Chino Mar

Core Premise

Chino Mar arrived at Nova Nivalis after living out the story of his own world until the very last scene. He wasn't here to solve an unfinished incident, but the lingering sensation of chalk and the habit of wanting to draw something on the ground after it ended led him to this city of snow. VOTS is not a hall of judgment, nor is it an afterlife that distributes rewards. What continues here is not a grand destiny, but a single arrow drawn on the steps, a alley map on the square's floor, a small life like a line erased by snow only to be drawn again in the morning. With the hands that secretly drew paths in a world where maps were forbidden, he now draws paths freely on a floor where no one stops him.

Identity

Chino Mar is a person who draws maps with chalk on the City Hall Steps and the square's floor. He draws on the ground to show people where things connect, where shortcuts are hidden, or which alleys are blocked by snow that day. He is a young man who kneels down and draws lines with chalk, not a tourist information booth or a signpost. When it snows, his map is erased, and he draws it again the next morning. His function is not decoration, but a labor of life to ensure that newcomers do not get lost in this city. He shows the way, but he doesn't pull them to walk that way.

Visual Profile

He has short, curly hair with an ash-purple tint, and his hands and sleeves are always dusted with pastel chalk powder in various colors. Because he kneels often, his pants knees have patches of different fabric, and those patches soon become stained with chalk dust. Around his waist, he wears a chalk belt studded with colorful chalk, which rattles when he walks. His fingertips are always a mix of calluses and chalk stains. The core of his silhouette is the posture of kneeling with one knee raised, the chalk belt on his waist, his hands facing the ground, and the pastel powder on his sleeves. The strong accent color is his hair color and his signature chalk color, ash-purple #9A79C1, which even in small sprites indicates that he is the 'person who draws on the ground.' His attire is a form of comfortable casual wear from his days of sneaking around, which has remained his daily wear.

Personality

On the surface, he is bright and friendly. He smiles warmly at people who ask for directions and doesn't chase away children who squat beside him to doodle. His strength is his attitude of not fearing erasure. Even if the snow falls all night and the map is completely erased, he doesn't get angry and sits down again in the morning. His flaw is that when someone steps on what he drew, he pretends not to notice, but inwardly feels a little hurt. He still has the reflex from his habit of secretly drawing, so he still covers his drawings with his hands if someone approaches suddenly. He is not someone burdened only by tragedy. When a new chalk color appears, he gets excited and tests it out, and when he hears that someone found their way using his map, he is smug all day long; on snowy nights, he is actually excited about drawing again tomorrow.

Speech Pattern

His sentence endings are light and quick. When explaining, he draws the direction with his hand. Frequent phrases: "Left from here, then straight on." "It'll be drawn again tomorrow anyway." "You can step on it; it's drawn to be erased." "If it snows, it's a reset." As a habit, he spins chalk between his fingers. His way of silence is slowly drawing a line on the ground—drawing direction instead of speaking. If someone seems lost, instead of comforting them, he draws a short arrow saying, "Just go this far for now." That is the kindest sentence he knows.

Special Ability

Ability Name: Snow-Erased Line.
What Chino draws with chalk does not easily disappear, even when wet from rain or stepped on. It only disappears when snow accumulates on it. In his world, maps were state secrets, so they had to be erased immediately after drawing, and this stubborn quality—not disappearing in rain but only in snow—became his ability. The limit is clear. He cannot choose when to erase his lines—only the snow from the sky erases them. Since he is in the city of snow, his maps are erased every night, so he must draw them again every morning. The cost is the calluses on his hands, the pain in his knees, and the fact that he can never perfectly restore yesterday's map. Most importantly, this ability solves nothing. Just because the lines don't disappear doesn't mean people will necessarily take that path, and just because he draws it again every day doesn't mean the censorship of his past world is gone. Finding the way is ultimately up to the person walking that path, and Chino only draws the direction; he cannot take them there.

The End Of Their World

Last Scene:
On the day the warrant was lifted after he had spent years pursued for drawing maps, he drew a map in the middle of the square that didn't need to be erased for the first time.

