What It's Like Being a Vampire

Xia Libing glanced to the side, where a petite, plump girl, decked in a black hooded robe, was staring intently at the “grilled chicken wing” that had co-manifested in her dream via the ‘Super-connected Objects’.

Xia Libing, of course, knew who this little girl was — it was Liu Shiling, the little girl who lived in room 706 next to Xiang Kun. She had appeared in all her dreams recently.

According to Xiang Kun, this little girl was the projection of the “Emotional Infusion Item” that triggered the dream, and serves as the connection point between it and the dream.

Xiang Kun had explained that different ‘Emotional Infusion Items’ create different projections in the dream, depending on the types of emotions and the perceptions of people affected by them.

The reason why the dream projection of the chopsticks given to her ended up being this little girl was because Xiang Kun had previously sensed the emotions of this little girl while eating, then transformed those feelings and infused them into the chopsticks to complete the “Emotional Infusion”.

However, previously, whenever she became “aware” in the dream, the little girl, serving as emotional projection, would cease any specific action and revert to merely being a backdrop. Because when she is “awake”, all other existences in the dream are driven by her consciousness, and the consciousness of others in the dream is hers.

But at this moment, the little girl, looking up at her yearningly holding the chicken wing, seemed somewhat different from the emotional projection of the Emotional Infusion Item chopsticks.

Apart from other things, the set of clothes on the little girl was something Xia Libing had never seen before.

This hooded robe, judging by the style and the special gold patterns along the edges, looked like a robe for COSPLAY?

But the issue was, the material seemed like a fleece fabric found in hoodies? There were even two strings hanging from the hooded bear resembling that of a sports hoodie, and its hem swept the ground.

On top of the hood, there were two decorative pieces that looked like cat ears, and her belt buckle astoundingly was a Garfield cat’s head.

This mixed style was certainly not imaginable by Xia Libing.

Moreover, her name changed from “Old Xia sister” in previous dreams to “Sister”, and her attitude towards Xia Libing also has a conspicuous difference.

The same goes for the erratic changes in the dream environment, the unfamiliar and surreal surroundings with overly simplified and crude mountains and canyons.

Both the environment and the little girl have ceased to be under Xia Libing’s control and were foreign entities.

She knew that this was certainly Xiang Kun’s doing, but was unsure how he managed to do it.

“Sister, that chicken wing of yours looks delicious.”

The little girl looking up at her didn’t get a response, so she spoke again.

Although not explicitly said, the tone of her speech, coupled with her pleading expression and gaze, were evidently asking: can I have a bite?

So, Xia Libing acquainted her with the chicken wing that was just co-manifested, then asked, “Are you Liu Shiling?”

The little girl cheerfully accepted the visually appetizing grilled chicken wing, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, unconsciously replied, “Yeah!” But soon thought of something and looked up, earnestly saying, “No, no, I am the… most adorable, most powerful Great Wizard from the Sunshine World. I fight alongside the monster hunters and the great illuminating Archer against the evil monsters from the abyss!”

After solemnly introducing herself, she again turned towards Xia Libing with a beaming smile and said, “Sister, I’ve seen you before, you and a few other sisters have been to Uncle Bald’s house for dinner together.”

While stating, she looked at the grilled chicken wing in her hand and said, “Thank you, sister, I love grilled chicken wings. It’s just one tiny bit behind spicy rabbit meat, braised rabbit, dry fried rabbit, rabbit hot pot, chocolate, ice cream, chocolate ice cream, chocolate pancakes, plain pancakes, scrambled noodles, lamb noodles … umm… and fried chicken wings, fried shrimp… umm… thank you, sister.”

Finishing her rambling, she finally opened her mouth wide to bite into the chicken wing.

But as soon as she took a bite, instead of feeling the silky, tender, and juicy chicken wing, her teeth clanged together making a crisp sound.

The little girl looked at her empty hand in a daze, her eyes filled with astonishment and incredulity.

Seeing this, Xia Libing found it a bit strange. She had tasted the food she co-manifested in her dream; she could actually “eat” it.

Could it be that the little girl couldn’t eat it because she wasn’t created in her dream, and was not from the same system?

However, another possibility came to her mind. But as she was about to conduct a more detailed experiment, she suddenly noticed a dramatic change in the surrounding environment.

Thick clouds were swirling in the sky, and lightning dragons were surging. The sound of thunder echoed constantly, as if a lightning storm was about to arrive. A strong wind started to blow on the mountaintop where they were standing. Silhouettes started to appear in the valleys far away as if an enormous army was gathering.

Somewhere not too far away, two short, stout figures clad in silver armor fell from the sky, one with a completely black face, and the other completely white, but their facial features were indistinct.

