The Mimic - Book 1 All Chapters Storyline Summary

Yasu Masashige returns to his abandoned high school, La Quinta High, after six of his friends disappear there. He enters through a back door, finding strange occurrences. He discovers a magic circle and talismans in the swimming pool area, along with a note from his friend William referencing a 'witch' and 'cherry blossoms.' Yasu encounters a tall woman in a pink hat (Hiachi) who disappears, and finds a warning note from his friend Cecil about a cursed key and avoiding the basement. Despite the warning, he enters the basement and is transported to a Japanese-style town where he is pursued by Hiachi, who seeks to kill him. After escaping, he finds himself in a forest with torii gates, arriving at a deserted village called Arari. There, he meets a farmer named Kosei who warns him about a woman playing a biwa. Yasu then navigates a cave filled with moving stone statues (Shizu) before encountering the biwa-playing girl (Hishiro) in a dilapidated hotel, who also tries to kill him. This chapter ends with Yasu questioning reality, emphasizing the disorienting and nightmarish nature of his journey.

Yasu arrives at a massive imperial palace, hearing voices telling him to find his 'friend.' He encounters Megumi, a long-necked Yokai, and navigates the library, finding a key and reaching an exit after activating an electric chair. The Witch Kintoru's voice taunts him, claiming to have consumed his friends. Yasu enters a supernatural space where he has hallucinations and encounters Kusunoki, another Yokai. He learns that special 'butterfly spirits' are needed to open sealed doors, but using them causes the butterflies painful deaths. Kintoru reveals that his reality is a 'mimicked' one and that he is paying for his ancestors' sins. Yasu confronts a series of porcelain dolls (Shaku) that act as dangerous mimics, before his flashlight breaks, forcing him to use a lantern. Kintoru finally appears, taunting Yasu in a village called Akuyami, where he must find more butterfly spirits while avoiding her swift and deadly attacks. After escaping the village, Kusunoki reappears, warning Yasu that he cannot escape the witch's curse, ending the chapter.

Yasu finds himself in a swamp leading to a large house. He navigates a looping house structure, encountering another Yokai (Kaito) and solving puzzles to find a wooden sword, which he uses on an altar to open an exit. He proceeds through a water-filled corridor with grabbing hands, leading to a giant cherry blossom tree where Kintoru, now grotesquely mutated, hangs. She continues to mock him about the butterfly spirits and his sacrifices. Yasu then enters another house-like structure, collecting a sword, a black butterfly spirit, and a yellow rose. He hears someone crying and banging from behind a chained door. After placing the collected items on an altar, the chained door opens. Inside, he finds a corridor covered with the repeated phrase 'Am I pretty?' and is attacked by a woman, Mikari, who tries to strangle him. Yasu enters a maze house where he must ring five bells while avoiding Mikari. Kintoru instructs him to steal and burn Mikari's soul using 'Shiroi Hono,' accusing him of being a murderer. After burning the soul, an obstacle blocking the exit shatters, and Yasu finds Kaito dead by the altar upon returning to the previous area.

Yasu enters a small cave adorned with numerous portraits. Kintoru transforms into a giant red centipede (Oomukade) and chases him. Yasu must activate four skull pillars to escape while avoiding Oomukade. Kintoru reveals that all the Yokai chasing him were his ancestors, cursed by her, and he is merely paying for their original sin. Yasu arrives back at his own house, convinced he might be free. He explores his house, finding his room occupied by a hanging figure he suspects is his parents, and a note from his mother detailing his father's disappearance and her 30-day imprisonment in the basement, losing her sight. He finds a crowbar, revealing a hidden area with a Halloween prop that triggers hallucinations. He descends into a 'Blood Swamp' where large wooden puppets (Tokito), which he hated as a child, pursue him if he looks away. After escaping the swamp, he returns to the high school, now covered in dead crows, with a vastly overgrown cherry blossom tree. Inside the school, he collects 13 butterfly spirits while avoiding a limping monster, suspected to be his parents. He finds a radio playing his mother's favorite music. He eventually finds a safe, uses numbers from a statue to open it, and retrieves a key. Returning, he sees more hallucinations of the monster-parents. He enters a cursed forest, burning six pieces of Kusunoki's cursed armor, while avoiding Kusunoki in its second form.

In the true ending, after killing Saigomo, her creator and father, Hakaisya, appears. He scolds Saigomo and banishes her to hell. Yasu liberates his ancestors and rescues his parents, who have no memory of the events. Everything returns to normal for now. In the bad ending, if Yasu chooses to save his parents prematurely, Kintoru tricks him, mocking him about humans being easy to deceive. Yasu falls victim to her deception, becoming another part of her collection, despite Kusunoki's earlier warnings.