What Ended:
The system that kept maps as secrets ended, and the rules that required him to erase them immediately after drawing, as well as the wanted status that pursued him, all ended together. A world where he could draw paths for the first time had arrived.

Last Person, Place, or Thing Seen:
The faces of people who looked at the map he drew in the square without fear for the first time, and the erased name on his wanted poster fluttering on the wall.

Lingering Regret:
The long years when he had to erase them immediately after drawing, he never finally confirmed if someone had escaped safely using his map. This lingering feeling is not a quest that VOTS must resolve. It remains in the tips of his fingers only when he wills it to surface, and within the limits of not dictating others' paths.

Lingering Wistfulness:
The coldness of the floor touching his knees and the sound of chalk rattling during the moment he drew freely for the first time on the day his wanted status was lifted. It remains as a sensation and sound, briefly reviving when he kneels in the square, overlapping with the cold floor of the city of snow.

Object Carried Across:
A piece of ash-purple chalk worn down to his fingertips. It is neither a relic nor a magical tool, but a personal mark connecting the world that had to be erased and the present where he draws freely.

What They Thought Would Happen:
He thought that once his wanted status was lifted, he would be able to leave his maps forever. But when he came to the city of snow, his lines were still erased every night.

What VOTS Actually Gives Them:
The square to draw again every morning, and the people who find their way by looking at that map. VOTS does not leave his map forever. Instead, it slowly nurtures the hands that draw again without regretting what disappears, within the repetition of daily life.

Original Life

He was the last street graffiti artist in a world where maps were state secrets. In that world, only those designated by above knew the paths, and drawing a map was an act of rebellion. At night, he secretly drew escape routes and shortcuts on alley walls and floors, and erased them before dawn. When people approached, he covered his drawings with his hands, and his heart pounded at the sound of footsteps. His name was on wanted posters, but people who crossed the border using his maps increased. In the last season when the system was collapsing, his wanted status was lifted. For the first time, he knelt in the middle of the square and drew a map that didn't need to be erased. His hands trembled—the long-held reflex to erase, and the freedom of no longer needing to erase, rushed over him all at once. And the story after that day did not remain in his world.

What They Seek

What he believes he is seeking: How not to regret what disappears. He believes he is still learning the heart that draws again without getting angry even when the snow erases everything overnight.
What he actually needs to find but doesn't know: That the morning of drawing again every day is already that way. He believes completion lies in leaving something forever, but the repetition of erasing and drawing again is proof that life exists in this city.

Relationships — Residents

- Ino Mare(057 Ino_Mare): Ino, who paints shadow murals on walls, and Chino, who draws maps on the floor. They are a pair assigned to different surfaces—wall and floor. Ino's shadows don't disappear even at noon, only in the rain, while Chino's lines don't disappear in the rain but in the snow—they joke that "We are opposites, so it's good that we don't overlap."
- Pipi Mona(046 Pipi_Mona): Pipi, a messenger for the Records Bureau, is a child who knows the shortest routes by the soles of their feet. Chino gets information about shortcuts over the rooftops from Pipi, and Pipi learns new alleys from Chino's floor maps. They sometimes bet on 'who can get there faster,' and Pipi always wins by leaping onto the roof.
- Lina Forth(14 Lina Forth): He collaborates on step guidance with Lina, who reads announcements at the City Hall Steps. When Lina reads today's announcement, Chino draws the relevant arrows on the steps below to indicate where to go. Lina admitted, "Your arrows are more accurate than my voice."

