Pet Janson

Core Premise

Pet Janson came to Nova Nivalis after living out the story of his own world. The last whaling ship he was on was tied up in the harbor on the day whaling ended, and he threw his harpoon into the sea. He didn't come chasing something unfinished; rather, his body, accustomed to reading the depths and waiting, flowed into the canals of this city. Nova Nivalis is not a great hunting ground, nor is it the final destination of a great voyage. What continues here is not a massive catch, but the repetition of small fishing—drilling a hole in the ice, casting a line, and waiting for a single fish that wants to be caught.

Identity

He is a fisherman who fishes with ice fishing in the season when the Silver Canal freezes, and with nets when it thaws. He makes a living by selling his catch to street stalls and shops. His work is the fishing labor the city actually needs, but he doesn't boast about catching a lot. "I only catch the ones that want to be caught" is his way, and even if he's hungry, if the fish are quiet that day, he returns empty-handed.

Visual Profile

His light brown, tousled hair sticks out from under his winter hat. He has a clean look, though it shows he hasn't been meticulously groomed. He wears a fishing hook-shaped earring on his left ear, the sharp tip of which he filed down for safety. His face is etched by the sun and sea wind, and his lips move lightly as he hums a tune. Over his thick winter gear, he wears a net vest, and each pocket of the vest holds bait and line. His signature props are an ice axe for breaking the ice and an ice pick for drilling holes. The core of his silhouette is the ice axe, the ice pick, and the fishing rod slung over his shoulder. The accent color is the deep cerulean blue of the water beneath the ice, #4682B4, which lets people know from afar that he is a man of water and ice.

Personality

He is bright and friendly. He greets strangers with a tune, just like his humming, and shares his fishing spots. He is not hasty, so he can sit by an ice hole for hours. His flaw is his competitive spirit. While usually placid, if someone asks, "How many did you catch?" he swells with pride, and his competition with Mago is actually something he started because he didn't want to lose. He is not steeped in tragedy. He smiles often, talks to the fish he catches as if they have names, and when he lets them go, he says, "If you get bored next time, come back."

Speech Pattern

His speech is light and flows like a hum. "It's quiet today." "There's no one that wants to be caught." "One fish is enough." Casual speech is the norm, and he quickly becomes comfortable even with elders. Phrases he often uses include, "Only the bored ones bite," "Don't need many," "They'll come when they're ready," and "If they don't bite, you don't catch them." When silent, he stares into the ice hole or hums a low tune. He avoids the topic of whaling with a laugh, and he never mentions the word 'harpoon.'

Special Ability

The name of his ability is 'Sensing the Boredom.' He senses the 'boredom' of the fish beneath the ice. He discerns through the subtle movements under the water which one is bored and wants to react to the bait. That's why he only catches the ones that want to be caught. His limit is clear. No matter how hungry he is, no matter how much he needs, if the fish are quiet, he won't catch a single one. He cannot force the fish to come. The price is time. He must simply sit and wait until a bored one appears, and that waiting cannot be shortened. The ability does not reverse any outcome. The harpoon he threw away will not return, and he simply sits before the ice, waiting for the fish's boredom.

The End Of Their World

Last Scene:
On the day whaling was banned, the last whaling ship was tied up in the harbor. As the youngest, he stood on the deck, having returned with nothing caught, and threw his harpoon into the sea with all his might. The harpoon disappeared into the water and never resurfaced.

What Ended:
The entire era of whaling he belonged to ended. The nights of the ship, the harbor, the hands that held the harpoon, and the sailors who boasted of great hunts ended together.

Last Person, Place, or Thing Seen:
The silver of the harpoon sinking into the sea, and the waves closing over it as if nothing had happened.

Lingering Regret:
He doesn't regret throwing the harpoon, but he is not sure if that was truly 'how to stop.' This lingering attachment remains not as a quest to be resolved, but as the habit of letting go even when he could catch.

Lingering Wistfulness:
The subtle tremor coming from the depths just before a fish hooks the line. When that tremor comes, the sensation of holding the line over the vast sea briefly overlaps.

Object Carried Across:
An old lure from the ship, which he brought instead of the harpoon. His hand that threw away something big held onto something small.

What They Thought Would Happen:
He thought that if he threw away the harpoon, he would stop fishing altogether. But his hands were still reading the depths.

What VOTS Actually Gives Them:
Not a great hunt, but the waterway waiting for a single fish that wants to be caught. The city does not return the harpoon he threw away. Instead, it gives him an ice hole, neighbors who welcome the fish he catches, and evenings where it's okay to return empty-handed.

Original Life

Pet Janson was the youngest on the last whaling ship. He handled the dirty work of maintaining harpoons, coiling ropes, and hauling in catches while traveling the great sea. When whaling was banned, the ship could no longer venture out to sea, and the sailors scattered to the land one by one. On his last day, he threw his harpoon into the sea from the deck, having caught nothing, and stepped off the ship. That was his last catch in that world.

What They Seek

On the surface, he seeks a name for a hunt that doesn't catch. He ponders a name for fishing where he has the skill to read the depths but doesn't forcibly pull anything up. However, on a level he doesn't know, that name is already 'Waiting.' The time spent sitting there until a bored one comes to him—that is the hunt he seeks—and yet, even though he does it every day, he hasn't named it.

