What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 600: Chapter 600: The Door to the New World (Complete Ending)

“Old Xia! Sister Nana has woken up!” Alice clapped her hands on the table and kicked the couch, looking at Xia Libing beside her with delight, “We did it! The boss was right on the mark!”

Tang Baona looked curiously left and right, touched the table in front of her, and then touched her own face. The touch felt quite real, but she knew very well this was an illusion, that this was false, it was in her own dream.

Everything around her had a vague yet real feeling. She didn’t need to look up to be able to perceive everything very clearly.

She looked down at the table in front of her, and the next instant, a cup of steaming coffee appeared. She picked it up and brought it to her. As it got closer, her glasses fogged up with the steam.

After taking a small sip of coffee, she squinted her eyes, enjoying the warmth, and let out a comfortable sigh. The fog on her glasses naturally disappeared, and the coffee in her hand also vanished.

She looked at “Old Xia” and “Mini Old Xia” Alice who were sitting in front of her. The former was still quietly sitting with her eyes fixed on her, giving off an air of contemplation and observation, just like the way she usually was. The latter, however, seemed unable to keep still, hopping around, her expression brimming with excitement, as if anticipating something.

The feeling they gave her was different from the rest of her surroundings, which she could sense and control, but not entirely so.

Being lucidly aware of dreaming while dreaming and being able to perceive various things was an amazing and fresh experience.

“Are you… also figments of my dream?” Tang Baona asked curiously.

“No! We’re real, we’re alive and kicking!” Alice stood up on the sofa, spreading her arms wide.

Xia Libing next to her pushed her head down and made her sit down, “Stop it, we’re in a dream.”

“Even in the dream, we’re very real! Sister Nana, we are real people!” Alice continued to exclaim.

Tang Baona was startled, “You mean… you’ve entered my dream?” After a brief hesitation, she asked again, “Did Xiao Lingdang, Zhen’er, Xiao Pingguo, and Xiang Kun also come to my dream earlier?”

This time, it was Xia Libing who answered, “Except for Xiang Kun, the other three were the prototypes of your dream.”

Tang Baona’s eyes lit up as she made a small fist gesture, “So the one who dressed like Saitama Sensei and punched that big bird to nothingness… was that really Xiang Kun? He came to my dream too?”

As for the situation of having real sensory interactions with others in dreams, Tang Baona accepted it quite rapidly. After all, she was still dreaming.

“No, that wasn’t Xiang Kun, that was the prototype of your subconsciousness in the dream,” Xia Libing explained.

Alice also joined in, “We were able to trigger the dream this time by focusing our emotions. Sister Nana, what you were thinking about previously tends to appear in your dreams. Sister Nana, are you often thinking about fighting monsters with everyone? Just like Xiao Lingdang!”

Tang Baona was taken aback and became a little embarrassed. She quickly changed the topic, “If that ‘Saitama Sensei’ wasn’t Xiang Kun, then where is he?”

Speaking of this, she looked around. The cafe was still empty, and the little chubby waitress was gone.

Alice spread her arms again and swayed back and forth, “The boss is everywhere!” She didn’t have many chances to appear in dreams. Previously, it was mainly in the dreams of Little Fatty Girl and Xiao Pingguo, and that also depended on Xiang Kun and Old Xia’s cooperation for her to appear. Since she fully integrated into the “Super Sensory Item System”, she rarely had opportunities to enter their dreams. Now she was so excited to enter Tang Baona’s dream and experience different dreamscapes that she could hardly contain herself. If it wasn’t for Old Xia here, she would already have been running all over the place, dragging “Sister Nana” along.

Xia Libing then said, “The fact that we can appear here, that you can wake up in the dream, and that this dream can sustain itself, all depend on him. His consciousness is ubiquitous, omniscient. Everything we do and say, our emotions and perceptions, he’s aware of all.”

Tang Baona was taken aback, subconsciously saying, “Inception?”

Then something occurred to her. She looked at Alice and asked, “How did you appear? I mean, not in the dream, but in reality. Oh, yes, the interactions before… and today, thank you so much Alice.”

Alice cheerfully said, “Sister Nana, you’ve thanked me several times already!”

“So… you’ve been by my side all along?”

“Indeed, Alice is everywhere!”

