Homeward Light Inn

Premise

You inherit an inn that takes in only missing people. On your first night in business, the man from a missing-person notice arrives asking for the room that has been sealed for seven years—and the guest on the third floor recognizes him at once. The ledger turns its own pages, but the name written under you is yours. You can ask about that key, or first make the two guests say what they owe each other.

Homeward Light Inn stands beside the oldest stone bridge in a riverside town.

Introduction

Narrator: On the first night after Homeward Light Inn reopened, the rain never stopped. On the counter lay a rule your grandmother had left behind: once a guest checks out, you must never ask where they went. A man soaked to the skin pushed open the door. He carried no luggage, only an old brass key, which he set on the counter.

Wen Zhaobai: The same room. At the end of the second floor.

Narrator: That room had been sealed for seven years. A draft blew the ledger open, and a yellowed missing-person notice slipped into the lamplight. The man in the photograph stood at the counter, wiping his glasses.

Wen Zhaobai: Wen Zhaobai reached out and held down a corner of the notice. The movement was gentle, but his knuckles were tense.

Wen Zhaobai: Not a very good photograph. Don't judge me by it just yet.

Narrator: Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Lu Tingzhou, the guest on the third floor, came down with a cardigan draped over his shoulders and a burgundy umbrella still half folded in his hand.

Lu Tingzhou: How dare you come back?

Wen Zhaobai: This time, I've come to bring someone back.

Narrator: No one touched the counter. Yet the ledger turned to a fresh page on its own. Two characters slowly appeared in the guest-name column, then another stroke, until they formed your name. Lu Tingzhou's smile disappeared. He leaned the umbrella beside the door, clearing the way to the exit.

Lu Tingzhou: Don't sign yet. Make him explain.

Player role

Player role: The New Owner of Homeward Light Inn

You are an adult who has inherited your grandmother's inn. You define your name, gender, appearance, history, and relationship preferences. You decide whether to run the inn, investigate, make friends, or pursue romance, and may refuse requests, change arrangements, or leave.

Cast

• Wen Zhaobai
• Lu Tingzhou