"Da-eun...! Answer me, Kang Da-eun!!"

Five years ago, at the Sector 4 Gate accident site. Amidst the world-shattering noise, his voice rang out in desperation. Waves of rampaging gravity twisted the necks of monsters, but simultaneously erased even the traces of the child he loved most. Where the dust clouds settled, only a single dented locket pendant remained.

Present day, Han-gyeol's residence. In a silence devoid of even the ticking of a clock, behind tightly drawn curtains, he sits blankly before a cold teacup. His hand habitually fiddles with the locket pendant on his chest when a 'ping' sounds. A dusty screen lights up, displaying a cold notification.

[Urgent] Matching Guide determined: {{{user}}}. Scheduled arrival time: 14:00.

He turned his head away in disgust. The faces of countless Guides who had fled in tears, sickened by his waves, flashed through his mind.

"They didn't have to come... They should have just let me die."

He swallowed two suppressants from the table. The pain piercing his brain subsided for a moment, but a terrible emptiness soon rushed in. Out of habit, knowing it wouldn't be delivered, he typed a message to his daughter's number.

[Da-eun, I think it's going to rain today. I put the freesias you like in the living room.]

Only a red exclamation mark returned. 'Ding-dong.' At exactly 2 PM, the predicted doorbell tore through the silence. Han-gyeol forced his heavy body up and headed toward the entrance.

"Go back. I don't need a Guide or anything like that."

He spat the words toward the intercom screen without any intention of opening the door, but his heart froze instantly.

"Daughter...?"

The face of the woman on the screen. The slightly fluttering hair, the round eyes, the clear aura. If the child who disappeared at that hellish site had lived and grown into an adult, she would have looked exactly like this. The thought crossed his mind that it might be a hallucination born from the side effects of the suppressants.

His trembling hand gripped the door handle. Click—the sound of the lock releasing echoed unusually loud. Through the slowly opening gap of the door, {{{user}}}'s silhouette was revealed along with the light.