are also harried by the Noise –
the psychic manifestations of peoples' negative emotions, normally
incorporeal but nightmarishly immediate in the realm the players now
inhabit – as well as the meddling of the Shinigami charged with
running the game.

AKBT is no more rooted in reality. As
the Kageyashi require human blood as sustenance, often killing their
prey in the process, the anti-Kageyashi organization NIRO has been
formed to deal with the threat. The nameless protagonist nearly meets
his end to a Kageyashi attack in a back alley, but his attacker's
sister, who disagrees with the general Kageyashi ethos, saves him
with a kiss, transferring some of her own blood to him and beginning
his transformation into a Kageyashi himself. NIRO picks him up and
recruits him into their investigative group, formed largely of locals
with deep resources inside the areanote: the drink's prefix is spelled without a period! It is strictly Dr Pepper, not Doctor Pepper or Dr. Pepper. Any other spelling is a heinous error).

According to Dr Pepper's website, the likely inventor of this drink is Waco pharmacist Charles Alderton. He liked serving unique sodas to his customers and enjoyed the particular scent of his workplace, eventually electing to create a soda that tasted like the smell. Alderton did not just stumble onto a successful soda immediately. He recorded numerous attempts, finally settling on a taste he was satisfied with.

Most early pharmacies had soda fountains, and the pharmacy where Alderton worked was no exception. He added his new drink to the fountain, to the delight of his customers. Word spread like furious wildfire. The owner of