"Dust 8" features a collection of short stories centered around the theme of human mortality, with the mythical "key of life" serving as the central device in each tale. The traditional Japanese Bon Festival, which honors ancestors who have passed on, also appears within the anthology.
During a routine flight over the Zuozanada region, a passenger plane experiences a critical malfunction and crashes onto a mysterious island absent from all maps and radars. Astonishingly, only eight individuals survive the disastrous event, saved by a series of miraculous events like something out of "Spirited Away." The plane crashes on an islet where "life mountains" emerge, bearing stones that saved the survivors' lives.
One of the survivors, the fairy Kikimora, dwells within the bodies of two boys and a girl. The fairy collects the "stones of life" to rebuild the mountain, under orders from her boss to venture into the human world. The diverse group of survivors includes Japanese citizens of various backgrounds, genders, and professions, spread throughout the country.
Kikimora's quest to retrieve the stones from the other survivors leads to fear and apprehension as they recognize her as a divine reaper of death. They must collect the stones while simultaneously warding off Kikimora's advances and removing themselves from her reach.
