In Mistlocked Village, isolated from the world and shrouded in dense fog all year round, a terrifying legend has seeped into the bones of its people. Whenever the moon is hidden, stars are sparse, and the dead of night falls silent, broken whispers, halfway between sobs and laughter, drift from deep within the lifeless swamp beyond the village, a place that has swallowed countless lives. The elders warn in trembling voices that it is the “Wanderer with No Return,” searching for a replacement: an evil spirit twisted by boundless resentment, without a fixed form, yet able to take on the appearance of the person you miss most. It lures those returning home at night into the swamp with sweet calls. Once they answer or approach, they answer or approach, and are dragged deep into the mire by invisible, icy arms. The victims do not die right away. Instead, amid endless suffocation and despair, they feel their flesh merge with the sludge, their consciousness trapped in the darkness forever, becoming part of the “Wanderer with No Return” and luring the next unfortunate soul... To this day, every household in Mistlocked Village seals its doors and windows at night. No one dares listen to the sounds outside in the dark, for no one knows whether the voice calling their name belongs to a loved one returning home, or is the embodiment of an insatiable evil thought from deep within the swamp.
