Loners

"*78 years of living underground... it's enough to drive anyone mad.*"—Yurika, *Dead Or School*

**Loners** (世捨て人,yosutebito, ***Loners***?) are NPCs found in many places underground in the Dead Or School video game.

## History

Loners are underground residents that have lost the will to endure their harsh living environment, falling into total despair or mental instability as a result. They seek escape by taking Red Pills, an illegal drug that gives them a heightened sense of euphoria and numbs them to reality.

Like with many other illicit substances, Loners have become totally dependent on Red Pills and are often left craving for more once the effect subsides, resorting to begging from passers-by or in extreme cases, theft. Frequent usage of said drug left them with side effects such as brain damage and their bodies smelling like corpses in a state of decomposition, which causes other people and even Mutants to stay away from them. As a result, they usually take up residence in very dangerous areas by themselves.

Despite their condition, many Loners are still capable of coherent speech and a few of them give Hisako hints on her journey.

## Loners

### Shinjuku (Underground)

* **Dead-end Dan** - The very first Loner that Hisako runs into.
* **Mommy's Boy Goro** - A man who shares his beloved mother's odd philosophy.
* **Johnny The Surface Hater** - A Loner with somewhat of a sadistic streak.
* **Hiro The Bug Eater** - An insect gourmet who hangs out at the Underground Food Court.
* **Surface-Hating John** - Discourages Hisako from seeking out the Employee Cardkey.
* **Hideo The Sewer Dweller** - A Loner who has gotten used to sewer life and refuses to leave.
* **Kazuki The Digger** - A Digger who fell into despair after losing his wife and child.
* **Dehydrated Hibiki** - A thirsty Loner(?) who mistakenly thought that the rare Weapon Vending Machine dispensed drinks.
* **Shameless Danny** - A weird man who's a little too obsessed with Hisako's scent.
* **Reclusive Yuu** - A Loner who cannot stand Hisako's spirited nature.

### Harajuku

* **Frightened Taichi** - A Loner(?) spooked by the strong Mutant that invaded the mall.
* **Sarcastic Tatsuya** - A bitter man who considers the Digger Gears as a symbol of humanity's cowardice.
* **Reclusive Yuu** *(Second Time)* - Moved to Harajuku but got penalized for stealing.
* **Terrified Yoshimitsu** - Implores Hisako to stop the rampaging Mutant.
* **Gazing Ron** - Tells Hisako about a Mutant who went by with a torn dress in its mouth.

### Ichigaya

* **Soldier Wannabe Goro** - A man who laments living in an era where soldiers are no longer needed.
* **Jin The Army Hater** - Feels that the military treasured weapons more than human lives.
* **Sarcastic Toru** - Wonders if military meetings were important enough to be held in a fortified war room.
* **Celebrated Genta** - A delusional Loner who thinks that the explosives spewed out by the Dynamite Barrels are fireworks meant to celebrate him.
* **Yuta (Yuuki) The Ceiling Starer** - Has developed a hobby out of looking at a hole in the ceiling in anticipation of what would fall from it.
* **Shingo Of The Infirmary** - Considers the infirmary as moot since most soldiers back in the war got killed by the Mutants almost instantly.
* **Dead-End Bungo** - A man stranded underground because of a locked shutter. Hopes that he can live long enough to get weapons to avenge his late daughter.
* **Gear-hating Zozo** - A thief who has gone into hiding and fears almost everything around him, especially gears.
* **Taichi the Canned Food Fan** - A man who would rather gobble up his recently-acquired rations instead of dwelling on impending doom after the station shutter locked him in.

### Budokan

* **Tomoya The Neat Freak** - A Loner who expresses disgust at the messy ways music lovers express themselves.
* **Jin The Music Lover** - Knows for a fact that human screams and Mutant wails can't really be called music.
* **Ryu With Heat Trouble** - A disgruntled resident who complains about how hard it is to live in the area because of the turbines.
* **Loner by Tamio Inoue's mural** - Tells Hisako the story of the man in the mural and surmises that the legendary guitarist's instrument may still be somewhere out there.

### Akihabara

* **Desperate Akira** - An injured Digger who begs Hisako to stop the spider-like Mutant.
* **Yuta (Yuuki) The Ceiling Starer** *(Second Time)* - Talks about Akihabara's history as an "Electric Town" and how Diggers came into being.
* **Terrified Yoshimitsu** *(Second Time)* - Thinks that the big-eyed anime/manga girls in the station posters are making fun of him.
* **Seita The Manga Lover** - Laments the loss of his treasured comics and wonders if he can get some from the surface.

## Gallery

Loner Profile Cut-InYuuki The Ceiling Starer (Japanese)Yuta The Ceiling Starer (English)
## Notes & Trivia

* The basic translation of *yosutebito* is "people who abandoned this reality", but was changed to "Loners" for the in-game English language part, since they are in essence living away from the other underground dwellers *(as well as those like themselves)* due to the nature and effects of their addiction.
* There are NPC characters in certain locations that were given Loner cut-in graphics even though they supposedly aren't part of that group. Some examples may be the frightened man near the Harajuku Hills entrance *(Since Mutants generally avoid Loners)* and the person sitting near the mural of the legendary guitarist Tamio Inoue.
* All of the Shinjuku Underground Loners disappear when the surface area becomes accessible.
* In a latter update where Nami and Yui were given a walking animation intro for the opening chapter at Ikebukuro, a Loner can be seen in the background.
* Loners do not appear in Underground Asakusa and Roppongi.
* A Loner known as **Yuuki The Ceiling Starer** (天井を見つめるユウキ, tenjou o mitsumeru Yuuki, ***Yuuki The Ceiling Starer***?) in the Japanese script had his name changed to **"Yuta"** in the English translation. There is no available info as to whether this was a mistake or an intentional change to avoid confusion between said Loner and a refugee with the same name.
* Since it has already been established that Loners are hopeless cases, they do not feature in the ending. The origin of the Red Pill was never even elaborated on.