No user on brand new OS X installation I just opened a new Macbook Pro out of the box and, after going through the initial setup (language, timezone, name, etc.), I see the login screen without my username. I tried typing in my username (manually) and password but nothing happens. The only option is to click the back button which then shows a blank alias picture with the word Other underneath it

If I reboot the computer pressing ⌘Sand then do ls /Users to see the users on the system it only has .localized and Shared directories, which indicates to me that the user was not created properly.

How do I correct this so I can have an initial user account?
Definitely a strange situation, however there's a relatively easy solution.

Boot to single user mode as you did before by holding ⌘S while power it on.

Once you reach the command prompt you can enter the following commands, pressing return after each one:

/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
reboot


This will remove the file that OS X checks for when booting to determine if the Mac has already been setup.  When it fails to detect the file it will start the setup assistant, which includes the step that allows you to create your user account.