30 Years After Reincarnating, It Turns Out This World Was A Rofan?! novel Chapter 254

"Wow, what is this...!?"

Derrick, who had just been whipped on his calves until they were burning, was too stunned to even feel the pain of what seemed like a burn injury. His state was one of pure disbelief.

And it was no wonder.

"Why is the composition so clear and active? Just the raw blood itself seems to be packed with nutrients, doesn't it?"

"...That’s a bit creepy, you know?"

"......."

It wasn’t a joke. Derrick, experimenting with the tiny amount of blood he had extracted, was like a mad scientist using various tools to run tests. He even had a flush of excitement on his cheeks, making him appear utterly insane.

In response to this, Derrick said:

"I-it’s just that I was surprised! I-I didn’t mean anything by it, really..."

He explained as though trying to defend himself, but the more he spoke, the quieter his voice became, as if he was reflecting on how strange his own actions were. Realizing how bizarre he must seem, he cleared his throat several times and quickly changed the subject.

"By the way, about your blood, Instructor..."

"Huh? Are you changing the subject now?"

"N-no, that’s not it. There’s something you should know, Instructor. It seems all the demonic elements you were supposed to have inside you have disappeared."

"...?"

"No, I mean, they might have never been there to begin with."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you were... human."

"???"

Ihan tilted his head in confusion, not understanding, and Derrick scratched his cheek, as if gathering his thoughts, before trying to explain in more detail.

"You’ve mentioned before that, as a child, you were given the blood of a troll and a noll by a magician, right? Thanks to that, you gained the troll's physical strength and recovery abilities, and the noll’s heightened senses like smell and touch."

"Right?"

This wasn’t new information to Ihan, and he had never questioned it. The enhancements to his body after surviving experiments and trials were the reason he had made it through and gotten stronger. His abilities had been beyond ordinary human capacity.

But...

"What I’m saying is that this story is wrong. Look at this. This is an analysis of your blood, mixed with the troll’s and the noll’s."

Derrick showed him something resembling a diagnostic kit.

"See? It came back negative for any demonic elements."

Derrick explained that if there were any demonic traits in the blood, it should have shown a positive result for hybridization.

"..."

Ihan blinked in surprise. He had expected this to be a small, harmless experiment, but now the facts he thought he knew were being overturned, and he was left feeling confused.

However, Derrick continued to push the truth on him without any regard for his confusion.

"So, what this means is that you were never a demonic creature with human traits. Genetically, you’re just... human."

"...Does that even make sense?"

There was a lot implied in that statement. Derrick was questioning how he could explain his exceptional recovery and heightened senses, and to that, he replied.

"‘Evolution,’ that’s how."

"What?"

It was an absurd, almost incomprehensible answer, but Derrick spoke with complete seriousness.

"This is just a hypothesis, but maybe your body evolved in response to surviving the experiments when you were young. I heard you were really determined to survive, right?"

"Was I?"

"You had a strong will to survive, and over time, your body evolved to withstand the demonic traits it had to fight off. Others couldn’t endure the experiments and died, but you survived and evolved, pushing through unbearable pain with sheer willpower."

"......"

"I know, I know, it sounds like a theory from some pseudoscience, so don’t give me that look..."

"I’m not glaring, I’m just thinking. Even if your hypothesis is true, it doesn’t explain everything about my abilities. For example, I’m particularly sensitive to troll blood potions, and I’ve received a lot of help from them. How do you explain that?"

Ihan thought he had come up with a sharp question, but Derrick answered without hesitation, as if waiting for it.

"This is where the theory of evolution comes in."

"...What?"

"Do you know? Evolution isn’t just about one thing. It can also be about the imitation of genes."

"......."

"In other words, your cells might have adapted and imitated the demonic elements in order to survive, fighting off the demonic traits to protect you."

"...Interesting stuff."

Despite hearing such theories, Ihan couldn’t bring himself to fully believe it.

After all, evolution in such a short time frame seemed impossible, didn’t it?

"Ah, maybe ten years isn’t such a short time after all?"

Remembering that he had been a test subject for a long time, Ihan started to wonder if Derrick’s theory could actually hold some truth. As if to give him a final push, Derrick added:

"By the way, do you know? Trolls and nolls are super cute when they’re babies. But when they mature, they undergo a drastic transformation."

"......."

"Got an idea yet?"