Relationships — Residents

- Pera Dov (batch1, ramyeon regular·window seat at dusk): A cheerful acquaintance he greets on his canal walks at dusk. As the time Pet finishes his fishing spot overlaps with the sunset Pera used to watch from the window, the two exchange brief greetings by the water. Pera asks, "How many today?" and Pet always claims one more than the actual number.
- Mago Senne (039, dockside fish-cake stall): A cheerful acquaintance he supplies fish to. Pet supplies the white fish for Mago's fish-cake soup, and the two bicker over prices. In reality, Pet chooses the best fish for Mago while outwardly insisting, "This is expensive."
- Sui Ro (108, aquarium goldfish caretaker): They are in a cold war over goldfish. After Pet joked, "Can't you catch those?" about Sui's goldfish and received a stern look from Sui, the two have been distant in front of the aquarium. However, Pet never casts his line toward Sui's goldfish.

Relationships — Core Five

Suyeon - Someone he had an ice-slab fishing contest with. Suyeon set up a spot by an ice hole, betting, "Let's see who catches first," and Pet accepted the bet even though he knew the fish were quiet that day. In the end, both were empty-handed, and Suyeon tried to widen the hole with an ice pick, exclaiming, "What's there to not catch!" but was stopped by Pet. Pet said, "If they don't bite, you don't catch them," and Suyeon thought about fishing again for the first time after hearing those words.

Iris - Someone he passes by by the water. When Iris came to the canal to get some air between stage setups, Pet acknowledged her with a hum. Iris said, "It's labor with no fanfare," but she fell silent briefly when Pet said, "I only catch the ones that want to be caught." It was because she resembled him in not forcing an unlit drone to turn on.

the Ramen Owner - Someone he supplies ingredients to. While pretending to compete with Mago, Pet supplies fish ingredients to the ramyeon shop, and the owner accepts both of their deliveries. When Pet insists, "Mine is fresher," the owner says, "Hmm... I see..." and places both their fish side-by-side, ultimately not judging which is better. Pet finds that lack of judgment subtly comforting.

Serena - A regular who greets him by the water. When Serena walks along the canal in the morning and passes Pet's fishing spot, she nods, and Pet stops humming and waves. Once Serena asked, "Why didn't you cast today?" Pet replied, "Because the kids weren't bored today." Serena laughed at that answer and said, "Then today is a day off," and Pet didn't feel embarrassed by an empty-handed day for the first time.

VIA - Someone who records fish names. Knowing that Pet names every fish he catches and releases, VIA comes to record those names. VIA says, "Releasing them is also a record... it is a record," and counts the fish released, not the ones caught. Pet finds that the record of his empty hands is strangely reassuring, and he tries hard not to forget the names of the fish he let go.

Gameplay Use

- Basic Interaction: Sharing fishing spots, short conversations about caught fish.
- Revisit Changes: As you visit more, he tells you the underwater condition, such as "It's quiet today/There's a bored one," but he doesn't force a catch. He also shows an empty-handed result as one of the outcomes.
- Expression of Lingering Attachment: The habit of releasing fish even when he could catch them, the habit of laughing off the whaling story.
- Expression of Poignancy: Sensory dialogue about the tremor at the end of the line, the feeling from the depths.
- Relationship Reward: Not new items, but introductions connecting the caught fish to the street stalls and shops.
- Combat: None. Even in a crisis, he chooses to guide the water flow and wait rather than catch something.

Daily Routine

In the morning, he checks the ice thickness by tapping it with his ice axe and sees if the holes dug yesterday have refrozen. This check is not a compulsion but a small ritual that separates the vast old sea from today's canal. During the day, he sits by the hole, humming a tune while waiting for the fish's boredom. Around noon, as light spreads over the ice, his poignancy briefly rises when the end of the line first trembles. At night, he holds and sets down an old lure brought from the ship. For players who visit repeatedly, lyrics gradually attach themselves to his humming, and his excuses about his competitive spirit decrease. Even if they become quite close, he doesn't reward them with a voyage out to the old sea.

Everyday dialogue

No bites today. The fish must be having one of those days when they ignore appointments. I know the feeling.

Keep quiet? No, talk. One more excuse for catching nothing will protect my dignity.

I don't regret discarding the harpoon. But setting something down feels different from throwing it away.

Design Notes

Palette: #4682B4, #A5C6E0, #274B6B, #E4E9EF, #C87F3C
Material language: Water, wood lure, ice axe and ice pick, net, wet winter gear.
Silhouette rule: The head-net vest-fishing rod on the shoulder-hand with the ice axe must be read separately, and must not overlap with the silhouettes of other water residents (Ob, Sui).
Emotional rule: Lingering attachment is shown through the habit of releasing and laughing it off, poignancy is shown through the tremor at the end of the line, and continuation is shown through the daily fishing wait.

Canon Check

Pet Janson arrived in VOTS after the whaling in his world ended. What remains is lingering attachment and poignancy, not a hunt that VOTS must restore. The city does not return the harpoon he threw away, and his ability cannot forcibly pull the fish up. The new scene continues not by erasing the finished voyage, but by the hand sitting before the ice, waiting beside it.