However, Xia Libing could clearly see the armor on their bodies; there were massive Arabic numerals “1” on their chests, with “2008” beneath one “1” and “2006” beneath the other.

Xia Libing curiously watched as the two chunky Silver Armor Warriors walked up to the little girl, each carrying a gigantic silver box. The warriors set them down with a thud in front of the girl, then knelt on one knee, making themselves the same height as her.

The little girl began earnestly to open one of the boxes, but within the box was another box, and within that box, yet another box…

Once all the boxes were opened, lying within the final, small square box, was an extremely ordinary-looking strip of chocolate.

The other large box, too, contained box after box, until at last, within its innermost box, there sat a neatly arranged ice cream cone.

Seeing the little girl presenting herself—one hand holding the chocolate bar, the other the ice cream cone—was an unexpected sight for Xia Libinging, even within the dream.

Honestly speaking, just moments ago, Xia Libing had thought that because she didn’t eat the grilled chicken wing, this young girl may have appeared in her dream in a huff since her summoned Silver Armor Warriors could potentially be holding weapons in their large boxes.

Who would have expected, it was ice cream and chocolate? Was this some form of… sugar bomb?

“Sister, this is for you to eat,” the little girl said, stretching out the chocolate and ice cream even farther towards Xia Libing.

After receiving them and taking a closer look, Xia Libing quickly polished off both items.

She noticed that at first, both the chocolate and ice cream had a surreal and hardly tangible feeling, but with each subsequent bite, that changed. She could feel the ten ‘super-connected objects’ she had guided into her dreamland—’automatically’ constructing and exhibiting these two items of food, ‘automatically’ filling in the details, causing them to become ‘co-manifestations’ like Napoleon Cake and Crispy Pig’s Elbow.

She was almost certain that, upon waking from this dream, she could in reality, manifest this ice cream cone and chocolate as tangible items.

Was Xiang Kun controlling everything? Xia Libing pondered.

However, she quickly discarded this suspicion: No, it was unlikely.

When the projection power from those super-connected objects turned to manifesting chocolate and ice cream, it was more along the lines of refining them in accordance with her subconscious. The emotions of the little girl, tied to the chopsticks, probably also influenced this process.

“Sister, is it tasty?” the little girl, looking up at Xia Libing who had finished the ice cream and chocolate, asked with expectant eyes.

The underlying message was extremely clear: I too, would like that grilled chicken wing.

After pondering a while, Xia Libing manifested a piece of Napoleon Cake while in her dream, and handed it to the little girl.

Although it wasn’t the grilled chicken wing that she craved, the cake looked just as enticing. The little girl still excitedly reached out to take it, and then carefully bit into it. After successfully capturing the cream and pastry within her mouth, she finally relaxed, her eyes squinting in delight with each bite she takes, giggling in between.

Xia Libing watched intently as the little girl ate the cake, then, in her hand, manifested another grilled chicken wing, and began eating it at her own pace.

The little girl quickly finished her cake and continued to gaze yearningly at Xia Libing.

Under the little girl’s pitiful and resentful gaze, Xia Libing slowly savored her piece of chicken wing. Only after finishing it did she manifest another new grilled chicken wing for the girl.

This time, when the girl took a bite, the wing did not disappear.

Xia Libing realized that the reason the previous grilled chicken wing she had given the little girl disappeared as soon as it hits the girl’s tongue was that she had not seriously eaten the chicken wing after manifesting it in her dreams, lacking the concept of it being ‘eaten’.

Could such an experience echo into reality—could it be reflected on the co-manifestations in the reality?

After the little girl finished her chicken wing, Xia Libing began to manifest other foods for her, watching her eat them as she cheerfully thanked Xia Libing.

Unknowingly, the dark clouds which had shrouded the sky overhead had completely dissipated. The sky was a brilliant blue, strewn with fluffy white clouds, basked in a warm and gentle sun. The two chunky silver armor-clad warriors squatted beside the little girl, their hands cradling their heads, quietly keeping her company.

In this roof-less, wall-less house, a big and small girl were seated around the dining table, feasting on an assortment of foods.

Naturally, Xiang Kun was keenly aware of everything that transpired within this dream.

He could even shift his perspective and sensorial viewpoints constantly—to savor the taste of the food Xia Libing and Liu Shiling were eating, to inspect the environment and composition of this entire dreamscape.

Honestly, although he had initiated this, the current turn of events was entirely beyond his expectation.

He was quite surprised that after sensing Liu Shiling’s chopsticks in Old Xia’s dream, provoking Liu Shiling’s dreams, the two dreams actually merged so perfectly.

Could it be that the owners of these two dreams could actually communicate within this dream space?