In Where Winds Meet, players can choose to do a side quest called Hidden Ugliness. It is an optional quest and can be missed entirely if players only follow the main storyline. This guide provides you with all necessary information, from starting the quest to finishing all objectives in the quest, including easily overlooked interactions and order-dependent sections that can cause progression issues.
How to Trigger the Quest
Travel to the location where a group of children can be seen lingering near a window, in most cases this would be enough to activate the quest and players won’t need to speak with the children right away. To begin properly, interact with the children at the window and this will lead you inside the building where another character introduces the main thread of the quest.
Early Interactions and the Dream Sequence
After having a conversation indoors with the character you will then need to follow that character outdoors where he/she describes three different flowers. Afterwards you will have the opportunity to choose from a set of dialogues that take place immediately following the scene. Once you have completed the conversation, go back inside and begin your search. There is a letter placed on a table. Inspecting it pulls your character into a dream-like state where the next set of objectives becomes available.
Capturing the Mantises
Inside the dream sequence, your task is to capture three moving objects (mantises).
- Approach each one and press R2 to inspect it.
- Once disturbed, the mantis will start jumping away.
- Chase it immediately and keep pressing R2 to capture it.
If you hesitate or lose it, you may have to repeat the interaction. Do this successfully three times, then return to the woman waiting nearby to move forward.
Gathering Flowers and Returning to Reality
After turning in the mantises, your next objective is to collect flowers. Go back inside the building and take them from the designated spot. This action ends the dream sequence and returns you to the real world.
You’ll now be asked to investigate the surrounding area. Activate Wind Sense to reveal footprints just outside and follow them. This leads to another forced transition, placing you at the clinic where progress can stall if steps aren’t completed in the right order.
Clinic Backyard – Order Matters Here
In the clinic’s backyard, use Wind Sense to reveal the footprints and follow them to a lantern or furnace. Inspect the furnace first, as this is required for the next objective to activate. Afterward, the game will ask you to investigate the surroundings again. Use Wind Sense once more and follow the footsteps. If you go to the waterfall before inspecting the furnace, the objective will not appear.
When the footsteps finally lead you to the waterfall, an interaction point will appear. Walk straight through the waterfall to enter a hidden area. Inside, vines block the path. Use flaming arrows to burn them away. Past the vines, you’ll find the woman, triggering a long cutscene.
Final Conversations
Once the cutscene ends, speak with Yayo. Make sure you select dialogue linked specifically to the Hidden Ugliness quest—other active quests can cause different dialogue options to appear.
Afterward, you’re told to speak with three NPCs nearby. They’re located close together, and using air jumps makes reaching them much faster. Talk to all three to advance.
Return to the location where the quest originally started and speak to the woman again. A shrine will be present during this final interaction. After this conversation, the Hidden Ugliness encounter concludes and rewards are granted.
