R.O.D. (Read or Die) is about a substitute teacher, named Yomiko Readman (codename: The Paper). Her house is filled with books. When she's not teaching, she spends her free time searching for more books to fill her collection. She lives in a world surrounded only by books; her life exists entirely for the purpose of reading. This must sound pretty boring, but really, Yomiko is a secret agent for the Royal British Library's Division of Special Operations. After buying her newest addition to her book collection, she ran into a giant cricket and old man who try to steal the book. Her organization assigns her a new partner and she is able to get the second volume of the rare book. She is not too happy that she has to quit her substituting job, but she is ready for the new assignment. Teaming up with the dark Ms. Deep and Drake Anderson, and lead by the introspective Joker, this group of super heroes must uncover the sinister plot before more thefts occur.