In my world, those people were dead. The bigger fault lied when the Goddess of Death died, enveloping the world in chaos so that there could be neither life or death as a result. People lived, sure, but they never grew older, never had children, never had much of anything to live for ...

They still did. No one is that easily beat down. But when they died—because, in time, that happens—their souls were seemingly lost until a special individual with a special ability could call upon them and guide them through a different process of rebirth on a new world.

I should hope that we aren't left like the people wandering on a timeless world, but it seems likely that it could happen.