Benny entered his house carrying the beetle in his hands. It was a pretty ordinary-looking old-school western-oriented interior.
However, it was the standard of living for people around 150 years ago. People nowadays have robotics installed in their homes to perform various responsibilities like taking off a coat or making a quick snack.
So, Benny's house was like a museum where most of the electronics and furniture only used to exist in the past.
However, it was merely for an appearance since his actual living portion exists elsewhere.
He walked towards a door that automatically opened upon scanning Benny's identity through a face scan.
Benny entered through the door as the small room began to descend.
As he was in the lift, he started humming a song he had heard from a famous horror game.
"Hello, hello, we are lonely
Help her, help her, and we'll see my way, my way
And you'll see a halo ascending above our sea.
~
Come fun, here comes Veronica
Come, come, he cut Veronica
Run, run, here comes Veronica,
Sent on a ferry upon our sea~."
Benny thought that the song was the best fit to be a lullaby. He didn't know why Zoey and some of his old friends used to creep out whenever he sang this song.
As for those 'old friends,' Benny didn't want to think much about them since some of them were like him a Nap, disappeared, and those with good Origins left the city for better education.
Soon, the lift stopped moving, and the door opened.
What appeared next was a futuristic-style apartment with metallic doors and walls. Some robots could be seen levitating across the hallway. One robot took Benny's bag pack away while the other came, bringing a new pair of glasses.
Benny wore glasses since he couldn't see without them. Zoey helped him on his way from school while he knew his way to the house's basement.
Two requirements are now necessary for everyone living in central cities.
One is to install Protective Array, a dome-shaped transparent shield around a house that can protect you from any Hell Gate breakout or unwanted Mors on the leash.
The second is to have an underground bunker to protect from the same.
Benny couldn't afford Protective Array since it is expensive to maintain, but he had transformed the underground bunker into his living portion to live here and be at ease.
He entered a room filled with crawling creatures everywhere the eyes went. Numerous small glass containers were hanging on the walls where these creatures were kept. All of them were connected with ventilators to provide their desired temperature for living.
His paradise was where he could see the tiny creatures he was raising. They were all kinds of insects and bugs.
A warm smile formed on his face as he saw these crawling creatures. They were his friends. They were the true love of his life.
Benny prepared a new living portion for the new guest and put it down. "There you go, buddy! Live a peaceful life." Benny smiled as the palmed size millipede crawled from his sleeves to the soft soil in the container.
Benny then also put the beetle in its container. "Here you go, buddy. Today was hectic, right? But don't worry, I will never abandon you guys." Benny smiled and kissed the dung beetle.
He then left the room and went towards the bathroom. Unlike his kitchen and hallway, his bathroom had no robotics to undress his uniform.
While he also made money by breeding and selling insects and bugs, most of the money went into maintaining the ventilator system, buying newly discovered species, and researching his bugs. While he also had a guardian who provided his necessities, it mostly went to his school fees and other needs.
He undressed his uniform and put the glasses on the shelf.
He entered the bath and opened the shower. Although it was blurry, Benny could still see dark spots, cuts, burn marks, and many surgical scars all over his body. Aside from his fair face, hazel blue eyes and grey hair, his body was the living evidence of the dark side of society.
From the day he was nine when his parents were alive, to this day, for ten years, not once a month had passed where he wasn't discriminated against, abused or harassed because of being a Nap. As such, his body had developed a natural defence against such. That was why he could take a beating from Kevin for so long. As long as one isn't using an Origin or a Blessing, Benny could take beating all day.
Though he admits that somewhere he was also at fault.
His guardian, his parents' friend, asked him several times to live with her in the principal capital, even Zoey asked him to live with her as her brother, but he refused to move out anywhere.
His parents left this house behind, which is their last memento. There were so many memories attached to this house where he spent so much of his childhood with them. Besides, it was probably the safest place in the whole Central Alliance. Mors never attacked him. Not a single Hell Gate ever appeared. He was never robbed or chased to his home.
His life was not like the colors of a rainbow in the first place, so as long as he was breathing, he didn't want to change location.
He came out of the bath and wore a new set of clothes. Thankfully, his uniform could resist Kevin's brutal beating, or he would have to buy a new uniform. His uniform was made of unique fabric used in combat suits. It was a little expensive, but it saved him from buying new every week.
