Yan Snove

Core Premise

Yan Snove lived out the story of his own world and came to Nova Nivalis. The village where he delivered mail was trapped in the polar night where the sun never rose, and the village fell into darkness after he emptied the last mailbag. He didn't come to deliver the undelivered letters; rather, he flowed into this city with the hands that knocked on doors and the feet that carried greetings. Nova Nivalis is not the terminus of the post office, nor the end of the last delivery. What continues here is not the mail from the lost village, but the small, repetitive act of placing a single letter or a parcel at a doorstep.

Identity

He is a current postman in this city. He carries letters and parcels to every house, knocks on doors, and places them in the mailbox if no one is there. His job is the delivery labor that the city actually needs. He doesn't view delivery as mere transmission, so every time he knocks, he doesn't forget to say, "Hello, this is the mail.". Being a regular at ramyeon Alley, after finishing his deliveries, he stops by the ramyeon shop to warm his hands that have grown cold from the broth.

Visual Profile

His short, dark hair always has a pressed-down mark from wearing his postman's cap for too long. Around his neck, he wears a conspicuous teal muffler, and its color contrasts with his dark uniform, making him visible from a distance. He wears his delivery bag tightly against his body, and his calves are firm from walking a lot. His fingertips are chapped from the cold, and his uniform pockets hold several rubber bands for organizing letters. His signature accessory is a brass whistle used to announce his arrival at houses deeper in the alley. The core of his silhouette is the teal muffler, the body-hugging delivery bag, and the brass whistle. The accent color is teal #17A398, which lets people know he is a mail carrier even from afar.

Personality

He is diligent and friendly. He remembers the names and circumstances of people in every house and checks on them while delivering. Although he appears bright on the surface, he feels particularly down when he knocks on a door and no one is there, though he hides this feeling well. His flaw is his inability to let go of work. Even on his days off, he walks the alleys with his bag, and he doesn't reduce his deliveries even when his shoulders ache. He is not steeped in tragedy. He blows his whistle for the children, chats with neighbors over misdelivered letters, and finds happiness in a bowl of broth.

Speech Pattern

His speech is clear, and his greetings are ingrained in him. "Hello, this is the mail." "Here is one letter." "Is there someone to receive it?" Honorifics are standard, but with regulars, he casually asks how they are doing. Frequent phrases include, "Greetings have weight," "This must be delivered," "Just three knocks," and "If not, I'll come again." When silent, he straightens his bag strap or re-sorts letters by name. He rarely talks about the polar night village, and he brushes off the fact that the sun never rose with a smile.

Special Ability

The ability is called 'The Weight of the Bag'. Even if the recipient moves, the bag containing the letter for that person becomes subtly heavier toward that person. Even without knowing the exact address, he walks in the direction the bag grows heavier to find the recipient. There is a clear limit. The bag only indicates direction; he must find the exact door with his own feet. Furthermore, if the recipient is 'Unknown Recipient' and nowhere in this world, the bag does not grow heavier, and that letter loses its destination. The cost is his shoulders. As much as he finds his way by weight, his shoulders are always sore and aching. The ability does not reverse any ending. He cannot create a missing recipient; he only diligently delivers the letters that can reach them.

The End Of Their World

Last Scene:
In the polar night village where the sun would never rise again, people gradually left to escape the darkness. Yan remained until the end, setting down the empty mailbag from his shoulder after delivering all the letters left in the mailboxes.

What Ended:
The entire village ended with light. The alleys he walked, the houses waiting for letters, and the custom of counting morning mail all fell into darkness.

Last Person, Place, or Thing Seen:
An alley lined with unlit windows, and the sight of the mailbag, emptied for the last time, folding thinly.

Lingering Regret:
There were some houses among those that left where letters were not delivered. He still worries about not knocking on the doors of those houses in the darkness. This lingering feeling remains not as a quest to be resolved, but as the habit of knocking one more time on an empty door.

Lingering Wistfulness:
The brief wait when footsteps approach from inside after knocking on a door. When that moment comes, for a moment, the morning when windows in the entire polar night village were lit overlaps.

Object Carried Across:
A single letter that he ultimately failed to deliver in the polar night village. He carries that letter, which doesn't get heavy because the recipient disappeared, in his bag's side pocket.

What They Thought Would Happen:
They thought that if the sun rose again, the people who left would return to receive their letters. The sun did not rise again.

What VOTS Actually Gives Them:
The alleys not submerged in darkness, and the doors waiting for his knock. The city does not return the polar night village. Instead, it gives him letters he can still deliver, and a bowl of broth to warm his cold hands after finishing his deliveries.

Original Life

Yan Snove was the last postman of the polar night village. In a village where the sun eventually failed to rise due to its short days, he carried letters with his head held high even in the darkness. Even while people were leaving the village, he took care of the mail for the remaining houses. His last delivery in that world was setting down the empty mailbag after delivering all the letters left in the mailboxes on his final day.

What They Seek

On the surface, he seeks greetings, not just deliveries. Beyond delivering letters, he desires the moment when those letters become greetings between people. However, on a level he doesn't realize, what he needs to find are the houses that are already waiting for his knock. The people who are happy about his three knocks—he only counts the number of deliveries and fails to see that his knock itself is a greeting.

