In this world, "memory" is a power that can be embodied. There is a group of people called memory painters who can use special techniques to "paint" people's memories so that the scenes in the paintings can be re-entered and experienced again.
There are three levels of memory painters: dreaming (drawing other people's dreams), engraving (drawing other people's core memories), and taboo (drawing things that do not exist in anyone's memory - this is a taboo, because the drawn things will "come alive").
Shen Mo is the city's top "memory painter" - he can draw people's memories, and the truth is hidden in the paintings. But because of an accident, his memory was "swallowed in reverse" - every time he drew a stroke, a piece of his memory would disappear. He is now a "waste" with only fragmented memories, but his painting skills are still there. All the memories he has painted recently point to the same picture - himself, painting a forbidden painting that should not be painted.
