"the Big Guy." Hard-Boiled Wonderland The Narrator A 35-year-old Calcutec who, aside from his unusual profession, lives the life of a typical Tokyo yuppie. Although very observant, he gives little thought to the strangeness of the world around him. The Old Man / The Scientist A great, yet absent-minded, scientist who hires the narrator to process information. He is researching "sound removal". He has developed a way of reading the subconscious and actually recording it as comprehensible, if unrelated images. He had the inspiration of then editing these images to embed a fictional story into the subconscious of his subjects, including the narrator. He did this by working with the System due to the attractiveness of its facilities, though he disliked working for anyone. He later goes to Finland, as said by his granddaughter, to escape. The Obese Girl The 17-year-old granddaughter of the Old Man, who looks as though she is in her 30s. She is described as very overweight, yet attractive. She helps the Narrator in his journey through the sewers and decides to move in his apartment after the two worlds of his will converge. The Librarian The always-hungry girl who helps the narrator research unicorns and becomes his 48-hour girlfriend. Junior and Big Boy Two thugs who, on unknown orders, confront the narrator, leaving his apartment destroyed and inflicting a deliberately non-lethal but serious slash across his lower abdomen. INKlings Short for Infra-Nocturnal Kappa. Sewer-dwelling entities described as "Kappa" who have developed their own culture. They are so dangerous that the scientist lives in their realm, protected by a repelling device, to keep away from those who want to steal his data. It is said that they worship a Tilapia fish with violent tendencies (and leeches). They also do not eat fresh flesh; rather, once they catch a human, they submerge him in water for a few days to let him rot before eating him. The End of the World The Narrator A newcomer to The End of the World. As an initiation into the Town, his Shadow is cut off and his eyes pierced to make him averse to daylight and give him the ability to "read dreams", his allotted task. He cannot remember his former life nor understand what has happened to him, but he knows that the answers are held in his mind, which his Shadow preserves. The Narrator's Shadow Apparently human in