Relationships — Residents

- Ivo Senn (batch1, Locksmith·behind Threshold Market): Connected through the mailbox key. If a mailbox lock breaks, Yan asks Ivo for help, and Ivo makes the minimal adjustments to allow letters to be placed inside. The two work well together as the "one who opens what is closed" and the "one who puts things in what is closed."
- Mio Paret (022, Paper Mailbox Maker): The maker of mailboxes and the one who puts letters in them. The paper mailboxes Mio folds do not get wet for a day, which Yan especially welcomes on snowy days. Yan tells Mio, "Your mailbox is nice because the letters don't get wet," and Mio tries to bring up stories of letters she couldn't send to Yan.
- Holt Nagel (090, Outskirts Mailbox): He shares the delivery route with the caretaker of the outskirts mailbox. Yan handles the city center, and Holt takes over the outskirts to continue the mail. The two exchange letters at the boundary mailbox and share the day's greetings.

Relationships — Core Five

Suyeon - A person he frequently delivers fan letters to. Because so many letters come for Suyeon, the bag is always heavier toward her, and Yan jokes, "Your letters are what the bag knows best." When Suyeon says, "I haven't even read them all," Yan replies, "But they still arrived," and delivers every single one. Suyeon tried to offer him Cola Bibimyeon because of his diligence, but Yan politely declined.

Iris - The subject of the fan letter delivery incident. There was an incident where fan letters meant for Iris were misclassified and went to Suyeon's stage before being returned, which Yan spent all night delivering back to its owner. Iris asked, "You won't brag about it, right?" and Yan replied, "It's fine as long as the letter went where it was supposed to go." Iris likes his straightforwardness and trusts Yan's deliveries.

the Ramen Owner - The person to whom he entrusts 'Unknown Recipient' letters. Yan leaves the letters that never get heavy in the bag, the ones with no destination, at the ramyeon shop. The owner says, "Hmm... I see..." and collects those letters in a box, leaving a space for the owner to appear someday. The owner simply stores them without judgment, and Yan doesn't have to throw away the letters with no destination because of that box.

Serena - Someone he greets during delivery. When Serena passes in front of the city hall and meets Yan, Serena always asks, "Is your bag heavy today?" If Yan says, "It's a day with many things for someone," Serena replies, "Then it's a good day." Once, when delivering documents for Serena, she said, "Thank you for receiving it in person," and Yan forgot the ache in his shoulders at those words.

VIA - Someone who records the sound of knocking. VIA counts and records the sound of Yan knocking on doors. "Knocked three times... it was knocked.". Even when Yan knocks one more time on an empty door, VIA records that futile knock. When Yan says, "You don't have to write that down," VIA replies, "Waiting is also delivery... it is the deliverer," and Yan finds comfort in those words for a long time.

Gameplay Use

- Basic Interaction: Delivering letters/parcels, brief greetings at the door.
- Revisit Change: Remembers the player's name and house, and knows the mailbox location without knocking next time. Cannot find missing recipients.
- Expression of Lingering Feelings: The habit of knocking one more time on an empty door, the habit of brushing off the polar night story with a smile.
- Expression of Poignancy: The sensory dialogue about the window lighting up while waiting for footsteps after a knock.
- Relationship Reward: Not new items, but the connection that continues the residents' greetings through letters.
- Combat: None. Even in a crisis, he chooses to carry news and knock on doors for people.

Daily Routine

In the morning, he sorts the letters by name and gauges which way the bag is heavier. This check is not a compulsion but a small ritual that separates the village submerged in darkness from the bright alley of the day. During the day, he walks the alleys following the weight of his bag to deliver. Around noon, when the most people come out to the door, and the moments of waiting for footsteps become frequent, his poignancy rises briefly. After finishing deliveries, he stops by the ramyeon shop to warm his cold hands, and at night, he checks the undelivered letters in his side pocket once and puts them back. For players who visit repeatedly, his greetings increase, and he lets slip bits of the polar night story. Even if they become quite close, he doesn't reward them with a delivery back to the village submerged in darkness.

Everyday dialogue

Hello, post! Yes, I greet the cat too. No, it can't sign for the delivery.

Letters may weigh the same, but they change my footsteps. Today's makes me tread carefully.

I knock once even at dark houses. I can find out nobody answers after I've knocked.

Design Notes

Palette: #17A398, #7FCFC5, #0E4F49, #E6E1D4, #C46A3A
Material language: Leather delivery bag, teal muffler, brass whistle, rubber band bundles, cold fingertips.
Silhouette rule: The teal muffler - body-hugging bag - brass whistle - firm calves must be read separately, and must not overlap with the silhouettes of other delivery types (Pipi, Sayo).
Emotional rule: Lingering feelings are shown by the habit of knocking on empty doors and the side pocket letters; poignancy is shown by the footsteps after a knock and the lighting up windows; continuation is shown by the daily delivery.

Canon Check

Yan Snove arrived in VOTS after the village of his world ended in the polar night. What remains is lingering feelings and poignancy, not mail that VOTS must deliver for him. The city does not return the village submerged in darkness, nor can his ability summon missing recipients. The new scene continues not by erasing the finished delivery, but by the hand that knocks next to it.