He then walked into another room that appeared to be his lab. Many lab equipments were situated on the table and shelves.
Benny picked a green caterpillar with pink strips from a box and placed it in a separate glass container. He then removed a glowing marble from another box and put it into the container with the caterpillar.
"Let's see, if subject 101 can survive Ranked G Essence Stone..." Benny muttered as he began to observe.
Essence Stones or simply mana stones are unique gems found in every Mors. They can be used in various ways, from increasing one's Origin potential to crafting magical weapons against Mors and demons.
However, they were extremely hazardous to vulnerable animals like small insects and arthropods.
He had injected the caterpillar with a special serum that he had been trying to make for years. He still had to see if the caterpillar could survive being exposed to pure mana.
Unfortunately, the caterpillar stopped moving after crawling for a few minutes around the stone and began to go pale, indicating that the tiny life had left the world.
With shaking hands, he grabbed his notebook and began to write the results.
Experiment no. 43: failed.
As he was writing, tears began to fall from his eyes. He gritted his and hurled everything on the table.
"Sniff* why... Why can't I live for myself...?"
His biggest fault besides being a Nap was his love for small creatures like insects.
His father was a genetics researcher whose goal was to bring ancient animals like some species of turtles and rhinos and protect current animal species from demonic metamorphosis.
Demonic metamorphosis occurred when non-intelligent species of animals started to observe mana and become monsters. While some were able to resist and some developed their unique abilities, 70% of the time, the animal dies or becomes a mindless monster like Mors.
Benny's dream was similar, but he wanted to do the same with small crawling creatures. Unlike mammals, insects are more vulnerable to demonic metamorphosis; most of them would die when exposed to the mana. At the same time, few of them would go through the transition, becoming Mors as they merged with other insects in the metamorphosis phase.
So Benny's dream was to transform insects to evolve them into a higher species of animals which can survive even in places with dense mana.
From the day he was born, he fell in love with insects and other crawling creatures. He believed that these crawling animals were the true force of nature. They were kings of mother earth.
However, that wasn't the case since most insects and arthropods had already gone extinct.
Mosquitos of every kind were gone. You can only find their fossils that were being preserved in laboratories. Most common flies, especially those that carry disease, also went extinct. Cockroaches, the species that survive almost every calamity the earth has ever faced, weren't fortunate enough to survive this time. Some people like Benny could protect only a few species of them.
Apart from being vulnerable to mana, their main enemies were demons and three super beings. Most gods dislike insects for their disgusting appearance, while some don't want to see them. They blessed humans to exterminate the insects like mosquitos while titans and dragons did the same.
While no bug can ever survive around demons except Demon Lord Beelzebub, they would become mindless monsters or die.
With tears falling from his eyes, Benny picked out a locket from a drawer and opened it. It was a ladybug-shaped memento locket where he had kept a family photo. It was the photo of him, his father and his mother.
In addition to being a well-renowned scientist, his father was also a competent Hero with a strong Origin where he could morph himself into any animal he had fully observed.
His mother was the 16th most potent Hero in the Central Alliance. She had not only the Origin but was also blessed with Titan Goddess Metis. Her Origin was to grow plants anywhere she wished, and after being blessed by Metis, she became fiercer.
However, both didn't give up on him after discovering that Benny won't ever make awake an Origin. They kept saying that Benny's power was still hidden inside. He needs to remain strong and face everything with a smile. They believed in him and lost their lives while protecting him, a Nap.
So to this day, Benny believes in his parents that he will also awake his Origin one day. After all, non-origin humans are called Naps because their hidden power is just sleeping and needing to wake up.
However…
"Mother, father… Please, I beg of you… take me with you… I can't take this humiliation anymore… Please come and save me…." Benny cried the whole night until his eyes dried out, and he fell asleep.
In the end, Benny is also a human.
---
Benny was in front of a mirror. His uniform was neat and clean, and he had his bag pack hanging on his back.
However, if anyone were to see his current expression, they would worry if the boy was even alive. His hazel blue eyes were like a quiet ocean before the storm on his expressionless face.
But soon, the water started harboring life as a smile appeared on Benny's face. He put his glasses on and nodded.
"I am Benny Olbion, and I am a Nap who has yet to awaken his Origin, but for now, I have to smile and keep facing the hurdles. Yes, that's right."
Benny smiled and nodded.
With such a smile, he left his house for the hell called high school.