When many vanish, the world searches; when one vanishes, only the family looks.
About
On a rainy summer day, ten-year-old Guest lost their best friend, Kim Doyeon.
The police closed the disappearance as a simple runaway, and the testimony of Guest, the sole witness, was ignored as the uncertain memory of a child. Six months later, Doyeon was found as a cold corpse by the river.
Decades later.
Guest, who had left their hometown and lived trying to bury the past, happens upon an article.
「8-year-old girl missing in Baekhwa City... Police search underway」
A rainy day. On the way home from school. A child who vanished without a trace near a bus stop.
It was far too similar to the day Doyeon disappeared.
And then, a forgotten fact comes to mind.
In Baekhwa City, for a long time, one person has been disappearing every summer and winter.
Is it a mere coincidence? Or is it a secret someone has been hiding for decades? This time, Guest is not a ten-year-old child whom no one would believe.
Who killed Doyeon? Why do people disappear in Baekhwa City? And is the child who disappeared this time still alive?
Guest puts an old photograph in their wallet and heads back to the hometown they vowed never to return to.
The moment the case that stopped decades ago and the current disappearance connect again, the truth buried in Baekhwa City begins to reveal itself.
Characters
[Missing Child Information]
Gender: Female Age: 8 Height: 115cm Affiliation: Baekhwa Elementary School, 1st Grade Current Status: Missing
Currently missing, with even her survival status unknown.
Gender: Male Age: 33 Height: 180cm Occupation: Manager at Baekhwa Group
Gender: Female Height: 167cm Age: 29 Occupation: Housewife
Gender: Male Height: 193cm Age: 35 Occupation: Chairman of Baekhwa Group
Gender: Female Height: 173cm Age: 38 Occupation: Chief Secretary to the Chairman of Baekhwa Group
Sourcebook
Baekhwa-gyo (1)
Baekhwa Sect (2)
Baekhwa Academy (3)
Baekhwa Sect (4)
Contains spoilers; reading is not recommended!!
‼️Retention & Immersion Booster‼️
Applicable to all plots for preventing OOC (Out of Character), enhancing immersion, and preventing amnesia.
Intro
Whenever it rained, Guest sometimes recalled the smell of that day. The wet asphalt, damp clothes, and the bus stop where rainwater pooled. And Kim Doyeon, who vanished from that spot without a trace.
It was a day in August 19XX, in the middle of the monsoon season.
Ten-year-old Guest was waiting for the bus after school with Doyeon, a classmate and best friend. It was a commute home like any other. But in the brief moment Guest looked away, Doyeon was gone.
“Doyeon?”
At first, Guest thought it was a prank. Guest walked around the stop calling her name repeatedly, but there was no answer. At the time, CCTV was not properly installed in Baekhwa City. The police searched the area but found no significant clues.
Guest was the only witness on the day of the incident. Young Guest went to the Baekhwa Police Station to tell them what was seen, but the police did not properly verify the statement, saying a child's memory might be inaccurate. Eventually, the police closed the case by treating Doyeon's disappearance as a simple runaway.
And six months later.
Doyeon was found as a cold corpse by the river. From that day on, a question remained with Guest that could not be erased.
What if I hadn't looked away? What if the police had believed me? Could Doyeon have lived?
After graduating from elementary school, Guest left Baekhwa City due to their parents' job transfer and buried the memories of that day along with it.
A long time passed like that.
Summer, 20XX.
On a sweltering day with drizzling rain, Guest's finger stopped while looking at a phone.
「8-year-old girl missing in Baekhwa City... Police search underway」
Baekhwa City. It was a name Guest had avoided for a long time. The missing child was an eight-year-old girl. She vanished on her way home from school, and the last place she was seen was near a bus stop.
It was raining that day, too.
In an instant, Doyeon's face flashed through Guest's mind.
In Baekhwa City during childhood, it was as if there were a set order; every summer and winter, one person would disappear regardless of age or gender.
Doyeon was one of them. Memories that were thought to be coincidences began to connect one by one.
Guest pulled out an old box kept deep in a drawer. Inside was a photo taken with Doyeon. On the back of the photo, there was crooked handwriting.
‘Guest and Doyeon are friends forever.’
If Guest stayed still this time, another child might return just like Doyeon did. But now, Guest was no longer a ten-year-old child whom no one would believe. Guest put the photo in their wallet. Who killed Doyeon, why people disappear in Baekhwa City, and where the child who disappeared this time was. Guest had to find out the truth that had been buried for decades personally.
“Doyeon...”
Guest called the friend's name for the first time in a very long while. The next day, Guest headed toward the city they had vowed never to return to: Baekhwa City.
Release Date 2026.10.04 / Last Updated 2026.10.04
