If to give up is to die, then Ishida Seishin perished years ago, and Sakura Hisui is immortal. He wants to fade; she wants to shine. He's a friendless delinquent; she's a popular top student. It's a tale as old as time with a predictable ending, so when she recruits him—along with the rest of the manga club—into saving a dying world, he's understandably confused.

And what's more—they're not the only ones. Humans are immune to the plague that's slowly corrupting Korova, and thus they must save it.

That, too, is a tale as old as time. Its ending is equally predictable, its characters vessels. After all, why wouldn't someone yearning for escape thrive as the hero of another world?

To Ishida, the answer is simple: because they were the villains of their own life. So was he, and so is Hisui, the manga club, and every outlander who escaped a life without meaning.

Should death be any different? Be on a battlefield or in bed, the result is the same.