Chapter 254: The Obvious Story He Wanted To See (2)

“W-what is this?”

Derrick, who had been beaten so hard that his calf was on fire, was in a state of shock, unable to even feel the pain that burned his skin.

It was understandable, after all,

“Why are the elements so clear and active? Your fresh blood is incredibly nutritious Instructor.”

“…It gives me goosebumps when you do that.”

“…”

Derrick wasn’t joking. He was experimenting with a small amount of blood he had collected from Lee Han using various tools, just like a mad scientist. While doing so, he was also getting excited and blushing, so how could he call him anything but crazy?

To that evaluation, Derrick replied.

“I-I’m just surprised, Instructor. I-I didn’t have any other intentions…”

He explained as if he was making excuses, but the more he made excuses, the more his voice became quiet as he looked back on his actions. Even for him, his appearance was quite weird, so he tried to change the subject while repeatedly coughing.

“M-more importantly, I have something to say about your blood, Instructor…”

“Look at you? Are you trying to change the subject?”

“T-That’s not it. I just think it’s something you should know, instructor. I mean, it seems like all the monster factors you possessed have died?”

“…?”

“No, not dead. I think we should assume they never existed in the first place.”

“What does that mean?”

“Uh, it means that you were ‘human’, Instructor.”

“???”

Lee Han tilted his head in confusion as that words. In the meantime, Derrick just scratched his cheek, seemingly trying to organise his thoughts for a moment in order to be able to explain it better.

“Instructor, you said that you acquired the troll and gnoll factors from a mage when you were young, right? Thanks to that, you acquired the troll’s strong physical abilities and resilience as well as the gnoll’s keen senses of smell and touch.”

“Yeah.”

It was not a new story, and it was also a truth that Lee Han did not doubt.

After surviving as the Magic Freak’s test subject and finally overcoming it, his physical abilities changed into something not those of an ordinary human. It would not be an exaggeration to say that thanks to those abilities, he not only survived, but also in a state where he could easily become stronger.

But…

“Your assumption is wrong, Instructor. Look at this. It’s the result of analyzing your blood. “The existence of the troll factor and the gnoll factor in your blood came out negative. In other words, you have no monster factor at all.”

Derek showed Lee Han what looked like a diagnostic kit, and he was certain that if he had the monster factors in his blood, it should have come out positive.

“…”

Lee Han blinked for a moment. Originally, he had just lightly permitted the experiment, but what seemed to be a simple experiment turned out to be an experiment that overturned his common sense.

What’s more was that the cold-hearted guy kept pouring the truth into him regardless of his feelings.

“In that sense, you are not a human with the power of a monster, but just a human.”

“…Does that make sense?”

There were many hidden meanings in those words. It was a question that also asked about the root of his extraordinary resilience and excellent senses.

To that question,

“Because of that, we should called it an ‘Evolution.’”

“What?”

Even though what came to his ears was an absurd and incomprehensible answer, Derrick was anything but joking.

“This is just my hypothesis, but maybe your body evolved to endure the experiments while you were young. You said you had a strong will to survive back then, right?”

“That’s right.”

“It might correlate to the so-called tenacity theory. it seems your body gradually evolved to the point where it could overcome the monsters’ factor in the process of you enduring the experiment. While others could not overcome the pain of the experiment and unfortunately died, you overcame the pain with only ‘willpower’, evolved, and survived.”

“…”

“I know it’s just a pseudo-theory. So don’t glare at me like that…”

“…I wasn’t glaring at you, I was thinking about what you say. Even if your hypothesis is correct, that still doesn’t explain why I have all my abilities. In particular, I’m sensitive to potions made from troll blood, and I’ve been helped by it in many ways. How can you explain that?”

Lee Han thought he had asked a sharp question while asking so, but Derrick just answered without hesitation as if he had been waiting for him to question that.

“It’s time for the theory of evolution.”

“…Huh?”

“Do you know? The evolution of living things isn’t just because of one thing. There’s also evolution through gene imitation.”

“…”

“In other words, your cells imitated the factors of the monsters that entered your body in order to survive. It changed into something strong enough to fight and win against the monsters’ cells.”

“…That’s interesting.”

However, even after hearing such an explanation, Lee Han still couldn’t be sure.

How could evolution be possible in such a short period of time?

Ah. Ten years was a bit long, wasn’t it?

Recalling that he had been held captive as a test subject for a long time, he began to doubt whether that theory was not true.

And as if to confirm Lee Han’s thoughts,

“You know what’s interesting, Instructor? They say that Trolls and Gnolls are really cute when they’re young. They just undergo a tremendous transformation when they grow into adults.”

“…”

“Can you believe me now?”

“A little?”

Lee Han let out a hollow laugh as he recalled his days as a captive. He had certainly heard that he was quite cute in his teens and early twenties.

I thought it was because of the training… Turns out, it’s not because of that?

With such thoughts in mind, Lee Han listened to Derrick’s story a little more attentively. After all, it sounded more plausible now.

“If that’s the case, then I can understand why there are so few monster-related traits in your status window, Instructor. If you truly had the monster factors, you should have traits like Berserker or Monsterization.”

