Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe

Rohan Kishibe's new editor Kyōka Izumi tells him about a secluded mountain village where all of the residents are millionaires and all became millionaires shortly after moving there in their twenties. Ms. Izumi wishes to fill a recent vacancy and move in, believing it will lead to her becoming a millionaire as well, and she has convinced Rohan to accompany her for research into a new manga story. After being taken to their interview with the landlords by the childlike Ikkyū, the two soon discover that they are being tested on their etiquette by unseen forces, and, for each infraction, the test taker loses something dear and important to them…

Rohan Kishibe meets with fellow manga artist Jūgo Shishi who has come to ask him about a word, "kushagara", that his own editor has forbidden him from using unless he can discover its meaning, but he cannot find the word in any dictionary. Rohan can see that Jūgo's curiosity about the word is causing him physical and mental anguish, so when he uses Heaven's Door to take a look inside Jugo's mind, he finds something crawling inside the pages of Jūgo's "book"…

Kyōka approaches Rohan for help in recovering the memories of her new boyfriend, Tarō Hirai, a former world-renowned photographer who has developed amnesia after surviving a traumatic car accident six years ago. As Rohan is introduced to Tarō, Mai Katahira passes by the group with her daughter, Mao, in a stroller, who pulls on Tarō's shirt, causing him to fall down. Rohan takes a look at little Mao, who is hidden in the shade of the stroller, and sees that something is strange with her eyes…