Tang Baona’s sister. She and Gao Yao were also starting to discuss marriage. Therefore, she was very interested in Chang Bin and Wang Han’s wedding preparations and was the one asking most of the questions. Her interest in the topic was even greater than Wang Han’s. As per the feedback data from her interaction, her main points of interest were choosing the wedding venue, decoration style, and the style of wedding photos.

However, next to Tang Baoting was her fiancé, Gao Yao, who was relatively unexpressive. If not directly addressed with a question, he was mostly either eating or checking his phone and did not actively participate in the conversation. But according to Xiang Kun’s cognitive model of him, this was not because he had any objections about the wedding or Tang Baoting, but because he always acted in this manner. He was not accustomed to, nor did he like to participate in topics he was not good at, for fear of misspeaking or causing an awkward silence. In this respect, he was somewhat similar to Xiang Kun’s past self.

Next to Gao Yao were Xie Peng and his wife Linlin. As the only married couple present with “marriage experience”, they occasionally provided some of their advice and answered the doubts of the two “rehearsing” couples. They did have a divorce incident previously, even obtaining their divorce certificate. While they reconciled quickly, Xiang Kun judged through the cognitive model established for them, compared to their situation when he first met them at the KTV booth, the dispute had a significant impact on their relationship.

Compared to that, Linlin was more emotionally lively, whereas Xie Peng, though he had appeared very outgoing before dinner, still showed some resentment concerning the topic of weddings from his physical data responses. The feelings between them were not as strong as they were over two months ago.

Next to Linlin was Qin Ping, Yang Zhen Er’s classmate. She was a girl of average looks, small build, but very cheerful and seemed interested in everything. Although it was her first time meeting most of the people at the table, she could participate in any topic and was able to keep the conversation going. From the cognitive model Xiang Kun established of her, rather than trying to cater, she was genuinely interested. Initially, she was mostly paying attention to Gao Yao, given he was quite handsome. Later, her attention mainly shifted to Wang Han and Xie Peng because both of them made the conversation more humorous and interesting, even talking about the same thing; they could make it more attractive and funnier.

Next to Qin Ping was Yang Zhen Er. Other than promoting the taste of every dish forcefully at the beginning, she focused on the food once everyone started eating. The majority of the dishes, especially the ones Xiang Kun specifically customized and prepared for her taste, ended up in her stomach. Of course, due to her capricious nature, she still hows her comments on various topics but now she was engrossed in eating a piece of Crispy Pig’s Elbow, while also shooting a video on her phone, clearly to tease Old Xia.

At Yang Zhen Er’s left-hand side and Xiang Kun’s right-hand side was Tang Baona, about whom, Xiang Kun’s cognitive model was the most complete among all others present.

And now, she was using the chopsticks, for which Xiang Kun had established “Emotional Infusion”; Xiang Kun could sense her emotions in real-time through these chopsticks, making the already perfect cognitive model even more comprehensive and efficient.

Xiang Kun does not even need to look at her, or actively pay attention, yet he still knows what she is doing, what she will do next, and what she wants to do….

Xiang Kun even felt that if Tang Baona didn’t do it herself, without her needing to voice it, he could pick up food on her behalf according to her preferences, knowing her favorite dish, when she wants to eat which dish, when she wants to stop eating and drink a beverage, when she wants to drink red wine, when she wants to drink water.

Of course, this extremely comprehensive and efficient cognitive model cannot guarantee its efficiency at all times. If the location changes and there are substantial changes in environmental variables, the accuracy of prediction and judgment would correspondingly decrease.

“Bin, was it last year or the year before, when you mentioned a card game that was really fun to play, in the group chat? I think that game is a product of Brother Xie’s company.” Xiang Kun took advantage of a lull in the conversation to casually asked Chang Bin.

“Which game… oh, the one recommended by Zi Cheng? That one is indeed pretty good. Is it produced by Mr. Xie’s company?” Chang Bin also asked in surprise. He only knew from Tang Baona’s introduction that Xie Peng was the art director of some game company, but he had no idea about the name of the company.

Xie Peng was stunned for a moment, then laughed: “Brother Xiang, the game you’re talking about was not developed by our company. But we do have similar games, and the graphics are even better.”

Xiang Kun laughed and said he must have remembered wrong. Then, he managed to guide the conversation onto the topic of games, which got Xie Peng and Chang Bin discussing about games.

Although Chang Bin himself has never been as fond of playing games as Xiang Kun and Zi Cheng since college times, it was clear that he too wanted to change the topic. He didn’t want to continue discussing the details of the wedding, so he hit it off quite well with Xie Peng.

When Xie Peng started talking about a new Beta version of a game that his company just launched, Xiang Kun realized from the feedback of his cognitive model that Gao Yao, who had been looking at his phone, was now listening to Xie Peng’s game discussion, even though his eyes were still on the phone.

Even the ladies who were just enthusiastically discussing the wedding and wedding photos were drawn to this topic. In this era, there are almost as many female gamers as there are male gamers. There are a lot of female fans of games like Honor of Kings, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and LOL.

Xiang Kun did not mistake the production company of the card game, but rather said so deliberately in an attempt to direct the conversation.

Looking at the effect so far, it was quite successful.

If the comfort level of everyone’s emotions could be measured in numbers, Xiang Kun believed that the change of topic could significantly increase the overall emotional comfort value of the table.

“The game is set in an imagined wasteland, or apocalyptic ruins. Each player can create their own skills by collecting props and resources according to their different attributes. Our game framework is very flexible, and there won’t necessarily be battles. The professions are also not very rigid, and free to choose. The key lies in the combination and synthesis of skills.” Xie Peng introduced their Beta version game.

“What if I don’t want to fight, but others want to fight me?” Tang Baoting asked.

