Nao is a man who has hit rock bottom. After being dumped by his girlfriend for another man, his life feels completely meaningless. As he stands on the edge of despair contemplating suicide, he sees a recruitment advertisement for the Space Force, an elite military organization dedicated to protecting Earth from extraterrestrial threats. This gives him a new, dark purpose. He decides to join not for glory or duty, but to achieve one final, cool objective: to die a heroic death, sacrificing himself for his comrades with a perfectly delivered suave one-liner.

The setting is a future where humanity is locked in conflict with alien enemies, and the Space Force is Earth's primary line of defense. Nao quickly finds that his suicide plan is not going as expected. Despite joining with a death wish, he turns out to be exceptionally talented at his job, a natural-born tactician and soldier who is simply too good to be killed in action. He is assigned to command the Unwanteds, a unit comprised of misfits and rejects typically sent to the most dangerous front lines as cannon fodder. To his growing frustration, his unit not only survives but thrives under his reluctant leadership.

The central conflict is an ironic comedy of errors where Nao’s every attempt to find a glorious end results in a stunning success. The more he tries to throw himself into danger, the more he is hailed as a brilliant commander and a galactic hero. The story follows his desperate struggle against his own competence as he is forced to live, fight another day, and deal with the mounting fame and responsibility he never wanted. Notable narrative arcs include his early training and shocking discovery of his own skills, the formation of the Unwanteds unit and their first impossible missions, and his escalating public reputation as a legendary hero which directly contradicts his personal desire for an anonymous, cool death.