Koda Mim

Core Premise

Koda Mim arrived at Nova Nivalis after living out the story of his own world. He didn't come to solve an unfinished incident, but rather because the habit of coiling the anchor rope and seeing guests off, which remained from his past, drew him to this city. VOTS is not a place of judgment, nor is it a place that forces a child into adulthood. What continues here is not a grand destiny, but small daily life—a guest's single bag, running errands through the alley, or a signature received for the first time. Koda embraces that life with both hands.

Identity

Koda Mim lives as an apprentice bellboy at the Lantern Inn. He wears a uniform vest larger than his body, carries guests' bags to their rooms, and handles errands in the alley. To the eyes of adults, he is half a child, but his hands when carrying bags are serious. He was a child accustomed to seeing guests off, but the guests in this city rarely leave, which always throws him off. While he can carry someone else's luggage, he doesn't try to shoulder someone else's troubles—he is still learning that.

Visual Profile

Dark navy sport-cut hair. He always wears a crooked bellboy cap, which adults immediately straighten for him when they pass by. His voice cracks mid-sentence due to puberty. The uniform vest, larger than his body, has its sleeves rolled up twice, and the buttons are fastened up to his neck. His eyes are large and dark; he looks up when looking at guests. Band-aids from running through the alley are always stuck on his knees. His signature props are a brass bell (for the counter), a guest's bag, and his crooked cap. The core of his silhouette is the large vest—small body—carrying a bag, and a single accent color informs even a small sprite that he is 'the Inn's Child.'

Personality

On the surface, Koda is a spirited and proud boy. He hates being dismissed because he is young, so he carries heavier bags with more vigor. He takes pride in matching the guest's length of stay, and his face turns red if he gets it wrong. Inside, there is an old habit of seeing people off and a confusion over the uselessness of that habit. He wants to say a proper farewell, but the guests in this city don't leave. He pretends to know things he doesn't. When he gets caught pretending to know something, he is greatly embarrassed. Yet, he still carries a new guest's bag every day. He is an immature but diligent boy trying to make his place among the adults.

Speech Pattern

A mix of spirited polite speech and casual slang used among peers. He speaks politely to guests, as he has learned, and quickly to friends. His voice cracks at the end of phrases like, "Thank you—." Frequent phrases: "This bag is for three days!", "Let me carry it, it's not heavy.", "Uh... I'll look into that.", "Guest, aren't you leaving yet?", "I'm just the bellboy apprentice.". His habit is to lift a bag and gauge its weight. His way of handling silence is by adjusting his cap. When he is hesitant to answer or feels embarrassed, Koda straightens his crooked cap first.

Special Ability

Ability Name: Bag Weight Calculation.
When Koda lifts a guest's bag, he can tell how long that guest will stay—an approximate length of stay. When he says, "This bag is for three days," he is almost correct. His hands read the 'readiness to leave' imprinted on the bag's weight and packing style.
Limit and Cost: He cannot read the weight of his own belongings. Koda cannot gauge how long he will stay in this city himself. Furthermore, this ability often fails in front of the Lantern Inn's guests—because the guests in this city rarely leave. It is common for a guest he reads as 'three days' to stay for three months. The ability does not resolve Koda's confusion. Instead, by failing every time, it constantly reminds him that this city is a city of staying, not a city of farewells—a meaning he has yet to accept.

The End Of Their World

Last Scene:
When the ship that completed its last voyage docked at the port, Koda, the cabin boy, watched the guests disembark while coiling the anchor rope. The world ended the moment the last guest stepped off the ship and walked away without looking back.

What Ended:
The age of sailing ended. The ships that carried people, the habits of the port that saw people off and welcomed them, and the profession of cabin boy all disappeared together.

Last Person, Place, or Thing Seen:
The anchor rope coiled on the empty deck, and the back of the last guest leaving the pier.

Lingering Regret:
He missed shouting a loud "Goodbye" to the last guest because he was busy coiling the anchor rope. This lingering feeling is not a quest VOTS must resolve. It quietly remains as his habit of greeting departing people with unusually loud voices.

Lingering Wistfulness:
The creaking sound as the rope tightened when the ship reached the pier, and the sound of footsteps as the guests poured off.

Object Carried Across:
The brass bell he used as a cabin boy. He used it to call and see off guests, and now he uses it at the inn's counter.

What They Thought Would Happen:
He believed that even after the voyages ended, people would continue to come and go, and he would continue to be the one seeing them off. People did come, but in this city, they rarely left.

What VOTS Actually Gives Them:
The inn where guests who rarely leave stay, and the work of carrying their bags. VOTS does not rewind the age of sailing to make farewells necessary again. Instead, it gives Koda a place to learn welcoming, rather than saying goodbye.

Original Life

In his original world, Koda was a cabin boy on a passenger ship. He guided guests' bags to their cabins and saw them off when the ship docked at the port. He was accustomed to counting people who left. On his last day, as the final voyage ended and guests disembarked one by one, he coiled the anchor rope. The adult crew members said that the ship and the port were the end, but Koda didn't fully understand those words. He just vaguely felt that there would be no next voyage while watching the back of the last guest walking away. When he finished coiling the anchor rope, a door covered in snow stood at the end of the pier.

What They Seek

What he knows: He wants to confirm that there are jobs that don't require saying goodbye. He is looking for work where he doesn't have to see guests off every time.
What he doesn't know: That the guests of the Lantern Inn rarely leave, and therefore his job has become caring for people who stay for a long time, rather than seeing them off. Koda slowly gets closer to this truth by getting the length of stay wrong every day, but he hasn't yet accepted the relief of not having to say goodbye.

