diff --git a/src/bin/kawari-world.rs b/src/bin/kawari-world.rs
index 0909d37..f979fd5 100644
--- a/src/bin/kawari-world.rs
+++ b/src/bin/kawari-world.rs
@@ -890,7 +890,6 @@ async fn client_loop(
                                     }
                                     CustomIpcData::CheckNameIsAvailable { name } => {
                                         let is_name_free = database.check_is_name_free(name);
-                                        let is_name_free = if is_name_free { 1 } else { 0 };
 
                                         // send response
                                         {
diff --git a/src/common/custom_ipc.rs b/src/common/custom_ipc.rs
index 0b70a13..a407c21 100644
--- a/src/common/custom_ipc.rs
+++ b/src/common/custom_ipc.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use binrw::binrw;
 
 use crate::{
-    common::{CHAR_NAME_MAX_LENGTH, read_string},
+    common::{CHAR_NAME_MAX_LENGTH, read_bool_from, read_string, write_bool_as},
     lobby::ipc::CharacterDetails,
     packet::{IpcSegment, ReadWriteIpcSegment},
 };
@@ -88,7 +88,11 @@ pub enum CustomIpcData {
         name: String,
     },
     #[br(pre_assert(*magic == CustomIpcType::NameIsAvailableResponse))]
-    NameIsAvailableResponse { free: u8 },
+    NameIsAvailableResponse {
+        #[br(map = read_bool_from::<u8>)]
+        #[bw(map = write_bool_as::<u8>)]
+        free: bool,
+    },
     #[br(pre_assert(*magic == CustomIpcType::RequestCharacterList))]
     RequestCharacterList { service_account_id: u32 },
     #[br(pre_assert(*magic == CustomIpcType::RequestCharacterListRepsonse))]
diff --git a/src/common/mod.rs b/src/common/mod.rs
index ea8222b..4e17c78 100644
--- a/src/common/mod.rs
+++ b/src/common/mod.rs
@@ -51,6 +51,14 @@ pub const INVALID_OBJECT_ID: ObjectId = ObjectId(0xE0000000);
 /// Maxmimum length of a character's name.
 pub const CHAR_NAME_MAX_LENGTH: usize = 32;
 
+pub(crate) fn read_bool_from<T: std::convert::From<u8> + std::cmp::PartialEq>(x: T) -> bool {
+    x == T::from(1u8)
+}
+
+pub(crate) fn write_bool_as<T: std::convert::From<u8>>(x: &bool) -> T {
+    if *x { T::from(1u8) } else { T::from(0u8) }
+}
+
 pub(crate) fn read_string(byte_stream: Vec<u8>) -> String {
     let str = String::from_utf8(byte_stream).unwrap();
     str.trim_matches(char::from(0)).to_string() // trim \0 from the end of strings
@@ -146,6 +154,20 @@ pub struct Attributes {
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
 
+    const DATA: [u8; 2] = [0u8, 1u8];
+
+    #[test]
+    fn read_bool_u8() {
+        assert!(!read_bool_from::<u8>(DATA[0]));
+        assert!(read_bool_from::<u8>(DATA[1]));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn write_bool_u8() {
+        assert_eq!(write_bool_as::<u8>(&false), DATA[0]);
+        assert_eq!(write_bool_as::<u8>(&true), DATA[1]);
+    }
+
     // "FOO\0"
     const STRING_DATA: [u8; 4] = [0x46u8, 0x4Fu8, 0x4Fu8, 0x0u8];
 
diff --git a/src/lobby/connection.rs b/src/lobby/connection.rs
index b7b6904..bf18673 100644
--- a/src/lobby/connection.rs
+++ b/src/lobby/connection.rs
@@ -363,10 +363,7 @@ impl LobbyConnection {
 
                 tracing::info!("Is name free? {free}");
 
-                // TODO: use read_bool_as
-                let free: bool = *free == 1u8;
-
-                if free {
+                if *free {
                     self.stored_character_creation_name = character_action.name.clone();
 
                     let ipc = ServerLobbyIpcSegment {