To give a definitive answer to the question at hand, no, the many active players of NewWorld Online do not actually die in real life if their characters are killed in the game. That would make Maple, in all her overpowered glory, a mass murderer by a wide margin, and she's much too sweet to ever do something like that. In fact, the player's in-game character doesn't even really die if they are killed in the game. During the game's fourth major event, which takes place from Episode 9 onward, characters' stats are penalized for every death their character suffers. Upon the fifth death, they do not respawn for the remainder of the event.
So, if characters don't permanently die, then where is any of the tension in the battles? After all, nobody really stands to lose anything by dying in a video game. When it comes to "Bofuri," however, the stakes aren't determined by death. Not only is it a lighthearted comedy where events aren't necessarily bound to logic, but the tension of these situations can also stem from whether or not Maple and her allies can accomplish their goals, not whether they survive.
It doesn't need to be a dark, grim story to be dramatic or fun, and compared to other video game-based anime, its more happy-go-lucky approach to the concept may even be a breath of fresh air.