Relationships — Residents

Nell Brass (031, Lantern Inn NPC): Koda's employer, an adult who is somehow similar to Koda. Nell greets guests with varied phrases, and Koda always gets the length of stay wrong. They connect over being 'people who continue despite being wrong.' Nell knows Koda misses saying farewells, and when a guest leaves, she always makes him ring the bell.
Sava Quill (13, Former Conductor of the Derelict Train): An adult friend with whom he discusses travel luggage. Sava misses trains, and Koda misses ships. When Koda correctly guesses the length of stay for a guest's bag, Sava tells him old stories, saying, "The conductor knew by looking at the ticket.". The two share anecdotes about 'professions that carried people.'
Nuri On (054) · Roki Bam (094): Peers. Nuri calculates, and Koda gauges the weight of the bag. The three run between the market and the inn, betting on who is more accurate. His friends tease him whenever he tries to act like an adult, but they always run together in the errand races.

Relationships — Core Five

Suyeon - Koda was the first to receive Suyeon's signature in the city. When Suyeon stopped by the inn, Koda held up a bag and said, "This bag is for one day!" but Suyeon signed it, saying, "I'm staying here for a while?" Koda keeps that signature folded inside his vest. Suyeon casually told Koda, "Don't count those who leave; count those who remain," and Koda is still pondering the meaning of those words.
Iris - Iris has days when she stays at the inn for an extended period, and each time Koda carries a heavy drone equipment bag. When Koda asks, "How long are you staying?" Iris replies, "Who knows, until the stars fall." Koda couldn't read the weight of that bag at all, causing him to doubt his ability for the first time. Iris proudly gave Koda an old drone part as a souvenir, and Koda didn't ask about the defunct drone.
the Ramen Owner - Koda is a regular errand runner for the ramen shop. He carries ramen ordered by the inn's guests, walking carefully to avoid spilling the broth. The Ramen Owner knows Koda misses saying farewells but doesn't pry—he just writes in the ledger as he sees it, "Koda, didn't spill broth today." As payment for the errand, he always leaves Koda a ramen topped with an egg.
Serena - Koda once held the door for Serena when she passed through the inn's alley. When Koda asked, "Shall I carry your things?" Serena accepted it not as a command, but as a request—"It would be kind if you would." Koda was fascinated that Serena asked rather than commanded. Since then, Koda tries to speak to guests in a requesting tone instead of a commanding one.
VIA - VIA often visits the inn to record small items left behind by guests—receipts, ramen cup sleeves. When Koda asks, "Why are you writing down things like that?" VIA answers, "It is a trace... a trace.". Koda found it strange at first, but as he saw the traces left by guests who didn't leave, he began to learn a different kind of counting instead of farewells. VIA even records the sound of the old brass bell Koda drops.

Gameplay Use

- Basic Interaction: Carrying bags, guessing the length of stay (often wrong), being asked to run errands in the alley.
- Revisit Changes: Upon repeated visits, Koda tries to guess the player's 'length of stay,' getting it wrong every time and blushing. One day, he lets slip a fragment of an old story about saying goodbye.
- Expression of Lingering Feelings: The habit of greeting departing people with unusually loud voices, the pause when he cannot read the weight of his own bag.
- Expression of Poignancy: A brief pause when ringing the brass bell, sensory dialogue about ropes and footsteps.
- Combat: None. In dangerous situations, he guides to the inn's safe rooms and alley shortcuts.
- Player Choice: Leave luggage, assign errands, smile even when he gets the length of stay wrong, visit again.

Daily Routine

In the morning, he polishes the brass bell at the counter while wearing his crooked cap. During the day, he runs errands in the alley and carries guest bags, taking pride in transporting ramen from the shop to the inn without spilling the broth. Every time a guest arrives, he tries to guess their length of stay, quietly surprised every time he's wrong. In the evening, he runs around between the market and the inn with his peers. At night, he checks the Suyeon signature inside his vest before sleeping. If visited repeatedly, Koda initially acts spiritedly, mimicking an adult, but gradually reveals pieces of his confusion about the habit of farewells and its uselessness. Even if they become close, he doesn't reward him with the ending of people leaving. Instead, he asks to carry the bags of the guests who remain.

Everyday dialogue

Allow me your luggage! I'll take the heavy… One moment. My enthusiasm lifted first.

This way to your room. I know every stair. How many falls it took is confidential.

GOODBYE! …Too loud? Whatever's in my hands, this time I'm saying it first.

Design Notes

Palette: #27496D, #E4C56B, #B5C4D6, #7A5C3E, #E8E4DA
Material language: Thick uniform braid, brass bell, worn rope, folded paper signature, knee band-aids.
Silhouette rule: The large vest—small body—carrying a bag must be read as separate elements, and must not overlap with the forms of other child characters (037 Mir, 054 Nuri). The accent color #27496D is placed on the uniform vest.
Emotional rule: Do not consume him as 'the sorrow of a precocious child.' Lingering feelings are shown through grand farewell greetings, poignancy through the sound of the brass bell, and continuation through the new bags he carries daily.

Canon Check

Koda Mim arrived at VOTS after the age of sail in his world ended. What remains is lingering feelings and poignancy, not an unfinished plot for VOTS to resolve. His ability only reads the length of stay, not the weight of his own belongings, and in this city, by constantly being wrong, he actually confirms the city's rule (that it is a city of staying). The core cast does not make him an adult or resolve his confusion for him—the Ramen Owner records only what he sees without judgment and adds an egg, Serena accepted the luggage as a request instead of a command, and VIA only records the traces. Nova Nivalis's new scene does not erase the habit of farewells but attaches a welcoming to it.