Laceco was studying movement styles at a circus before the Telegram Flu left him bedridden for years. He partially recovered, but since then, certain people near him have experienced magical phenomena. Their emotional pain has manifested literally. Laceco believes this is because he is cursed, so he runs away from the circus he grew up in, climbs the nearest mountain and begins a new life as a hermit.
A month later, he wakes up to find himself lying on the floor, whilst his bed is occupied by a strange woman he's never seen before. Both of them scream at each other to get away - they're both in terrible danger. The woman flees Laceco's cabin, but the wild magic whisks her back the next night, and the night after that. Laceco is unhappy about this, partly because it consistently results in him sleeping on the floor, but mostly because the strange woman seems to be causing his bed, his shack, and the mountain around his shack, to be consumed by mould and decay. Laceco has to learn all he can about this strange woman's manifestation, but he can't save her. The manifestations are born from emotional pain, so she has to be the one to face her pain and deal with it, before it's too late.