I'd use $/ instead of read() so that I didn't have to use a temporary buffer.

local $/ = \$num;
return unpack "C*", scalar <$fh>;
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Jeff[japhy]Pinyan: Perl, regex, and perl hacker, who could use a job
s++=END;++y(;-P)}y js++=;shajsj<++y(p-q)}?print:??;