Neku Sakuraba, a 15 year-old boy with a hobby for music and graffiti, wakes up in what seems to be the Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, Japan. With no idea why he's there, he opens his hand to realize he is holding a strange black pin. After flipping it with his hand, the thoughts of the people surrounding him began to flow into his head at once. Surprised, Neku discovers he is able to read the minds of others, and assumes it has something to do with the black pin he is holding.A cellphone starts to ring in his pocket, and he can't tell whether it is his or not. A text message appears: "Reach 104. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. -The Reapers". After discovering he can't delete the message, a timer of 60 minutes imprints onto his right hand. Neku is in Shibuya to play the "Reapers' Game", which spans a total of 7 days. All Players of the Reapers' Game have a black pin with a skull embedded on it. The Reapers' Game has certain rules, which prevent him from leaving the Shibuya district. If Neku doesn't complete the game, he will be stricken from existence along with Shiki Misaki, a girl with a passion for designing clothing who is another Player in the game. Shiki and Neku forge a pact to work together with her for the week.
The Reapers monitor the duo's actions and invite them to dangerous and difficult tasks. In order to survive, Neku and Shiki have to defeat the "Noise", physical manifestations of people's negative thoughts and feelings. The Noise are based on animals such as pigeons, wolves, and bears and can also take the forms of objects and historical monuments in Shibuya. Neku's psychic talents are essential not only to gather clues and hints from the people, but to also detect the Noise that sweep through the roads of Shibuya. During their week in Shibuya, Neku and Shiki run into other people who have become involved in the Reapers' Game, including two other Players named Beat and Rhyme, as well as a strange man named Mr. Hanekoma, who helps the Players.
The Reapers come to explain that every Player in the Reapers' Game is dead, and if they win, they will earn a second chance at life. To get into the Game, each Player must pay an "entry fee." Shiki's fee is revealed to be her appearance, choosing to look like her best friend, Eri, whom Shiki is jealous of for her talent with clothing design. After clearing the final task on the 7th day, Neku and Shiki promise to meet up in the land of the living. However, when Neku wakes up again, he finds himself back where he started on the 1st Day of the Reapers' Game, still dead. It turns out that the Player with the highest rating out of the pair gets to have their "second chance", but the other has to stay behind and play again.
