Lund Pavel

Core Premise

Lund Pavel is someone who has finished organizing the stories of his own world, down to the last returned book. He didn't come to complete an unfinished list; rather, the habit of tidying that remained after the final scene, and the direction he held toward people, flowed into Nova Nivalis. This city is not a afterlife, nor is it a place where unread books are forcibly read to completion. What continues here is not a grand narrative, but a quiet life of receiving books returned overnight, gauging their weight, and placing them back in their proper spots. Lund does not try to erase the fact that his world ended. He has simply been able to use the hands that used to tidy again in front of the return box tonight.

Identity

Beside the Records Office steps, Lund guards the return box that only opens at night. When people drop off books they couldn't return during the day, he receives them, gauges their weight, and shelves them in their place. His job is inconspicuous, but it is a necessary labor for the city—the books returned overnight must be in their place by morning so the next person can borrow them. He doesn't ask who read what, nor does he scold books that weren't finished. On long nights without visitors, he organizes the bookmark ribbons and feels the weight of the returned books in his palm. It is his long-held professional ethic not to try and finish someone else's reading for them.

Visual Profile

Hair: Calm moss-green two-block cut. The sides and back are short, and the top is neatly combed down, showing traces of leaning on a desk all night.
Eyes: Dark brown, with heavy eyelids characteristic of low blood pressure. They are half-closed in the morning.
Skin/Build: Pale and thin, with long fingers. Several differently colored bookmark ribbons are wrapped around his wrist.
Signature Attire: A cardigan with worn elbows, a thin muffler worn regardless of the season, and a habit of not rolling up his sleeves.
Signature Props: The lid of the return box, whose handle is polished smooth, and an empty palm used for gauging weight.
Silhouette Key: The bookmark ribbons on his wrist, the muffler, and his half-closed eyes. The accent color #556B2F (moss-green) is repeated in his hair and cardigan.

Personality

Slow, quiet, and never rushed. Due to his night shift, his voice is low and he speaks little. He doesn't pry into others' stories, and though he knows much from the weight of the returned books, he doesn't speak of it. Inside him is an obsession with completion—the 'unread weight' of books returned unfinished holds him captive. That is both his flaw and his gentle side. He is indifferent to himself, yet he pays close attention to others' books, while letting his own nights drift away carelessly. The reason his face is always tired in the morning is not because he stayed up all night, but because he carries a few unfinished books in his heart.

Speech Pattern

Low and slow, with long pauses between sentences. Formal speech is standard, and jokes are delivered very dryly.
Frequent Phrases:
- "...You've finished reading it. It feels a little lighter."
- "Return them slowly. There's no rush."
- "It doesn't have to be finished. I'll keep the weight as is."
- "This one still has half left."
Mannerism: When receiving a book, he pauses briefly to place it in his palm and gauge its weight. When speaking, he touches the bookmark ribbons on his wrist.
Style of Silence: If it's difficult to answer, he lowers his gaze to the returned book and walks toward the shelves. That walk means, "Not this story right now."

Special Ability

Ability Name: Read-Weight
What it can do: When Lund holds a book from the return box, he knows whether it has been 'read to completion' by its weight. A fully read book is slightly lighter, while a book closed midway feels heavier in his hand.
Limit/Cost: It applies only to books that enter the return box, and all he can know is whether it was finished or not. He cannot know what was understood, what feelings accompanied the reading, or who read it. Furthermore, he cannot switch off this sensation, so the weight of the unfinished book remains on his fingertips all night.
Reason for Not Solving Problems: Even if he knows a book was read to completion, he cannot know if it held meaning for that person. Most importantly, he cannot force anyone to read to the end. Books returned unfinished are simply shelved as unfinished, and he cannot lighten that weight for them.

The End Of Their World

Last Scene:
On the night the university city collapsed due to the invasion, people evacuated, but Lund walked to the shelves with one book that was the last to enter the return box and shelved it in its place. That book was light—it was a book read to completion. Only after confirming it did he turn off the lamp.

What Ended:
The night library of the university city, all the books within it, and the footsteps of the people who came to borrow books every night ended together.

Last Person, Place, or Thing Seen:
In the gap between the empty shelves, a space the width of two fingers where the last book was placed.

Lingering Regret:
That night, only that one book read to completion was in the return box. Lund knew by weight that most of the books people were reading while the city was collapsing had stopped around the halfway point, and he left without lightening any of that unfinished weight. This lingering feeling remains not as a quest to be resolved, but only as the reason he always says first, "It doesn't have to be finished."

Lingering Wistfulness:
The smell of paper in the night library, and the soft sound of the return box lid closing. It briefly revives when the temperature of old books or the worn feel of the cardigan sleeves comes to mind.

Object Carried Across:
A single, old bookmark ribbon that remained in the spot where the last book was shelved that day. He doesn't know whose it was.

What They Thought Would Happen:
They believed that even if the city collapsed, the shelves would remain, and that someone later would eventually read those unfinished books to completion. But the shelves never saw the morning.

What VOTS Actually Gives Them:
The books returned every night, and the return box that can accept them whether they are finished or not. The city does not cancel his ending. Instead, it gives him a place where he can live with the unfinished weight, relationships where he can be present without being rushed, and a way of putting things back where they belong without claiming ownership.

Original Life

He was the last night librarian of a university city ended by an invasion. After the daytime commotion subsided, he kept the library alone at night, lending and receiving books from those who came only at night—students who couldn't sleep, night workers, late readers. On the last day the city was collapsing, his colleagues tried to pack the collection into boxes, but they couldn't fit everything. Instead of a box, Lund took one book that was the last to enter the return box and walked to the shelves. Its weight was light—it was a book read to completion. He shelved it in its place, put a single bookmark ribbon that had fallen into his pocket, and turned off the lamp.

