The narrative focuses on the experiences of a man, a Dreamreader, confused and out of place, as he enters an enclosed town called End of the World. The End of the World is contrarily set in a dreamy other world where inhabitants perform menial tasks without ambition and execute the routine of their nearly medieval lives with exactness lacking in emotion. Rather than trying to avoid his impending demise, he seeks to enjoy a final day of satisfying activities. He meets several characters through the course of the novel and learns he has been the subject of secret experimentation which will, ultimately, result in the death of his consciousness and his physical body. Hard-Boiled Wonderland, set in a gritty urban environment, tells the story of an unnamed Narrator as he slowly realizes his unwitting involvement in biotechnology experiments on his own mind and consciousness. Then, there is The End of the World, encompassing the even-numbered chapters.

First, there is the Hard-Boiled Wonderland, encompassing the odd-numbered chapters. In fact, the novel can be read as two independent novels.

The narrative structure of the novel is atypical as it presents two distinct narrative threads which alternate between odd-numbered and even-numbered chapters. He surreptitiously involves the sole surviving Calcutec in his scientific investigations and through a miscalculation in his ability to control his experiments realizes he has consigned the man to death. Embroiled in moral quandary, the scientist leaves the System but pursues his research goals independently. Most operatives mentally modified to perform the new process die within a few months only one has survived.

One man has developed the next step in encryption technology and made some advances within the System's developmental laboratories, but only at a high cost. An organized crime network known as the Factory opposes the System at every stage. System operatives known as Calcutecs serve as living encryption devices, using bio-algorithms hidden in their subconscious neural circuitry to securely encrypt data. A quasi-governmental organization, known as the System, controls access to legal encryption technologies and methods. Access to data encryption is critical in order to protect valuable corporate and financial data from organized crime. Tokyo is a hub of information technology companies in a future world, where biotechnology is significantly advanced.

Hard boiled and the end of the world