Deep in the unexplored reaches of a vast, mysterious dungeon, a corpse is discovered behind a door that should never have been opened. That corpse, a desiccated adventurer named Iarumas, is resurrected by a priestess but awakens with no memories of his life before death. His past erased, he now makes a living doing what others will not: delving back into the depths to retrieve the bodies of fallen adventurers. For a finders fee, he drags their remains to the church altar, where the goddess might resurrect them or reduce them to a pile of ash. This cold, transactional attitude earns him scorn from the living, so he keeps to himself, spending his days surrounded by the dead.

The story is set in a grim sword-and-sorcery world built upon the foundation of the classic Wizardry role-playing games. The dungeon itself is less a layered pit and more an endless, sprawling catacomb of burial chambers and winding halls, a place that seems to shift and might even appear and disappear at random. Iarumas is a pragmatic and worn-down survivor, a man out of time who sleeps on the cold floor by choice, claiming the comfort of a bed feels too old for him. His monotonous existence changes when he encounters a feral young swordswoman named Garbage. She is the sole survivor of a massacred party, cannot speak human language, and communicates in dog-like growls and barks, fighting with wild, animalistic ferocity.

Initially, Iarumas takes Garbage under his wing, and their partnership draws in others. One of the first is Raraja, a young and boastful novice thief who is the only survivor of a different party that was wiped out while trying to capture Garbage. Together, this unlikely trio begins to venture deeper into the dungeon. Iarumas practical goal remains finding clues to his forgotten past, maybe even the bodies of his own former companions, while navigating the constant threats of monsters, traps, and the ever-present risk of permanent ashen death.

The narrative follows Iarumas as he reluctantly builds a party of misfits. Beyond the core group of Iarumas, Garbage, and Raraja, they interact with figures like Sister Ainikki, the elven priestess who handles their resurrection rites and often forces the grimy adventurers to bathe. Later, a tall novice mage from the east named Belkanan joins them, bringing her own vendetta against the monstrous red dragon. One notable early arc involves Iarumas and Garbage escorting a foolhardy noble into the dungeon for a substantial reward, a job that forces Iarumas to confront the reckless greed of the living. Throughout these adventures, the central conflict remains a balance between survival and the mystery of Iarumas lost identity. As he drags corpses out of the dark for coin, the faint hope persists that one of those bodies might hold the key to who he used to be.