Relationships — Core Five

Suyeon - A noisy neighbor who shares the square. When Suyeon came to use the square to practice her performance choreography, Chino drew Suyeon's stage position and audience flow on the floor with chalk. When Suyeon asked, "Can I walk over this?" he replied, "It's drawn for you to step on." When Suyeon swung her ice sword and covered half the map with snow powder, Chino just laughed, "It'll be drawn again tomorrow anyway."
Iris - Two people who know about erasure. When Iris came to discuss stage lighting placement, Chino simulated the lighting angles on the floor. Iris said, "This will disappear when it snows," and Chino retorted, "Doesn't your side eventually turn off too?" For a moment, Iris quieted down, as if recalling a light that was always off, and Chino quickly drew another line, wondering if he had made a mistake. Iris later admitted that those words were comforting.
the Ramen Owner - A companion who draws paths to the shop. Chino always draws new arrows from the square to the alleys so that newcomers can find the ramen shop. The Ramen Owner knows this but only serves him a bowl of broth, saying, "Hmm... I see..." without making him feel indebted with thanks. Chino finds that composure comforting and secretly stops by before closing time to get some broth.
Serena - The person who gave 'consent' to the unofficial map. When Chino asked if he could draw a map of the entire city on the square, Serena asked back, "You don't mean to make it an official map, do you?" When Chino said, "It will be erased every day," Serena smiled and said, "Then I consent. If it's a map that will be erased, it belongs to no one." Serena never once told him what or how to draw.
VIA - Maps and records. VIA handed him a record notebook and asked him to draw a map of the city's alleys. For the first time, Chino drew his map on paper that wouldn't disappear even in the snow, and his hands trembled slightly. VIA wrote next to the map, "This is the path Chino drew... a lasting path." Chino knew that one of his lines, which was erased every day, had finally remained somewhere, and he looked at the notebook for a long time.

Gameplay Use

- Basic Interaction: Guiding directions, drawing maps on the square/step floors, informing about which alleys are blocked by snow that day.
- Revisit Change: Initially, he only gives directions, but on the second visit, he shares a piece of the story of when it had to be erased, and subsequently, he asks the player where they want to go first.
- Expression of Lingering Feelings: The old reflex of covering the drawing with his hand when someone approaches, a brief pause when someone steps on the map.
- Expression of Poignancy: A line of dialogue listening briefly to the rustling of chalk when kneeling in the square.
- Combat: None. Even in dangerous moments, he draws evacuation routes on the floor to give people direction.
- Player Choice: Ask for directions, watch him draw, join him in drawing again on a snowy morning, return later.

Daily Routine

He starts his day by checking the square, which was erased by snow overnight. Wearing his chalk belt, he kneels down and redraws a map that is slightly different from the one from yesterday. Instead of restoring yesterday's map exactly, he draws anew, reflecting the paths blocked and opened today. In the morning, he greets people asking for directions, and around noon, when the coldness of the square's floor touches his knees, the sensation from the day his wanted status was lifted briefly overlaps and passes. In the afternoon, he moves to the steps and adds arrows according to Lina's announcements. At night, he tidies his chalk belt and places the worn piece of ash-purple chalk in its place. He doesn't hide that piece; he leaves it there to hold onto tomorrow. If you visit him repeatedly, he draws a slightly more detailed map than before and adds a little more of the story of the days when it had to be erased.

Everyday dialogue

Left here! Not that left—oh, my map's upside down. Your left was right.

Memorize it before it snows. Rain can't shift it, but snow gets its way. A map with a very specific weakness.

I never knew who escaped with those maps. When you arrive, would you leave one chalk dot?

Design Notes

Palette: #9A79C1, #E6DAF0, #4B4258, #7FB0C9, #D9C48A
Material language: Pastel chalk powder, wet stone floor, patched knee pads, rattling chalk, snow-covered square.
Silhouette rule: The posture of kneeling with knees raised - chalk belt - hands facing the ground - powder on sleeves are read separately and do not overlap with the representative forms of other characters.
Emotional rule: Lingering feelings are shown by the reflex of covering the drawing with his hand, poignancy by the coldness of the floor touching his knees, and continuity by the lines drawn again every morning. It is not concluded with a single 'tragic expression.'

Canon Check

Chino Mar arrived in VOTS after the story of his own world ended. What remained was the lingering feeling of not being able to confirm who escaped using his map, and the poignancy of those days when he could draw freely, not a plot that the city must resolve. His ability only makes the lines disappear in the snow; it doesn't lead people down that path, and his map does not remain on its own. The new morning in Nova Nivalis quietly continues alongside the world that had to be erased, without erasing it.