The feeling of turning into a werewolf

Autonomous Morphology

Upon returning to his rented accommodation, Yan Feng found himself inexplicably elated, akin to the relief one feels after enduring days of hemorrhoids and constipation, only to experience sudden alleviation.

Reflecting on the inexplicable sense of foreboding he had felt earlier on his way back, as well as the strange itch in his gums and fingers that had surfaced while he was chasing away the yellow dog, Yan Feng couldn’t help but feel perplexed.

In hindsight, the tingling in his gums and fingers seemed directly tied to his anger at the perceived invasion of his “territory.” He speculated that if his anger could reach a certain threshold, it might even manifest in the growth of fangs and claws, leading to uncontrollable fury. Conversely, he pondered whether controlling this rage could lead to a form of transformation—an autonomous morphing of sorts.

The notion of losing control was indeed frightening, but the prospect of being able to morph at will intrigued him, much like the superheroes in fantastical films. To him, transforming into a half-human, half-beast creature was not terrifying; rather, it was the loss of rationality and the inability to control oneself that was truly alarming. If he could maintain his reason while exerting control, he believed it would be an exhilarating experience.

However, for the time being, Yan Feng was hesitant to experiment with this potential, feeling that it would be wiser to remain an ordinary human until he fully understood the nuances of losing control and mania. Furthermore, he found it astonishing that, despite not being able to see the yellow dog, he had sensed its threat through his own urine, an occurrence that felt almost surreal—akin to a mystical alarm system set up by cultivators in fantasy novels.

Could it be that wild animals in nature managed their territories in such a manner? This question eluded him for the time being, although he surmised it might relate to "biological information transmission," suspecting that his urine contained some pheromone capable of conveying information.

With work looming the next day, he resolved to delve deeper into this matter at a later date, allowing his thoughts to drift away as he slowly succumbed to slumber.

…

Yan Feng slept late that night, finally drifting off just before 2 a.m., yet he awoke naturally two and a half hours later, as if an internal clock had roused him at precisely 4 a.m.

He picked up his phone and checked the time. “I wonder what significance lies in this hour of 4 a.m. compared to the previous 11 p.m.?”

Stretching languidly and filled with curiosity, he switched off the air conditioning, rose, and opened the window to breathe in the fresh night air.

The sky had yet to brighten, and the narrow alley outside remained dark and tranquil. Still in the fresh exhilaration of his newfound abilities, he instinctively activated his night vision to survey his surroundings, then shifted his focus to his hearing, tuning in to the sounds around him before stepping onto the electronic scale to check his weight.

“75.5 kilograms—lighter than yesterday, though the decrease seems to be slowing. Is this weight loss due to not eating, or is my body fat percentage still dropping?”

After weighing himself, Yan Feng settled on the sofa for a brief moment, only for that familiar sense of agitation to return.

Rather than immediately exercising to alleviate it, he chose to remain still, attempting to suppress the sensation with sheer willpower. However, his efforts proved futile!

At 4:12 a.m., his breathing grew heavy, veins bulging on his forehead, and his fists clenched as his entire body began to tremble.

After a brief period, he suddenly opened his eyes, a savage expression overtaking him, with a glimmer of madness in his gaze.

With a jolt, he sprang from the bed and dropped to the floor, performing push-ups with reckless abandon, disregarding form entirely.

After completing fifty-five push-ups, he collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air as his expression gradually relaxed.

“That was terrifying!”

In the height of his agitation, an impulsive urge had surged within him—the desire to smash down the door and drag Yan Qiaorong from next door for a brutal confrontation, demanding to know why she had chosen to work as a princess in a nightclub.

Yan Qiaorong, petite and sweet, had initially left a positive impression on him when she first moved in, but upon discovering her occupation, he had consciously distanced himself.

In Yan Feng’s eyes, women who worked as princesses in nightclubs were often idle and lacking ambition.

While he intellectually recognized the importance of respecting others' life choices, he couldn’t shake off a lingering sense of disdain—such is the hypocrisy and contradiction inherent in humanity.

To his shock, this suppressed sentiment had been magnified by his mania.

If he didn’t find a way to mitigate this terrifying condition, he might genuinely confront Yan Qiaorong and inflict harm, leading to catastrophic consequences.

Just days prior, he had come across a news article about a middle-aged man who, armed with a kitchen knife, attacked women in the street, injuring a fifteen-year-old girl. Thankfully, someone intervened just in time, preventing a tragedy.

He had no desire to become such a lunatic.

After resting for a while to regain composure, the agitation returned.

Using the timer on his phone, Yan Feng noted that it had taken just 12 minutes and 28 seconds from the moment he collapsed to the resurgence of his mania—a significantly shorter interval compared to his recovery time from a leg injury two nights earlier.

This time, he dared not suppress his inner turmoil, quickly executing another fifty-five push-ups before collapsing again.

Yesterday, his limit had been fifty push-ups, yet he had surprisingly increased it by five overnight, illustrating the remarkable strengthening effects of this high-intensity training on his physique.

As before, he continued in fits and starts, completing three hundred push-ups before the sun rose, at which point his agitation finally dissipated.

After sitting on the floor for a moment to rest, he stood up and poured himself a glass of water.

After showering, he browsed current events online, then opened his computer to begin documenting his daily physical changes, finding it essential for future reference and analysis of his evolving condition.

Having never kept a diary in his life, Yan Feng felt it necessary to maintain simple records to understand his bodily transformations better.

To prevent loss, he created an online spreadsheet on Penguin Docs, setting it for his eyes only, then, relying on his memory, recorded his physical state from the 25th of last month to the present day.

Once he completed this task, it was already past 7 a.m.

He dressed and left the house, shutting down his computer, and strolled leisurely towards the office.

On his way, he did not experience the urge to urinate as he had previously.

As he passed by the marked area, he activated his sense of smell, clearly detecting his own scent.

Arriving at the spot where he had chased away the yellow dog the night before, he used it as a reference point, silently counting his steps until he reached the location where he had felt that sense of danger.

“Sixty-eight steps in total!”

Having frequently visited construction sites, Yan Feng often estimated distances by counting his steps.

His stride measured approximately fifty centimeters, meaning that sixty-eight steps translated to roughly thirty-four meters.

However, he had not walked in a straight line, having taken a slight curve along the way.

Estimating in his mind, he concluded that the straight-line distance to the location of the danger signal was about twenty meters.

Yan Feng felt that this measurement was likely close to his auditory limits—the range within which human speech can be heard in an unobstructed outdoor environment.

Of course, this was merely a hypothesis, and further experimentation was necessary for confirmation.

After surveying his “territory” a few times, he proceeded to the office around 8 a.m.

Arriving at the office building with a flurry of thoughts, he was about to ascend the stairs when a delightful fragrance wafted towards him.

Looking up, he noticed a tall, radiant figure with a smile on her lips standing on the step before him.

“Good morning, Master!”