Content Warning: This section discusses emotional abuse.

Hoid, the narrator of the Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, begins with a description of the sky of the city of Kilahito. It is always entirely black, except for one star. Under this sky, a nightmare painter named Nikaro, who thinks of himself simply as “Painter,” leaves his apartment to begin his shift. The role of a nightmare painter is to protect Kilahito from “nightmares,” which are semi-sapient creatures of darkness that enter the city when most people were asleep. It is an important job, but Hoid compares it to professions like teachers, firefighters, or nurses—it is relatively common and poorly paid.

Painter is 19 years old, pale, lanky, and has long, unkempt hair. As Painter walks to the beat he patrols, Hoid describes the hion lines overhead—they are twin lines of pure energy, one magenta and another teal, each one as thick as a wrist. The lines are essential to life in Kilahito, providing light and energy to the city. 

Painter reaches the western edge of the city and stares at the shroud—the dark, fog-like substance that covers the entire planet and causes the permanent darkness. Painter imagines he is a lone hunter of nightmares until he hears laughter.