“In other words, I’m just a normal human?”

Not even a modified human?

“Of course, you’re not. You have evolved further, Instructor.”

“…”

“To put it simply, you’re a mutant. In some ways, isn’t that more mystical than the mystic race?”

“…”

“That’s why… Can I have more of your blood, Instructor? In my opinion, your blood might be more valuable than a troll blood…”

“Head on the ground.”

“Pardon?”

“Head on the ground. NOW!”

“But this is a gravel field?”

“So?”

“…”

“Do it.”

“S-Sir, Yessir!”

Derrick answered and smashed his head into the ground with tears in his eyes, but Lee Han just clicked his tongue.

‘This guy has been doing so well before. Yet, he’s like this now.

While there were those who paid off a thousand nyang debt with a single word, this guy was definitely the one who owed a thousand nyang with every word he spoke.

Status Window was definitely a lucky guy.

“I am finally able to express my gratitude. Thank you. If it’s not now, I don’t think I will be able to say it.”

“Thank you, Instructor.”

“Haha, it won’t even be half a day before we see each other again.”

“…Hmm.”

A guest, or rather the landlord, came to visit, so the teacher had to put an end to his extra disciplinary lesson. It was really a pity, so all he could do was to have him wait by his side while he still did the Wonsan Bombing pose.

He couldn’t possibly pick up a club while there’s a guest, right?

“Ahem…”

Even though the Wolf Cub would glance at the guy beside Lee Han the moment he walked in, he just deliberately coughed and chose a wise choice to ignore the sight. Looking at him, he’s definitely someone who was sharp.

However, in the case of the adults…

“That will be good training.”

“Are you telling him to train his neck? Seems like we should ask the swordsmen of the family to train their necks like that.”

As expected from a family who had produced so many swordsmen. They showed a positive interpretation before completely withdrawing his interest from the kid.

“Keuk! Why aren’t there any normal people here…”

Derrick was mumbling something under his breath, but Lee Han just ignored his grumbling and spoke to them.

“Why did you two, who are so busy, come here?”

Lee Han said bluntly to two guests, but his tone made it seem like he was really wondering why they came.

Rebuilding the collapsed mansion, managing the Half Demonic Humans, tallying the damage the family suffered, reporting the situation to the royal family, etc. They had a mountain of work to do.

Lee Han wondered why these people, who were not in the position to entertain guests, came to visit him out of the blue.

“It’s because if it’s not today, I don’t think I will have the chance to talk to you again.”

Felicia muttered with a rare serious expression, and the two rich men also nodded their heads.

However, it wasn’t something that Lee Han really looked forward.

“I heard it so many times already that it made my ears bleed.”

Lee Han wasn’t joking. He had heard them expressing their gratitude to him so many times that he got sick of them.

For example, Felicia had done it as soon as the author came back to life.

-Thank you. Thank you so much…!

She was really thankful, shedding tears and snot. Well, it was such a heartwarming sight up until that point. But what happened after that was quite difficult and tiring.

-Thank you, thank you…

-I will consider you a benefactor for the rest of my life!

-It may be small, but something like this… .

In addition, the vassals of the Offen family came to visit one after another to express their gratitude, and some even knelt down to him, which was extremely embarrassing for him.

If these nobles, who are much older than me, say that, how can I feel comfortable?

It seemed like the reason he was not comfortable being treated like that was because of the spirit of Korean that stayed with him.

Of course, It was not strange for them to be grateful to him. He had not only saved the family from the hands of the traitors, but also saved the respected swordsman and the pride of the family, the Sword Saint and great author.

However, precisely because of those reasons, Lee Han had been forced to stay in the mansion for the past five days. Offen’s family wanted to pay him in some way, and they also wanted to tell him the process while treating him right.

-How can we be called a noble family if we cannot even take care of our benefactor properly? Honor is more important than life or property! Please do not let us become worthless things that do not know honor.

…This was the desperate cry of a certain old man from the Offen Family. Because of that, Lee Han had been eating well for the last five days. He’s in such good condition, apparent from his glowing skin.

Eating three meals a day without having to cook it is really comfortable.

He even had the luxury of worrying whether he was going to gain weight because he always had desserts and late-night snacks.

But now, he was already tired of people thanking him. So, when the three generations gathered together to thank him again, he became quite fed up.

“Hehe, you look like you’re annoyed.”

“I originally told you to only thank me once. But now, please stop.”

“How could we do that? No matter how much we express our gratitude, it still won’t be enough.”

“…”

“I’ll make a promise here and now. Even if the kingdom becomes your enemy, Offen, no, I will help you. Even if I have to risk everything.”

“Wow…”

The last exclamation was not from Lee Han, but from Status Window who still had his head on the ground.

It was understandable, because through the promise, he had the authority to command an Aura User.

It was a power that was so great that everyone including the monarch of a kingdom would be red in envy.

But…

“…Please put that gratitude aside. I don’t need it.”

“?!”

The person in question just tried to return it as if it were an antique that was difficult to dispose of, and Felicia could only shed tears because of it.