You’re a young boy who longs for the exciting life of the big city, moving to Ikebukuro to attend Raira Academy with your childhood friend Masaomi Kida, whom you has not seen since you was young. After the two meet at the train station, they set out to explore the streets of Ikebukuro. Masaomi warns you about people he does not want to cross in the city such as the violent and superhumanly strong man Shizuo Heiwajima, the information broker Izaya Orihara, and the mysterious gang known as "The Dollars". After running into some of the side characters, you sees a local legend called the "Black Rider" who is rumored to have no head and rides around Ikebukuro on a black motorcycle that occasionally neighs like a horse. The "Black Rider"'s real name is Celty Sturluson; she is a creature from Irish folklore known as a dullahan who is in Ikebukuro looking for her stolen head while working as an underworld courier.