The wooden head had no decorations; it looked like a model, except it had a mouth, but within the mouth, there seemed to be an eye instead of teeth or a tongue.

—You're not very young, kid, are you?— asked the head, with a very rhythmic and cheerful tone; hearing it speak conveyed a certain joy due to its beautiful voice.

—I can't see; he will be my eyes and then come back...— said the old man dressed in rags.

—Well, how old are you, old man?— asked the head, moving around the old man, circling him.

The head moved happily on the ground, as if swimming in the wood, but its eye always looked at the old man, making it seem like the head was inspecting the entire body of the old man.

—I don't remember, but probably older than you— the old man replied as he sat on the wood.

Adam saw the old man sit down and followed suit; the boy was already getting tired from walking so much.

—I am 1000 years old, old man— the head replied with a certain pride as it joyfully spun around the old man—And how many languages have you mastered?

—More than you as well, but that question is irrelevant— the old man replied with a robotic voice.

—I know 13 languages, old man— the head replied with even more pride as it spun around joyfully.

Adam looked at the two and didn't quite understand what was happening.

—How many characters do you know?— the head asked, stopping its spin right in front of the old man's blind eyes.

But the old man didn't answer, he remained silent, waiting. The head resumed its joyful spinning and asked:

—How many floors have you visited?

—More than you as well, but not enough— the old man replied in a hurry.

Suddenly, the old man stood up and leaned over to the opposite side of the void.

Seeing the old man's strange pose, Adam understood what was happening: the old man wasn't answering questions for fun; this was some sort of riddle set by the head.

But the boy didn't understand how the old man was solving the riddle; there seemed to be no clues to solve this riddle, or perhaps Adam just couldn't grasp them, and the old man hadn't asked about the consequences he would suffer if he failed.

—I have no doubt about that; I never left this floor...— the head replied happily, spinning around with joy.

—Yes, you left and journeyed through the floors, but you don't remember because you failed where I won't fail— the old man replied, suddenly throwing himself to the ground, seemingly unconcerned about hurting his hands in the process.

—We'll see about that...— the head replied, but with a completely different voice, much dimmer and colder— Do you think it's so easy to achieve? Death was the best option! No living librarian can throw themselves into infinity!! In a few minutes, you'll be a slave like me.

—No, boy...— the old man replied in a very cheerful voice, sitting back down—Heroes don't fail!

—Do you know how many have said that before you?— the head said, moving around the old man. Its voice seemed to be getting colder and dimmer as it spoke.

With quite unusual dexterity, the old man jumped up; his hands rose in the air, and he shouted euphorically, ignoring the head's question:

—I was a hero, I am a hero, and I will be a hero!

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Adam watched the scene, racking his brain to understand the trick. He understood the movement of the head and the change in tone of the voice, but there had to be something else that he couldn't see.

—Well, it seems you succeeded...— the head said with resignation, vanishing into the wood.

Adam was disappointed for not understanding the riddle's secret. Then, he went to the old man to help him reach the hole in the middle, but the old man didn't move a muscle; he looked like a perfect statue.

—He's lying...— Adam murmured with concern, realizing that things were getting complicated. If the bookshelf lied, it meant it wasn't following the rules, and if it didn't follow the rules, how could he ensure that the bookshelf would fulfill its part and give him the final reward?

The old man remained silent for a few minutes, and Adam joined him in his silence. It seemed that nothing was happening. However, the nails on the old man's hands and feet began to grow visibly, and the old man's skin began to wither as if he were aging.

The old man continued to stay silent in this strange state until the head reappeared and looked at the old man with disdain. Then the old man suddenly walked forward, as if he never needed Adam's help to know where he should go.

Not understanding what had just happened and full of curiosity, Adam followed the old man, trying to figure out how he was solving a riddle without apparent clues.

As the head approached the hole of hexagon 0, it bombarded the old man with even stranger questions, which the old man either ignored, answered partially, or seemingly answered correctly.

By now, Adam understood that the old man's joints were not those of a regular librarian: his arms, hips, legs, and each joint could move independently of each other. Using this trick, the old man continued to advance while performing the most bizarre poses Adam had ever seen.

As they got closer to the middle hole, Adam noticed something he would never forget: the further they advanced, the more floors were revealed through the middle hole; it seemed like new floors would keep appearing endlessly.

Then, Adam noticed that someone had drawn a red circle on the floor, just 100 meters from the middle hole. When the boy and the old man crossed the red line, two more eyes grew on the wooden head, and it began bombarding the old man with questions.

But this time, the old man answered all the questions with a smile as he walked. He seemed unhurried, as if this part of the test was what he came for.

When they were only 10 meters away, sweat started appearing on Adam's forehead. From his vantage point, the number of floors seemed infernal. It was as if they would never stop appearing, as if... the number of floors was infinite!

As they got closer, Adam noticed that someone had painted a black line just before the last meter. The line was drawn quite irregularly, and it seemed like someone had put a lot of effort into creating it.

Everything indicated that something strange was about to happen when the old man crossed the black line, and indeed it did.

When the old man and the boy crossed the black line, the wooden head began to transform, revealing the face of a flesh-and-blood person. The person was a young man with black hair and green eyes. His mouth had neat, white teeth, and the creepy eye that was there a while ago was now gone.

—There's only one question left. If you answer it correctly, you can jump while still alive...— said the head, looking into the old man's eyes for quite some time.

Adam couldn't understand why someone would go through all the riddles just to throw themselves into eternal void, but he listened attentively. He had already asked about everything, but for some reason, he couldn't remember anything about the old man's answers or the questions themselves.

But the boy did remember that the questions and answers were thrilling in the interval before he forgot them.

The head stared at the old man and asked seriously:

—What's the name of the boy who accompanied you all this time?

Upon hearing the question, a shiver ran down Adam's spine. He understood the problem and the difficulty of this last question: it was impossible to answer.

Adam never mentioned his name to the old man, so there was no way he could know it. Therefore, the old man was doomed!

But the old man didn't answer; he just patted the boy's shoulder and looked at him intently.

'Can't be possible, or can it?' Adam thought, as if it were madness for this to be resolved in this way. The boy gained courage and understanding the old man's gaze, said:

—My name is Adam.

—His name is Adam— the old man immediately replied with a smile from ear to ear on his weathered face.

The head said nothing, it just sank into the wood and disappeared from the sight of the two librarians.

The old man said nothing either. He stepped forward to the edge, performed a pirouette in the air, and jumped into the void, laughing like a madman.

The old man fell and fell until he vanished into the infinite horizon. But before the dot in the distance could disappear from Adam's view, a white flash appeared on the horizon, and the dot vanished.

Adam didn't cry for the old man jumping into the infinite void. Partly because the boy didn't understand what would happen if you did. Also, because the old man seemed to really want to do it, and the riddle had taken several hours, so Adam had already accepted it a long time ago.

Adam returned to hexagon 3, stunned and unsteady. He had finally understood the riddle: it was about preparation. One had to prepare to get this far. That's why the old man took him beforehand, in order to make sure of an impossible answer, at the moment of the impossible question...