This post was created as part of Nexon PEAK activities.

What if a little character in the corner of your monitor tapped away at a keyboard along with you?

The “typing pets” that were popular on social media a while back

are desktop pets that move in response to your keystrokes.

There's something appealing about keeping a favorite character on your screen and spending time together.

I wanted a character from Mabinogi Mobile to keep me company as a desktop pet, too.
But choosing one turned out to be surprisingly difficult.

🐾 Who Could Be Cuter Than My Own Character?

Which Mabinogi Mobile character would make a good desktop pet...?
There weren't any NPCs I felt particularly attached to, and the monsters were hardly cute.

The pets are cute, but since you can dye and customize them yourself,
I'd want mine to look exactly the way I'd styled it in the game.

Above all, I think Mabinogi Mobile

is a game where many players grow genuinely attached to their own characters.
I'm no different.
So I made up my mind: I'd turn my own character into a desktop pet!!!

🎨 If It Doesn't Exist, I'll Make It Myself!

A complex desktop pet would be difficult to build on my own,
so I settled on a typing pet, which is relatively simple to make.
I used a program shared by @swoonqx on Twitter.
With just 3 images—a default pose, a left-hand movement, and a right-hand movement—you can easily put one together.

I drew 곤류 in a chibi style, using my character's actual in-game appearance as a reference.
I included the backward cap and my favorite 크리온 outfit.
Since the program switches between the images, even slight changes to the face seemed likely to look awkward,
so I copied the head and adjusted only its angle to keep everything as consistent as possible.

I don't draw chibi characters very often, so the movements are a little awkward,

and I'm not 100% happy with the finished drawings, either.

Still, seeing my character tapping away at a keyboard in the corner of the screen is just too cute!

⌨ Wait, Am I Typing Too Fast?

Once I tried it out, I ran into a problem I hadn't expected.
It turns out I type too fast! ㅠㅠ
Since the character moves in time with my keystrokes, its hands take turns tapping at a frantic pace.
It's almost dizzying to watch, so I even slowed down my typing on purpose when preparing visuals to show it off.
Still, watching my cute character type makes me want to write all sorts of things, just for the sake of it.

The program can also run as an overlay on top of a game.
It wasn't responding to my keystrokes while I was playing Mabinogi Mobile, though, which had me puzzled for a while.
Once I ran the program as an administrator, it worked properly in-game, too.
Something to keep in mind if you run into the same problem.

Some typing pets made by other users include images that respond to keys for exclamation marks, question marks, or Backspace.
Someday, I'd like to make mine shout out skill names whenever I press the 1–6 skill keys in Mabinogi Mobile.
But drawing just 3 images took me ages, and now I'd need another 6...?
I've decided to leave that as an idea for now ㅋ

👹 Why I Keep a Goblin Keyring on My Bag

So, if Mabinogi Mobile released an official desktop pet, which character would be a good choice?
My pick would be the monster plushies hanging from the NPC 몰리's bag.

These were sold as real plush keyrings at a past Christmas pop-up store at Starfield,
with 4 types available: a Goblin, a Ratman, a Kobold, and an Ogre.
The monsters aren't especially cute in the game, but their plush versions were adorable.

I bought the Goblin plush and have kept it on my bag for nearly 1 year now.
Choosing the Goblin actually took a bit of thought.
The Ogre was a little too big to carry around, and I wasn't keen on the Ratman's long legs and rat-like tail.
The Kobold and Goblin were both cute, but my budget only allowed for one.
In the end, I chose the Goblin because I remembered encountering it in the game.
For some reason, I couldn't remember ever coming across a Kobold.

Carrying this plush around has given me a small hope:
that someone on the street might recognize the Goblin and ask, “Do you play Mabinogi Mobile?”...
I've even imagined making a 모비노기 friend through a chance encounter like that in real life,
but it hasn't happened yetㅋ

💥 What If All 4 Monsters Invaded My Monitor?

If 몰리's monster plushies were released as desktop pets, I'd love for all 4 to come as a set.
A whole group bustling around seems cuter to me than one wandering around alone.
They could spend most of their time roaming along the taskbar,

then suddenly attack the screen after the user has left the keyboard and mouse untouched for a while—wouldn't that be fun?
With the Goblin, Ratman, Kobold, and Ogre each unleashing their own attacks

until they cover the screen, a screensaver like that could really let their monster personalities shine.

I'd like to add an Imp to the mix, too.
It isn't one of 몰리's 4 plushies, but it's well known in Mabinogi Mobile for the quest where it asks you to find its orb.
What if the Imp wandered around the screen and dropped an orb that you could click to return?
I think it would be fun to do the same thing on the desktop that we did in the game.

Of course, this is all just me imagining things ㅎ...
For now, the little 곤류 I made is busily tapping away at a keyboard in the corner of my screen,
but I hope I'll get to see those monsters wandering across my monitor someday, too.