Ren Vireo woke up to find a line of people outside his mushroom hut.
He didn't have a mushroom hut yesterday.
Yet here it stood, mushroomy and hut-shaped, complete with a "Welcome, Echo One" sign made of glowing mold.
"Clomp," Ren groaned, poking his round fungal roommate, "did you… move us?"
Clomp blinked. "The Murmurroots declared your aura habitable. So I regrew your dwelling in accordance with ancestral vibes."
"…That sounds illegal."
Clomp held up a mushroom badge. "I'm a registered Mycotic Architect."
"Of course you are."
Outside, the line continued.
People weren't just visiting—they were asking questions. Strange questions.
"Can you help me remember a dream I never had?" "Does this spoon carry bad luck?" "My cat speaks in riddles now. That normal?" "How do I un-find a door?"
Ren tried to answer honestly. Unfortunately, every time he guessed, his Echo Instinct kicked in.
And people loved it.
Keeri eventually showed up with tea and a very exasperated look.
"I leave for one day, and you start a fortune-telling hut with a mushroom sidekick?"
"It's not a hut, it's a shrine," Clomp said proudly. "We are now Echo Point Zero."
"WHY does that sound official?" Ren moaned.
"It is!" chirped a passing traveler. "The Guild registered your location as a low-grade Wayfinder Node. Congrats!"
"…What's a Wayfinder Node?"
Keeri slapped her forehead. "Oh no. You got flagged as a Guide."
🌍 What's a Guide?
In Cindale, certain people don't just follow the story—they ripple it.
They become focal points for change, potential, and narrative strangeness. They attract wayfarers, glitchlings, dream-walkers, and the occasionally confused demi-ghost.
Guides are rare.
Untrained ones? Even rarer.
"You're the first spontaneous Guide in years," Keeri said, pouring more tea. "Which is cool. But dangerous. The world listens to Guides."
"Listens how?"
"You might find people—and things—that aren't supposed to be here. And they'll think it's your fault."
Ren blinked. "…Because it probably is?"
"Exactly."
Suddenly, a ripple passed through the air.
It wasn't visible. It was story-deep.
Ren's Echo Instinct flared—
[Hidden Thread Detected]
-Minor Rift converging.
-Destination unknown.
-Source: Unanchored Door inbound.
An old woman at the back of the crowd gasped. "A Door! It's happening again!"
Everyone looked to Ren.
Clomp whispered, "Time to do something Guide-like."
Ren stood up. "Uh… people of mushroom town. There is… a door. Somewhere. Maybe here. Maybe not."
The wind shifted.
The world tilted.
And in the air behind Ren—just slightly off-focus—a glowing frame appeared.
A Door with no walls.
Floating. Waiting.
[Title Earned: Local Guide]
✦ You opened a thread others can follow.
✦ +1 Affinity: Driftwalkers
✦ +Minor Trait Unlocked: "It Was Just a Hunch"
Ren blinked.
Keeri stared. "You just earned a title. From the system."
"I didn't do anything!"
Clomp raised a stubby hand. "You improvised. Again."