Yang Zhen Er immediately said, “Then we’ll form a group to beat him up!”

Tang Baona laughed, “My sister doesn’t like fighting in any games she plays, she just loves to do all kinds of farming, raising pets, and collecting.”

Xie Peng laughed and said, “We have safe zones. In the safe zone, others can’t touch you, the system guards are the strongest.”

Then everyone at the table began to enthusiastically discuss how to match their attributes and develop their own skills. The one who discussed it most excitedly was Gao Yao – yes, he was no longer fiddling with his phone, instead, he was brightly discussing it, even starting to gesticulate.

Tang Baona leaned over and asked Xiang Kun in a low voice, “If you could, what kind of skill would you choose to develop?”

Without any hesitation, Xiang Kun replied directly, “A skill that reveals the full map, allowing me to see the positions, attributes, and skills of all players.”

Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er, who were sitting next to him, blinked in surprise. The others at the table also gave him odd looks.

Usually, people who play these games are peace-loving like Tang Baoting, who prefer to stay hidden farming and raising pets. They would mostly focus on developing skills to strengthen themselves or enhance their farming and pets raising. Who does purely scouting needs?

However, after a moment of surprise, Gao Yao’s eyes lit up, “Brilliant! If one has this skill, they would be awesome!” Then, he turned to Xie Peng, “Old Xie, can we develop such a skill?”

Xie Peng laughed, “That’s not a skill, that’s a cheat…”

Then, their discussion shifted again from games – this time to: “If we were to gain superpowers in real life, what superpowers would we most hope to acquire?”

The answers were diverse and some were utterly odd, like Wang Han, whose desired superpower was, surprisingly enough, to have her cat, “Alsace,” be able to speak human language.

The superpower Yang Zhen’er wanted was to be able to make it so that no one could refuse any request she made and no one could argue with what she said. After everyone unanimously decided that this superpower was overly potent and a little OP, she had to revise it to: no one could contradict or refuse her requests on the spot, but couldn’t control what they did.

As for Tang Baona, even Xiang Kun, who had already built a comprehensive cognitive model and thought he understood her well, couldn’t guess her desired superpower correctly in advance. The superpower she wanted was ‘to acquire double time.’ Because, with that, she could be more at ease when dealing with her work, and have more time to learn, watch dramas, read comics, make videos, and so on.

“Why don’t you just say you don’t need to sleep or eat or drink or use the restroom?” said Yang Zhen’er, “If you sleep about ten hours a day, plus mealtime and washroom breaks, that’s about half the day anyway, isn’t it?”

“That won’t do, you have to sleep. Also, eating and such are equally necessary. Otherwise, wouldn’t I cease to be a person?” Tang Baona argued.

Xiang Kun, sitting across from her, unconcernedly scratched his nose.

No one noticed his reaction.

Gao Yao continued, “So how would your ability work? Would your own actions speed up while others slow down to give you double the time, or would you be given an extra 24 hours after the first 24 in which everyone else paused?”

Tang Baona hesitated for a moment, then responded, “That…that’s strange, don’t you think? Whether it’s me speeding up, or everyone else slowing down…uh…never mind, I don’t want this power anymore. I’ll swap it for eternal youth instead, haha!”

“Huh? Eternal youth? I want that too!” Yang Zhen’er chimed in immediately.

“No, you already have a superpower!” Tang Baona instantly pointed out.

Yang Zhen’er glared at her, “Look, you’re contradicting me! It means I don’t have that power yet, so I can select another one…”

Tang Baoting couldn’t help but laugh, “You two instantly became childish again, there are so many people watching…”

Feeling the lively chatter at the table, Xiang Kun was very satisfied with his minor adjustment. Following this, he continued to adjust the topic of conversation based on everyone’s real-time status. Such as knowing that Yang Zhen’er’s classmate, Qin Ping, was interested in music and anime, he chatted with Tang Baona about a few details of “One Punch Man”, extended it to the production of domestic and foreign animation music, and pulled Xie Peng, Linlin, and others into the topic.

After a while, through discussions on the game, they got to the topics of wood carvings and handicrafts, triggering Gao Yao and Xie Peng to start talking. Chang Bin also mentioned some interesting things that happened when they were hosting a few game and anime-themed activities.

Each time he guided the conversation, Xiang Kun just participated briefly, inciting responses from others. Once more people joined the conversation, he subtly “withdrew”, refrained from interrupting, and became an observer, maintaining the maximum emotional engagement of everyone.

Xiang Kun pondered that if he could provide everybody at the table with chopsticks equipped with “Emotional Infusion”, it would probably make it more convenient for him to establish people’s cognitive model at the table, and also more accurately sense and control everyone’s emotions in real time, which would help him more efficiently influence the conversation.

This meal dragged on for a particularly long time, not only because of the delicious food that Xiang Kun prepared but also due to everyone’s lively conversation. Coupled with the several ladies having drinks and the atmosphere becoming heated, naturally, they were unwilling to leave so soon. After quickly cleaning up the table, they moved to the couch and started discussing whether or not to play a game.

There were plenty of games that ten people could play, but not a lot. However, after some discussion, under the strong advice of Xie Peng and Linlin, the others also began urging Xiang Kun to sing a song.

Chang Bin had also heard Xiang Kun singing in a bar before and knew that he now sang with an impressive feel. He had told Wang Han about it when he returned home, so he wanted Xiang Kun to do a live performance for Wang Han, so that she could see for herself that Chang Bin wasn’t lying when he had said that Xiang Kun received a round of applause in the bar.

I have a unique new book recommendation: “I Have Possessed the Sun God.” It’s a backstage manipulator type, about a person who possessed a different dimension sun god and wanders between two worlds.