Terrified by his godfather's statement, Adam glanced around the room. In one corner, there was a corpse with a burning leaf on its forehead. While the other three corners of the room seemed empty at first glance, now that Adam was searching for any anomalies, he noticed that one of the corners was flickering.

Hastily, Adam approached that corner of the room. As he got closer, he remembered that this was the corner where his father had stubbornly stared at the wall the day he was expelled from the house. Perhaps that was a clue left by his father for this moment, but now the young hero had these super-glasses, so he didn't really need that clue.

Adam illuminated the corner with his finger: the two black walls covered in overlapping scribbles on the marble didn't seem to hold anything special at first glance. However, when Adam enhanced the lighting with his power, he noticed a patch of black fabric the size of a fist stuck to the bottom of the corner.

Adam lifted the patch and found that his father had dug a hole in the marble wall. Quickly, the boy reached into the marble hole and discovered a wooden case inside.

Adam took the case and opened it, finding only a crumpled piece of paper inside. He unfolded the paper and found a drawing. On the drawing, there were 6 doors crudely sketched: one door was colored red, next to that red door were four doors colored black, and the last door was colored green.

Adam understood that he had to go to that room, but he didn't understand why his father went through all this trouble with this puzzle. The young boy grabbed his godfather's biography to ask him what was in that room, but his godfather responded with a big smiley face, completely ignoring Adam's question.

It seemed that his godfather wanted Adam to solve the puzzle on his own, as a way to lift the boy's spirits after discovering the truth. However, to the current Adam, the puzzle was quite annoying and not at all fun, considering that his survival depended on its outcome.

Realizing that his godfather would only draw the same happy face no matter what he wrote, Adam decided to play along and left the room in search of the sixth door: considering the red one as the door he was in, and understanding that his father wouldn't create such a complicated puzzle, Adam headed for the sixth door on the left and, if he failed, he would try the sixth door on the right.

Upon reaching the sixth door, Adam tried to open it, and the marble woman elegantly dressed started to form on one of the walls: the puzzle had been solved! When the woman emerged completely from the wall, she said cheerfully:

—To open this door, you must answer three questions correctly.

—If I fail, what happens?— Adam asked cautiously. The boy had learned that you could never trust a bookshelf, let alone a seemingly friendly one.

—You won't be able to enter, and you'll have to try again— the woman replied with a smile.

—Alright, ask me the questions—Adam said. He knew that was the most likely response, but taking a bookshelf lightly could be costly.

The woman smiled cheerfully and asked:

—Who caused you to have a magical book with a black cover?

—Adam...—the boy answered reluctantly. He already knew what would come next.

The woman smiled and nodded her head, saying:

—Correct. The second question is: Who told you bedtime stories when you were a child?

Adam remained silent for a few minutes, seeming surprised by the change of topic; he expected his godfather to brag about how he had manipulated his life up to this point.

—Adam...—the boy replied in a low voice, almost speaking to himself.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

—Correct— the woman said with a cheerful smile —The third question is: Who did you sleep with when you had nightmares as a child?

—Adam...—murmured the boy reflexively, his voice slightly worn, as if he were holding back tears.

—Correct— the woman commented —The person who set up this password told me to give you a message when you successfully answered the questions. Do you want to hear it?

—Yes...—murmured Adam in a very low voice, almost making no sound.

The marble body of the elegant woman began to distort and change shape until an identical figure to Adam appeared in front of him. The only difference between the two Adams was that one was made of marble and wore a tattered white robe, while the other was made of flesh and wore a new black robe.

—You've grown, Adam...— said Adam's father with a tone of voice that Adam had long forgotten. It was only now that the boy realized that, although they were the same person, they spoke differently: his father's tone of voice was much emptier and emotionless as is the case with most librarians, unlike his tone: which had been heavily influenced by the eyeless old man's eccentricity.

Adam wanted to say something, but his father interrupted him, saying:

—Oh, maybe you didn't, but the situation required you to receive this message ahead of time...

—It's just a message...— Adam murmured sadly.

His father continued speaking, ignoring Adam's murmur:

—When you receive this message, I should have lost all my emotions and feelings towards the other librarians for progressing with my plans. So, before I lose all my emotions and commit suicide, I wanted to record this message for you to remember me as your father, not as a copy of yourself.

Adam looked at the yellow biography in his robe's pocket and finally understood why his godfather, being his father, ignored him so much. Apparently, you really lose your mind if you progress too far in the religions related to karma: to the point where his father killed his own feelings for his son before dying. The only thing that mattered to his godfather was achieving his goals; all the happiness of the current Adam was disposable...

—Must be quite disappointing, huh?— His father continued with a smile. —Having worked so hard to earn the black robe, suffered so many misfortunes along the way, and in the end, not being able to share the joy of achieving it with anyone else...

Adam raised his head and looked at his father with tears in his eyes. His father's face was at waist height, making it seem like he had stayed the same height as when Adam was still a child. His father continued his message with a more cheerful tone:

—But here I am to congratulate you, Adam. You achieved what I could only dream of my whole life: you freed yourself from the slavery of these floors and learned the language. Now, you're free to decide your destiny and path. I could never do that; the library always found a way to prevent me from learning to read, but you'll never have to live through all my tragedies.

Amid tears, Adam listened to the words recorded by his father, trying to control his sobs not to miss a single word. But as the message progressed, it became harder to control his emotions, and in the end, he was on his knees on the floor, crying inconsolably.

Fifteen long years of Adam's life wasted on this black robe, and life only gave him a miserable message. Yet, at this moment, this meager message was a hurricane of emotions in a heart that had become accustomed to the loneliness and sadness of a damp cave.

His father continued with the message in a warm tone:

—Whatever path you choose, I'm proud of your decision; however, I am already dead to help you deal with my future self. I hope that one day you'll understand why I'm forcing you to do this. I know you'll understand, because, in the end, we are the same person, and even more importantly, I know you'll understand because, in the end, you are my son.

Kneeling on the floor, Adam lifted his head to look at his father; the young boy's eyes were filled with tears. The feeling of being able to hear his father again, but his father being unable to hear him, tormented Adam's heart. However, the feeling of being able to hear his father was also helping him cope with the disappointment of this tragic ending.

His father, ignoring Adam's tears on the floor, raised both arms to the sky and looked up at the ceiling of the corridors, shouting loudly:

—My son, become the last librarian to suffer the agony of this cruel library! Find the paths so that the rest of our race doesn't have to go through our same tragedy! I'm sure our paths will guide the soulless hearts that inhabit these hallways! I wish you luck with what's behind this door, my son! Let your tears and sadness on this day become the torches that will illuminate the path to happiness for the poor who will inhabit these floors in the future!

*crush*...*crush*... After finishing those words, Adam's father's marble body began to crumble, causing pieces of marble to fall to the floor.

Adam looked at his father carefully; he preferred to remember this marble statue of his father rather than the rotting and distorted corpse in the dark room where he had grown up.

*Click*...When his father's entire body turned into rubble, Adam could hear the sound of the door unlocking. Relieved to have let go of several emotions, Adam approached the door and placed his hand on the doorknob.