Alice’s tone was somewhat triumphant. After realizing that Alice’s voice was the young version of her own, Tang Baona found Alice’s speech strange and somewhat humorous.

“She can co-manifest in the real world. The basis of her co-manifestation is the system established by Xiang Kun, and that system is founded on things like his ‘lucky coins’ and ‘woodcarvings’.” Xia Libing answered Tang Baona’s question seriously.

Tang Baona hesitated a bit, then asked, “Why does Alice… look like you when you were a child? Zhen’er showed me your childhood photos. Alice looks almost exactly like you when you were a child.”

Xia Libing answered, “Because the ability to co-manifest Alice was developed based on Xiang Kun’s power system.”

Tang Baona was taken aback, “What do you mean? Is this power… Xiang Kun’s power or your power?”

“It’s like your ability to sense tunes from various items and perceive people’s emotions. Such an ability is ‘developed’ based on Xiang Kun’s system. It’s your ability, but the essence of it is Xiang Kun’s power,” Xia Libing explained.

“Ah! You know I can feel… those melodies?”

“It’s because of Sister Nana’s ability that we were able to wake you up!” Alice seized the opportunity to interject.

Tang Baona realized that since the arrival of Xia Libing and Alice, the rhythmic melody hadn’t stopped, just like a permanent background music.

“Who exactly is Xiang Kun?” Tang Baona couldn’t help but ask.

From Alice and Xia Libing’s words, she could gather that whether it was their abilities or her own, whether it was the various anomalies in reality or the peculiar conversation in this wakeful dream, the origin was all traced back to Xiang Kun.

Xia Libing looked at the eager little girl beside her, “Alice.”

“Alright!” Alice cheered.

The next instant, Tang Baona found that the coffee shop’s ceiling was gone, and they were looking directly at the sky. Then everything was spinning, with various objects undergoing complex changes, and the permanent background music changing at the same time.

The experience of having one’s dream manipulated and changed by others while conscious of it… was truly peculiar.

As the scene continuously rotated, shattered, and reassembled into a real environment, Tang Baona found herself and Xia Libing sitting together on a moving subway, but Alice was nowhere to be seen.

Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly noticed a dismayed office worker sitting diagonally in front of them in the originally empty carriage.

She couldn’t clearly see his face or even his outfit, but inexplicably, as soon as she laid eyes on him, she knew —— it was Xiang Kun.

Then she promptly realized, this was when Xiang Kun had just lost his job —— almost as if an instinctive consciousness was telling her this.

The scene immediately shattered and reformed, while the background music changed again.

It was a dimly lit room, she and Xia Libing stood at the door, as a muscular and bare-chested man suddenly sat up from the bed.

This time, she clearly saw the man’s face. It was the Xiang Kun she knew —— the bald Xiang Kun.

…

She saw Xiang Kun sitting in a cafe, somberly observing the flowing crowd of patrons while a one-yuan coin rolled back and forth on the back of his hand.

…

She saw Xiang Kun, dressed in a vest, shorts and slippers, dash down from the rented house and kick a violent thug with a knife away with a swift swipe of his foot;

…

She saw Xiang Kun squat in front of a chubby cute little girl, pull out a coin and say, “This is not an ordinary coin, this is your Uncle Bald’s Lucky Coin. Wearing it will bring you good luck, and it’s also a magical coin with magical powers.”

…

She saw Xiang Kun sitting side by side with Professor Li and Xiao Pingguo on a park bench, handing a coin to the girl, “You can try this ‘Object Sensing’ method. It might help you better use your hearing, your sense of smell, and perhaps even develop your sixth sense.”

…

She saw Xiang Kun sitting in his room, polishing a woodcarving under the lamp. Slowly, an eight-armed, eight-eyed black figure started to form behind him, growing larger and larger;

…

She saw Xiang Kun standing on the roof of an abandoned building, shouting down to Xia Libing who was filming below, “Old Xia, I’m coming down!” Then, he leaped down;

…

She saw Xiang Kun tangled in a life-and-death struggle with a gigantic owl on the lake shore, the brutality of it all was unparalleled;

…

She saw Xiang Kun sitting in front of the computer, stroking his chin as he said, “Alice, when you’re conversing with me, don’t call out my name directly, address me as ‘boss’.”

