Upon returning home, Ken opened his notebook and recorded the strength data he had gathered at the gym that day. He then went to check on the meat rabbit. After refreshing its food and water, he paid it no further attention. After all, it was "sustenance," not a "pet," and it was best not to become overly familiar.
For the time being, Ken decided not to initiate drinking blood voluntarily. He wanted to see how long it would take for the hunger to manifest naturally after his last feeding. He glanced at his WeChat, which he had set to no notifications. Unless he actively checked it, he wouldn't know if anyone had messaged him.
Zhao Lei had sent him the WeChat ID and phone number of the girl he intended to introduce to Ken and had already arranged a place for them to meet the following evening. Zhao Lei had initially planned to go with Wang Han to accompany them, thinking that having familiar faces on both sides would prevent awkwardness and potential silences during the first meeting.
However, Ken declined, suggesting that their presence might actually hinder him and the girl from getting to know each other naturally, as everyone would likely be more reserved. Since he put it that way, Zhao Lei couldn't very well insist on bringing his fiancée along as a third wheel. He merely offered a few words of advice: to be on his best behavior, find topics to talk about, be more open, and act gentlemanly to leave a good impression.
Ken's reply was naturally affirmative, but in his heart, he was already contemplating how to bring this arranged meeting arranged meeting to a swift and dignified conclusion. Yet, he quickly realized he was worrying needlessly. Logically speaking, if the girl was really as Zhao Lei had described, she would most likely not be interested in him anyway. His previous arranged meeting experiences had proven this point; whether in terms of personal charm or objective conditions, Ken found it difficult to attract decent young women. He had little dating experience to begin with and wasn't particularly skilled at interacting with the opposite s*x.
Therefore, to end the arranged meeting early without appearing deliberate or making things awkward for Zhao Lei and Wang Han, it seemed he simply needed to be his authentic self.
…
Ken reviewed the information his crawler script had collected from the internet. After filtering out most fictional works and related reviews or commentaries, he found numerous "case descriptions" of adults growing new teeth, undergoing large-scale skin shedding and renewal, and spontaneous recovery from myopia. However, even cases of adult "teeth replacement" usually involved only a single tooth, often due to issues with baby teeth not being properly replaced by permanent teeth during childhood. As for skin shedding or myopia recovery, these were mostly extreme, isolated cases, and none occurred as rapidly as his changes had.
Furthermore, he found no information whatsoever about several of these conditions occurring simultaneously, coupled with an ability to consume only fresh animal blood and vomiting anything else eaten. Although his web crawler was far from completing its task, he stopped the script anyway. He knew that continuing with the current search parameters would yield nothing helpful. He modified the rules, excluding the previous types of useless information, and restarted the process.
The inability to find anyone with the same or similar "symptoms" deepened Ken's unease. Whether he was the first person to undergo such physical changes due to an unknown Factor X, or whether related information was being deliberately concealed or suppressed, neither scenario was particularly favorable for him.
He had initially considered posting an anonymous account of part of his experience under relevant questions on Zhihu, to see if anyone with a similar experience would contact him. Alternatively, he thought about posing questions on medical or biotech forums or platforms, hoping for some explanations. Professional students or researchers would certainly have clearer insights into related "case studies" and "pathology" than he did.
But upon further reflection, he decided against leaking any details about his condition for now, even online.
Another sleepless night passed. Ken realized that now, aside from possibly falling asleep after drinking blood due to the need for digestion, he felt no drowsiness at any other time, day or night, and had no need for sleep. Of course, it was also possible that he hadn't been continuously awake long enough yet; perhaps after several more days, he would need sleep even without feeding.
But for now, he had nearly twice as much time as before for tasks and contemplation. Not only did he not need to sleep, but he also didn't need to eat. His physical stamina and energy levels were significantly higher than before, and he found it easier to concentrate and maintain physical condition.
Looking at the documents and pictures he had recorded over the past few days, and reviewing the changes in his body after the two blood feedings, Ken fell into thought. An idea emerged:
The bodily changes after both feedings could be seen as an enhancement of physical functions to some degree. But was this enhancement following a fixed pattern, or would it vary based on the type of blood consumed and his activities beforefeeding?
It was like an ordinary person going to the gym for strength training to build muscle: intense training breaks down muscle fibers, then protein supplementation leads to supercompensation, increasing muscle mass and strength. If you focus on bench presses and other exercises targeting the chest and triceps, the volume and strength of those specific muscles increase. Targeted training leads to targeted improvement.
After the second feeding of rabbit blood, Ken's strength had increased remarkably. Was this dramatic improvement directly related to the extensive push-ups and other bodyweight exercises he had done beforehand? If so, what was the upper limit of this enhancement? Could it exceed normal human limits? Besides muscles, could other abilities also be improved?
His body was now fundamentally different from an ordinary person's, so the mechanisms for muscle and strength improvement likely differed as well. But the underlying principle might be similar: the body perceives its limits, then initiates various hormonal and other regulations to enhance specific capabilities, aiding survival.
Ken decided to conduct targeted "training" before his next feeding to determine the pattern of physical changes post-feeding.
As for the "training" items and content, Ken created a new document:
Isolated left arm strength training: Dumbbell curls, etc.
Visual acuity training: Practicing discerning objects at a distance.
Lung capacity training: Practicing breath-holding.
The first training required waiting until daytime to go to the gym. The second and third could begin immediately. In truth, Ken wasn't sure if these exercises would be effective; he was merely experimenting.
He found three books and placed them at the maximum distance where he could just barely not make out the words. He recorded this distance in his document. Then, he continuously shifted his gaze between the three books, trying to read the text clearly. After ten minutes of this, he began breath-holding, recording his maximum time in the document.
He repeated this cycle over and over until dawn broke.