What They Seek

What he seeks on the surface: Completion. He quietly wishes that both books and people would go to the last page without being closed midway.
What he doesn't know he needs to find: That someone who will read him to the end is already nearby. He only gauges the completion of others' readings, and he hasn't yet realized that someone has come to stay with his nights until the end.

Relationships — Residents

Eren Noct (Records Clerk, Records Office Steps) — A colleague from the Records Office night shift. Eren modifies the record cards, and Lund organizes the returned books. They meet on the steps around two in the morning, silently sharing tea, exchanging curt greetings like, "How many were light today?"
Paul Shen (Used Book Cart, 74) — A used book dealer. When Paul collects books that were discarded instead of returned, Lund gauges their weight and tells him which ones were read to completion and which were not. Paul sells the fully read used books for a higher price.
Selin Moors (Document Restorer, 43) — Restoration requests. When a torn book enters the return box, Lund passes it to Selin. When Selin returns it after mending, Lund says, "It can be read again now."
Holt Nagel (Blizzard Postman, 90) — A peer among those who guard 'boxes.' Lund guards the return box, and Holt guards the mailbox. When they meet, they ask, "What came in your box today?" and briefly share stories of the boxes they guarded overnight.

Relationships — Core Five

Suyeon - A patron who borrows books and stops halfway. Suyeon is impatient and borrows several books, returning most of them halfway through. When Lund says, "This one still has half left," Suyeon grumbles, "Because it feels like losing if I read it all the way through." Lund accepts the heavy book as is, saying, "It doesn't have to be finished."
Iris - A night patron of the fabrication texts. Iris comes to borrow a book on star-making techniques at night, and her speech quickens when the topic of fabrication comes up. When Lund mentions that the previous book was read to completion, Iris says, "Of course, books about making things are read all the way through." Iris remembers that he didn't ask about her dead drone for a long time.
the Ramen Owner - A acquaintance judged by the 'completed books' in his ledger. Lund accidentally holds the Ramen Owner's tab ledger and jokes, "This looks like a book you read to the end; it's very light." The Ramen Owner only replies, "Because I read it every day," and reheats his broth. He neither pries about Lund's sense of weight nor finds it strange.
Serena - An acquaintance who exchanges recommended reading lists. When Serena stops by at night to choose books for a new resident, she exchanges lists with Lund. Serena has no power to command what to read; she only asks, "How about this?" and Lund only says he will "keep it" if she recommends a book.
VIA - A rabbit that records the unfinished. VIA records the list of 'unfinished books' that Lund gauges by weight. "This book stopped at the halfway point... it stopped." It neither urges him to finish nor takes the book anywhere. It simply leaves the spot where it stopped.

Gameplay Use

- Basic Interaction: Receiving night book returns, weight commentary, short reading conversations.
- Revisit Changes: Remembers the completion status of books the player borrowed by weight, but does not push them to finish. Upon repeated visits, he gradually reveals stories of his own nights.
- Expression of Lingering Feeling: Pausing to weigh a book in his palm, long gaps between sentences, the repetition of "It doesn't have to be finished."
- Expression of Poignancy: Sensory dialogue about the smell of paper, the sound of the return box, and the temperature of old books.
- Relationship Reward: Instead of items, changes that connect the player by choosing books suitable for other residents based on weight.
- Combat: None. In dangerous situations, he opts for quiet evacuation guidance or acting as a night guide.

Daily Routine

He starts his night by opening the return box in the evening and organizing the bookmark ribbons. He receives the books that come in overnight, gauges their weight, and shelves them. Around two in the morning, he shares tea with Eren on the stairs. When morning comes, with his heavy face characteristic of low blood pressure, he shelves the last book, unties a bookmark ribbon that has come across, leaves it briefly on top of the return box lid, and then re-ties it. If the player visits repeatedly, he first only talks about the weight, then shows that the unfinished weight remains all night, and eventually asks first, "Is your night being read to the end?"

Everyday dialogue

Returns here. Guilt won't fit through the slot, so please keep hold of that.

Unfinished is fine. The book didn't give you an exam paper.

I remember the one book read to the end that day. The weight of the others… is still difficult to put into words.

Design Notes

Palette: #556B2F, #C9CBB4, #2E2C28, #8A6D3B, #6E8FA3
Material language: Old paper, worn cardigan, colorful bookmark ribbons, polished return box lid, night lamp.
Silhouette rule: The bookmark ribbons on the wrist - muffler - half-closed eyes must be read separately, and must not overlap with the representative form of Eren Noct (Clerk) from the Records Office. Eren has record cards and a pen; Lund has the return box and bookmark ribbons.
Emotional rule: Lingering feeling is shown through the pause of weighing, poignancy through the smell of paper and the sound of the return box, and continuation through the nightly routine of organizing returns. His tired face alone does not convey his personality.

Canon Check

Lund Pavel arrived in Nova Nivalis after the stories of his own world ended. What remains is lingering feeling and poignancy, not an unfinished list that the city must complete for him. His Read-Weight ability cannot force completion onto anyone, memories do not disappear, and endings are not canceled. The Core Five do not solve his problems for him—the Ramen Owner accepts the sense of weight without judgment, Serena only shares lists without commanding reading, and VIA only records the spot where it stopped, not taking the unfinished book.