…

She saw Alice, dressed in a white princess dress and black shoes, standing on Xiang Kun’s shoulder, looking into the distance together, declaring in a determined tone, “Boss, we are invincible!”

…

She saw Xiang Kun floating in the center of a lightning storm, his head thrown back towards the sky, as he roared with laughter shouting, “Happy Birthday, Nana!”

…

Before she knew it, after seeing countless images, Xia Libing snapped back to reality, finding herself back in the coffee shop, with Old Xia still sitting in front of her and a noticeably quieter Alice.

“What was that just now…” Tang Baona muttered.

She had just seen numerous scenes and clips, feeling as if she somewhat understood something, yet so many new questions arose in her mind. It was as if she’d only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg. Each clip was accompanied by a melody, allowing her to understand more, in a subjective sense.

Xia Libing said, “The source of all abilities lies within Xiang Kun. However, who Xiang Kun is and how his abilities should be described varies from person to person. Sister Nana, you can define him based on your understanding which will help you to better utilize the system established by Xiang Kun and ‘develop’ abilities unique to you.”

“How to develop…” Tang Baona began asking, then suddenly recalled her own ability to perceive melodies, which brought another question to her mind, “But what can I do with this ability of mine? Compose and perform a variety of songs? Dominate the pop music industry?”

“Sister Nana, your ability is far more powerful than you could possibly imagine,” Xia Libing said.

“Much stronger!” Alice chimed in.

“Right now, Xiang Kun, or rather all of us, the entire world, are facing a threat. Sister Nana, Xiang Kun needs your help, we need your help,” Xia Libing said.

“Sister Nana, the boss needs your help, Alice needs your help, Old Xia needs your help, Xiao Pingguo needs your help, Xiao Lingdang…”

Amid Alice’s passionate voice, Xia Libing blearily opened her eyes.

Seeing the familiar ceiling and chandelier, Xia Libing realized that she was truly awake now.

She sat up from the couch and glanced at the wall clock in the living room. It was four in the morning. It seems after returning home she fell asleep on the couch thinking about Alice’s questions. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

She found herself still clutching her left wrist with her right hand, or more precisely, clutching the wristband Xiang Kun had given her.

She remembered the dream she had just had, the scenes that played out within showed her some of Xiang Kun’s secrets. Yet, she still could not fully understand her own ability, Xiang Kun’s ability, and other aspects like the various manifestations and Alice’s appearance.

But did Old Xia’s last words mean that she should imagine everything herself? Does imagining help to enhance her abilities?

Also, what is the “threat facing the world” that Old Xia mentioned?

Why didn’t he clarify it?

Sheesh, why do the truths of the world have to be so absurd?

In the end, were Yang Lao San’s wild ideas actually the closest to truth?

Am I still dreaming?

Tang Baona scratched her head and let out a bitter smile. She even felt like self-querying on Zhihu – What does it feel like when a two-dimensional house girl discovers the world is really that mythical?

She couldn’t help but think about calling Old Xia to clarify some things, but remembering his words, it was obvious he deliberately didn’t tell her the entire truth. Given Old Xia’s character, persisting in seeking answers would be useless, he’d either refuse or find a way to dodge the question.

Tang Baona stood up, walked to the balcony, looked at the distant buildings, felt the night breeze, while fiddling with the beads in her hand.

There was one thing she was sure of, her ability and Xiang Kun’s were related to the various items Xiang Kun had given her such as coins, woodcarvings, wristbands and such.

Like the bracelet Xiang Kun gifted her on Old Xia’s birthday, it must also have a similar function!

She thought about borrowing it from Old Xia sometime to see if she could gain any new perceptions.

Since Tang Baona couldn’t fall asleep, she decided to put her melody sensing ability to use, extending it from inside her home to the outside world, constantly integrating melodies to discover their unique and common characteristics.

Was Old Xia’s saying, “your ability is far more powerful than you could possibly imagine,” simply a polite remark or was it true?

Aside from composing and performing music, what else could this ability do?

Could it directly employ everything to play a melody?

As this thought occurred to her, Tang Baona suddenly thought of something. She immediately began to capture the peculiar rhythm fragments around her, not tracing their origin, but intertwining them together.

“Alice! Help me!” Tang Baona suddenly opened her eyes and shouted towards the living room.

“Sure thing!”

The next instant, the hard rock plate on the coffee table in the living room turned to powder.