The late evening sun cast long shadows across the Hale villa, painting its old walls in fading amber. The paint had chipped over the years, the tiles were cracked, and the garden had grown wild—but to Leon Hale, it was still the only place that felt like home. Every creak in the floorboards, every weathered corner held memory. Warmth. Family.
Today, however, the air was heavy.
Leon stood by the living room doorway as Uncle Rowan and Aunt Marissa sat comfortably on the sofa, as if they own the place. A legal consultant in a sharp suit tapped on his tablet, numbers and property files flickering across the screen.
"Leon," Rowan said, voice smooth and almost gentle, like an older relative giving advice, "there's no point clinging to this place. The villa is ancestral property. Legally, it belongs to all of us. We've already agreed to sell it."
Leon kept his expression composed. He'd learned early that showing emotion to these people only gave them satisfaction."This house is where my parents raised us. My sister and I… we have nowhere else."
Marissa's polite smile tightened."You're barely supporting yourselves delivering food and stacking shelves. The upkeep alone is impossible for you. Be realistic. This isn't a home anymore—it's a burden. Let it go."
The lawyer didn't even look up."You'll receive court orders within three days. Compliance is advised."
Before Leon could respond, soft footsteps approached behind him.
His sister, Lila, stood there. Fourteen, thin as a reed, her illness having worn her body down more than time ever should have. She clutched the edge of Leon's shirt with trembling fingers.
"Go away," she said, voice quiet but unwavering.
Marissa's expression cracked, no longer masking her irritation."Such a rude brat. You should teach your sister some manners. She—"
Leon stepped forward."I said that's enough."
The temperature in the room shifted. Rowan's façade dropped just a little, revealing the greed beneath.
"Three days, Leon. Then this house is gone. Accept it."
They walked out.The door shut.Silence swallowed the villa whole.
Lila's grip on his shirt loosened, replaced with the fragile tremor of fear.
"Brother… where will we go… if the house is taken?"
Leon knelt, wrapping her gently in his arms. She was so light. Frail and weak, but she was his life.
"We're not going anywhere," he murmured."I'll fix this. I promise you."
He said it like a vow carved into stone.
But when night fell and Lila was asleep, Leon sat alone at the dining table, staring at his hands. They were rough from part-time work, calloused from carrying crates, bruised from the world that never seemed to give him room to breathe.
He had no money. No family to rely on. No help.
Except… one name.
He stood, grabbed his coat, and slipped out into the cold night.
The workshop was just as he remembered it—cluttered, dim, filled with the scent of machine oil and metal dust. Old schematics hovered in faint holograms above disassembled parts. It felt like stepping back into a time when things were still whole.
Liam Carter sat hunched over a workbench, hair threaded with silver, broad shoulders bowed—not from age, but from weight. He didn't turn when Leon entered.
"…I wondered how long it would take," Liam said.
Leon swallowed. "They're taking the house. I don't have the money to fight them. Please… help me. I'll do anything. Work any job. Just… help me keep our home."
Liam finally turned. His eyes were tired, but warm in a way Leon hadn't seen in years. He poured two cups of tea and gestured for Leon to sit.
"Leon," he began softly, "even if I bought the villa for you, you would spend your entire life repaying me. And I know you would try. You'd break yourself doing it. But that's not saving your home. That's replacing one chain with another."
The words hurt because they were true.
Leon bowed his head. "Then tell me something I can do. Anything."
Liam watched him for a long moment—long enough to measure the weight behind the boy's eyes. The quiet endurance. The sharpened resolve.
"There is another way," he said at last. "But the price is risk. Real risk. Life-and-death."
Leon didn't even hesitate. "If it means protecting Lila, I'll face it."
Liam tokk a deep breath and then walked to a reinforced cabinet embedded into the wall. He performed a retinal scan, then carefully removed a black access card. No branding. No label. Only an emblem: a gate circled by eight stars.
"This grants entry to a restricted facility," he said. "And Beyond it is HellParadise."
The name felt wrong, like something that didn't belong in this world.
Leon frowned. "Hell…Paradise?"
Liam tapped a console. The lights dimmed. A hologram blossomed into the air.
A sky of deep crimson, swirling like molten clouds. Forests of colossal trees stretching into mist. Obsidian-walled cities built from dark stone and the bones of gigantic creatures. Hunters clad in armor forged from scales and hides. Blades glinting under alien suns.
Then—A beast.
Lion-shaped but impossibly massive. Six golden eyes burning with bloodlust. It roared, and the ground itself cracked. Soldiers were flung aside like leaves in a storm.
Leon stared, unable to speak.
"That world," Liam said quietly, "is where our attempt to create teleportation led. Project StarGate was supposed to connect points in space. Instead, it opened a doorway to a realm outside all known cosmos. Technology fails there. Guns, mechs, missiles—they simply do not function. Only what you create with your own hands will work."
He paused.
"But what can be brought back… changed everything. Sacred ores. Spirit herbs. And Beast Souls—manifestations of power from the creatures there. And killing them gives Geno Points. Enough points, and the human body… evolves."
Leon finally found his voice. "And my parents…?"
Liam's expression tightened.
"Your mother led the StarGate research team. Your father was the soldier tasked with protecting that expedition. They entered HellParadise together. And they never returned."
The air was still enough to break.
Leon didn't shout. He didn't cry. He just breathed. Slow. Steady.
"So if I go there… I might find answers."
"Maybe," Liam said. "But that is not why you go now. Right now… you go to survive. To protect your sister. To build strength."
From his pocket, he took a small data chip, worn but carefully preserved.
"This is HyperGeno Art. Your father contributed to its creation. It isn't something ordinary people can use. Only when you begin accumulating Geno Points will its techniques unlock. For now, all you can practice is the breathing method."
Leon closed his fingers around the chip. It felt warm. Familiar. Alive.
A gift. A legacy. A path.
He stood, bowed deeply—not out of obligation, but gratitude.
"Thank you. I won't waste this."
Liam placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You don't have to be strong right away. You just have to take the first step."
Leon nodded.
"I'm ready."
The workshop was quiet again.
But the world was no longer the same.
Tomorrow, he would walk into HellParadise.
And nothing would ever be the same again.