Data

Chapter 15: Data

When Xiang Kun opened his eyes, he checked his phone:

10:27 p.m., July 25.

Thinking back, he'd already been somewhat out of it before falling asleep last night, and had forgotten to start the stopwatch.

But he roughly remembered checking the time for the last time at around 8:50-something p.m., so he must have fallen asleep a little after nine.

The first time he drank blood and fell asleep, Xiang Kun hadn't recorded the exact duration, but he knew he'd slept for about 27 hours. The second time, he'd started a timer before going to sleep: 25 hours and 17 minutes.

This time seemed to be about the same, a little over 25 hours.

The first time had been an anomaly, so he could leave it out of the sample for now. The last two durations had been nearly identical, enough to draw a rough conclusion: after drinking blood, he needed at least 25 hours of sleep, which was basically the same as disappearing for an entire day.

Xiang Kun decided to set an alarm the next time he slept and see whether it could forcibly wake him during the process.

Then he began checking for changes in his body. First, he looked at the three books set up some distance away. He'd been using them to train his eyesight.

The lights in the room were on, so lighting wasn't an issue. But after taking one look, Xiang Kun stood up and moved one of the books farther away. Then he stepped backward one step at a time until he was backed up against the wall.

Before drinking blood for the third time, his eyesight had already been somewhat better than an ordinary person's, but he definitely wouldn't have been able to make out the words in that book from this distance. He couldn't even read them from a little closer.

But now every word on the page was clear.

And he knew that even if he moved the book another meter or so away, he would still be able to read it.

He pulled back the curtains and opened the window, gazing out into the night. For a moment, Xiang Kun felt as if the whole world had become clearer, as though someone had cranked up the resolution.

Without spending any more time testing the changes to his eyesight, Xiang Kun took off his clothes, weighed himself, and measured his arms, thighs, and waist. They had all increased noticeably.

His weight had gone from 87.4 kilograms last time to 91.7 kilograms.

In fact, he'd weighed himself last night before drinking blood. He'd been 87.1 kilograms, a slight drop from his weight after the second time.

The rabbit's blood he'd drunk, along with the glass of water he'd had afterward, couldn't have weighed more than 400 grams in total.

Judging by the increase in his muscle measurements, it was obvious that all the extra weight had gone to his muscles.

Xiang Kun tested how long he could hold his breath, too. His previous best, before drinking blood for the third time, had been 8 minutes and 44 seconds. Now it had jumped straight to 11 minutes and 35 seconds.

As far as Xiang Kun could tell, both his eyesight and lung capacity, which he'd focused on training over the past few days, had improved significantly.

Of course, he still couldn't say for certain that these improvements were directly related to his training.

He'd have to wait until he went to the gym tomorrow and test how much progress he'd made on the left-arm curls he'd focused on over the past few days. His right arm had originally been stronger than his left. If his physical changes were just a general improvement in fitness after drinking blood, then his right arm should still be stronger. But if his left arm had improved dramatically, that would prove that his training during this period had directly influenced the direction of his post-blood-drinking transformation.

That was why he'd been training only his left arm and completely neglecting his right.

Even without testing on the gym equipment, though, the measurements of his upper arms and his subjective sense of strength already made it clear that his left arm was noticeably stronger than his right.

As usual, he recorded all the changes and measurements in his body, took photos, and saved everything. Looking at his own picture, Xiang Kun furrowed his brow. If he kept doing high-intensity strength training at the gym, wouldn't his muscles grow too quickly?

Online, fitness beginners often worried aloud before joining a gym: "I don't want to turn into a muscle freak. Big muscles look bad." Then a lot of experienced gym-goers would respond with scornful exasperation, explaining that muscles like that didn't come easily. They took a lot of time, systematic and scientifically planned training, and a carefully planned diet with plenty of food and supplements. Some people even used drugs like steroids.

But Xiang Kun really was facing that problem now. Judging by how his body had changed after drinking blood this time, if he kept up such high-intensity strength training, he'd probably turn into a "muscle monster" after a few more rounds of blood drinking.

On one hand, such a drastic change in his physique over a short period could attract unwanted attention and speculation. On the other, overly bulky muscles could affect his agility. It seemed he'd have to make some changes to his training regimen and focus.

After drinking blood this time, Xiang Kun had obtained several important figures:

1. After drinking blood, it took about six days for hunger to return. Subtracting the 25 hours he spent asleep afterward, that left him with five days between feedings when he could go about his life without being affected. And these were five full days of 24 hours each, because he didn't need to rest, sleep, or eat.

2. From the onset of hunger to losing control of his emotions and beginning to act erratically took around 22 hours. However, when he reviewed the videos of himself "reciting classical poetry" that he'd started recording on the evening of the 23rd, he saw that if hunger struck at night, he already showed obvious, uncontrollable restlessness from the fourth hour onward. If it struck during the day, he should be able to hold up much better.

3. From feeling sleepy after drinking blood to being unable to fight it and falling asleep took about an hour and a half.

He couldn't guarantee that these figures would remain accurate, but at least they gave him a point of reference and allowed him to prepare in advance.

Xiang Kun glanced at his phone and saw that after he'd replied to Tang Baona the night before last with "Sorry, something came up and I can't make it," she'd answered, "It's okay, let's meet another time," followed by a sulky emoji.

Judging from the chat alone, Xiang Kun came across as cold and uncaring. Tang Baona probably wouldn't reach out to him again, even if she hadn't blocked him.

But it would be too late to send another message now to explain, and besides, this was the outcome he'd wanted.

Thinking of that lovely, pretty girl with her cheerful, open personality, Xiang Kun let out a regretful sigh.

He just hadn't expected to run into Tang Baona at the gym the very next day.

A little after seven that evening, Xiang Kun came out of the gym and was about to head home when he ran right into Tang Baona downstairs. She was on her way to a yoga class.