Adam listened to the bear's words, looking at his arm with some hope. The eyeless old man had told him long ago that the water in the cave could heal, and now he prayed that its effect would be as good as promised, giving him a new arm.

The bear noticed the boy calming down and continued explaining the situation:

—The creature that attacked us earlier was the monster feared by the locals of this level, though there are no actual locals. As I said, we could run from it, which is impossible, but we could play with it and buy some time. And as I also mentioned, only I could see it, which was partly a lie, but also partly true.

Adam listened attentively to the bear's words, but the confusing way it spoke left him puzzled. Nonetheless, the glue had also affected Adam's brain a bit, so the young boy nodded happily.

In addition to his brain, the glue applied by the bear seemed to numb Adam's arm nerves, making the wound feel very strange. Adam touched the wound several times, but he felt nothing, not even the skin around it.

Seeing the dazed boy touching his wound, the bear continued calmly:

—The creature that attacked us was a 'Toy Maker,' capable of affecting our minds, which is why we thought we were in hexagon 8 of 18. But in reality, this is the true hexagon 8 of 18. That is why it is finding it so strange to me that I knew that someone had died on these levels, if I had really known that information it would not make any sense to have sent you to kill someone to rip their skin off

Adam listened attentively, and while the bear's words made some sense to him, an important question arose in his heart:

—Why did you wait until I lost my arm to tell me how to kill the creature?

The bear looked at him for a while, pondering its words, and then replied:

—Because we needed to kill the creature; we couldn't hide here forever.

—But weren't the blows enough?—Adam asked, feeling unsatisfied with the answer.

—The blows... might have been enough...—the bear responded, angering Adam—But the bookshelves on these levels value the creatures more than the librarians, so we had to be sure...

The bear noticed that Adam wanted to continue discussing the matter, so it interrupted him, saying:

—For now, try using the restroom, so this bookshelf stops giving us those odd looks.

Adam only just realized that the man in the suit was squatting and staring at them intently, as if waiting for them to do something.

—Are you a bookshelf? Why do you have a flesh-and-bone body?—Adam asked, looking at the elegantly dressed man.

—Because I'm clever, young man—the bookshelf replied, standing up straight and touching his top hat with pride—Would you like to use the jacuzzi to freshen up?

The bear seemed to signal him to say yes, so Adam nodded.

Only now did Adam have the time to observe his surroundings; he didn't know this was a bathroom, and nothing indicated it on this level.

Hexagon 8 was a large, empty hexagon. The floor was made of black and white tiles in a chessboard pattern. The walls were made of white marble, adorned with placed statues. While the room was illuminated by a few scattered torches.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Upon hearing Adam's affirmative response, the man in the suit stood up and headed toward one of the statues, waiting for Adam. Upon noticing the wait, the young hero approached the statue, which seemed to depict a child playing with water on the wall. Above the statue was a gold plaque with something written on it, but the language was unfamiliar to Adam, but it was probably the language of the lower levels.

With a smile, the man in the suit mentioned:

—Truth be told, nobody uses the children's bathroom anymore, but it should still be in pristine condition.

The statue of the playing child started to sink into the wall, revealing a passageway as it did. The bear and Adam followed the man in the suit through the hallway.

When the statue stopped, Adam found himself in a very nice wooden living room with a few chairs, some plants, and another wooden door.

Upon entering the room, the man in the suit commented:

—Well, just take a leaf from this plant and eat it. I'll leave you now. Remember, like all librarians, you can always come to this hexagon to satisfy any basic needs, to rest from your reading and long journey towards ascension.

Adam and the bear bid farewell to the man in the suit. Following his instructions, Adam proceeded to eat a leaf. As he did, he noticed something emerging from the wooden walls.

What emerged was a wooden boy, the same height as Adam, but with no facial features except a mouth. Once fully emerged from the wood, the boy asked with a smile:

—What service do you desire?

Before Adam could respond, the bear intervened and said:

—We want a bath with the fragrance of an old man corrupted by cursed books.

—Alright, anything else you desire?—the wooden boy asked very enthusiastically.

—A hand?—Adam asked with irony, but he believed the eyeless old man could heal him, so he wasn't too worried about it.

—Alright, anything else you desire?—the wooden boy repeated like a recorded message.

—Eh? Are you really going to cure me? Give me a hand?—Adam asked incredulously.

—Of course, we'll add some healing herbs— the wooden boy responded with excitement—Everything except blindness can be cured. Now, do you desire anything else?

—Superpowers?—Adam tempted his luck.

—Sure, you just need to answer a few questions, and we'll add the special service— the wooden boy replied happily.

—They're bookshelves, idiot!—the bear shouted as the wooden boy got carried away with the services—Don't be foolish: just ask for the basic services!

Understanding the problem, Adam corrected his requests; fortunately, healing his hand seemed to be a basic service for this bookshelf.

After hearing the requests, the wooden boy gestured for Adam to pass through the door to the reception room.

Upon entering the next room, Adam saw a wooden-walled room with several beautiful paintings on the walls. In the middle of the room, there was a fairly large jacuzzi. The jacuzzi seemed to be made of marble and had angel statues at each corner, all looking towards the walls of the room.

The wooden boy saw that Adam had entered and said:

—Well, now you can undress and get into the jacuzzi. I'll take your tunic and give you a new one when you finish cleaning up. Enjoy your bath and don't hesitate to let me know if you require any other services.

Adam undressed without much embarrassment and got into the jacuzzi. Then, the four little angels started rotating to face the inside of the jacuzzi. The mouths of the angels opened, and warm pink water started pouring from their mouths. Immediately, the paintings on the walls began to play a song, filling the room with relaxing music.

When the jacuzzi was half full, white leaves fell into the pink water from where the wooden ceiling used to be, revealing a large red sun along with a green-blue sky.

Amazed by the atmosphere, Adam watched as his arm regenerated while he submerged it in the pink water. After a while, however, he commented with some displeasure:

—This water doesn't smell very good...

—Not everyone enjoys the scent of old man— the bear replied from the ceiling—But don't let the wooden boy hear you say that. Luckily, we got lucky; I didn't know they offered this scent, but it seems like we're going to be able to get the wooden box.

—Why does no one use this bathroom?—Adam asked the bear, who seemed to know many secrets and spoke more openly than the bookshelves.

—This level is infected with Toy Makers...— the bear replied with some bitterness—Remember when I told you it was inhabited? Well, that was because my head was corrupted by the Toy Maker, no one uses this floor.

—Can the Toy Maker create a hexagon in our heads?— Adam asked with many doubts—The room... and the corpse... didn't feel fake...

—Not everything was fake...—the bear replied calmly—We were toys playing in a toy box. Until I realized we weren't toys, and the Toy Maker got angry.

—Luckily, we made it out alive— Adam said with a smile.

—By sheer luck...—the bear added with some anger—Creatures that mess with the mind are dangerous. It would have been better to attack some lunatic and avoid all this.