Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan

Rohan Kishibe is in Venice, Italy to do some research for his work. He takes interest in the confessionals that exist inside churches, and, for the sake of experience, decides to partake in a confession of his own, entering the wooden booth. However, a parishioner enters the confessional on the other side, and Rohan realizes that he has accidentally entered the booth where the parish priest is supposed to be. “Father, I have come to confess. I’ve committed a great sin.” Driven by curiosity, he decides to lend the man his ear. The confessor, in turn, begins a truly harrowing tale…

Rohan Kishibe asks his editor Minoru Kaigamori for an advance. He recently went bankrupt buying six hills as part of his research into legends about Mutsu-kabe Hill’s monster. Minoru is in shock, but Rohan explains that it was worth it: he relays the story he learned from reading the memories of Naoko Osato, a woman he encountered there, and he also tells Minoru about his own encounter with the monster. Naoko’s tale begins several years prior, as a college student about to break up with her boyfriend at the time...

Rohan Kishibe’s learns from his editor Kyoka Izumi about a sequestered village that is home to some millionaires’ luxury villas. According to Kyoka, these millionaires only became wealthy after purchasing real estate there, and Kyoka herself is considering buying one plot that is currently for sale. Hoping for good content for his story, Rohan accompanies Kyoka to the village. But it turns out that in this village, there are some very specific rules of etiquette they must follow, or they will be cast out.

A young man named Yoma Hashimoto is scouted in Harajuku and begins his career as a model. His agent advises him to train his body as a professional, which begins his obsession with building muscle. One day at the gym, Rohan Kishibe meets Yoma, and what seems to be idle conversation leads them both to play a fun little game: who can press the emergency stop button on the remote first once the treadmill reaches its maximum speed of 25 kilometers per hour? Yoma's unusual fixation on winning begins to change his body...