Jack looked over at his arm which had suddenly become a stump. There was a moment of silence before he continued skipping through the field with a happy hum, leaving a trail of blood that went up and down with him.
It was rather unassuming for a while, but soon enough, his other arm suddenly fell off too. He looked at it for a moment out of curiosity but then decided to continue on as though nothing happened.
His body shifted awkwardly as though he were still moving his arms up and down, this time leaving two trails of blood from the sides of his body. There was an even brighter smile on his face than before, showing how much he was enjoying this.
Despite the blood that he personally witnessed leaking out of his body, his cheeks were as rosy as ever. Granted, it hadn't been that long.
Soon, he came across a field of flowers that were a bit taller than the first ones. They were releasing what appeared to be pollen, so much so that the air above them was an incredibly thick yellow.
It was almost as though it were solid despite being more like a fog.
Jack didn't even take a second look before running right through it though. However, the moment he did make contact with them he was forced to breathe it in. The pollen quickly rushed in, irritating his nose and making a feeling of weight placed into his lungs.
He sneezed but didn't let that stop him as he continued on.
Jack could barely see a single thing within the pollen, but losing both arms wasn't enough to stop him so that naturally wasn't either. As he continued breathing, Jack could feel the pollen entering through his nose and settling into his lungs.
It did not take long before he could hardly feel any air entering his system when it was instead replaced by pollen. It didn't feel like his lungs were taking in any oxygen, as they were instead filled by the pollen.
However, a person looking at Jack in this state right now wouldn't think that there was anything wrong.
It quickly became awkward to take in full deep breaths, as it was stifled by the time he was halfway through. Still, Jack continued trying to take in those breaths and was seemingly fine.
But after a few minutes, Jack no longer felt any space in his lungs anymore. Despite trying to take in breaths, it didn't feel as though anything was going on. He was essentially suffocating, but the expression on his face would give an entirely different impression.
After a few more seconds, he suddenly found himself out of the pollen, instead back to the normal flower field. Though off in the distance was a large field of fire. While it didn't seem to be expanding towards him, it blocked the entire path, meaning that he would have to walk through it in order to make it past.
Jack excitedly went towards it just as he had been before.
However, his stride was quickly interrupted when he felt one of his legs was suddenly cut off, now bleeding as well. Jack briefly looked down at it before giggling. With his remaining leg, he hopped closer to the flames.
Right as he reached the edge though, Jack saw his last leg was suddenly cut off as well. But what was rather strange, was that despite visibly not being supported by anything, his torso was completely stationary, floating above the ground.
He blinked a few times, not really understanding what was happening. After a bit of thought, he pretended that he had both of his legs and attempted to run. Then surely enough, his floating torso moved as though his legs were and he ran through the fire.
While the legs were unable to catch fire since they were seemingly not there, the tips of the flames still reached high enough to reach his body. In the end, he apparently caught fire and his body began burning.
The process was slow, both the fire and his pace. But it was as though Jack was unstoppable, continuing unimpeded.
It did not take long for most of his body to blacken. Jack noticed the fire charred his flesh, and somehow even the bones were not spared, burning just as fast as the flesh. After a few minutes, his entire torso had burnt away.
The fire crept up to his neck, slowly burning away his head as well.
Soon enough, there was nothing left. Jack could no longer see, save for everything being black. Regardless, he remembered the words that the flower girl had told him earlier. That he needed to walk down the path.
So he continued making those motions, despite not feeling any of them, his consciousness in a void.
And then, his vision suddenly returned.
His body was completely fine, nothing burnt, no pollen in the lungs, and all his limbs were back. Jack turned around to see that the path he walked on was just a flower field. Though several of those flowers were scuttling around on their roots. They had tiny little mouths where the pistils were supposed to be.
Most of them seemed rather disappointed, holding their sagged petals low.
The flower girl was right next to him and appeared quite surprised. She gently poked Jack, as though ascertaining that he was indeed real.
"It's... been so long since I've seen someone pass through so peacefully."
Jack let out a giggle. He scratched his cheek with a finger sheepishly.
"You were the one who said I had to get to the other side, so I just followed your instructions! I didn't do anything."
The little girl tilted her head to the side, the flowers on her jiggling about as she did so.
"B-But I've given those same instructions to everyone else before too. So many of them cry out in pain as they are partway through and fall down. Then... the flowers eat them and implant their roots into the body for nutrients."
Jack put a finger on his chin as genuine confusion spread across his face.
"Eh? Why would they have a problem? You already said what to do, and then I just did it. Isn't it really simple?"
A small smile formed on the flower girl's face.
"I... I'm not sure. My only guess is that something special is happening to them as they walk through. But I can't really tell what it is, even when I'm walking right next to them the entire time."
Jack let out a laugh and dismissively waved his hand.
"Then it must've been their fault! If they couldn't pass even when you told them the proper instructions, they didn't follow them."
The flower girl seemed a bit uncertain but seriously considered it for a while.
"I-I guess. I just hoped that I could help them more..."
Jack turned back to the front to see a set of dirt stairs in the distance. There was seemingly a large door frame, but whether or not there was a door was unclear.
Because there was a towering three-headed hydra standing in front of it.
It was resting all its heads on the ground, curled up rather comfortably. The hydra itself consisted of glistening black scales and two thick arms. There were even wings on its back, though they were wrapped around his body, making their appearance rather subtle. As for the heads, they were a bit more flat, appearing more similar to a snake's compared to a dinosaur.
The hydra was out of place with the rest of the vibrant and flowery place. Yet, at the same time, it seemed it was in place with how familiar it appeared to be with the meadows. Like this was the place that it never wanted to leave.
Jack walked curiously towards the hydra while the flower girl followed beside him.
He pointed at it as they went.
"Is that the old man you were talking about earlier?"
The flower girl quickly nodded.
"Y-Yes. Not many people reach this point, but more fail here than ever. I don't know why but the old man is very picky on who he chooses to let pass. Even when I try to convince him myself, it doesn't always work. He will listen to anything else I say, but if it's to let someone pass, he becomes very stubborn."
Jack nodded a few times before raising a finger high in the sky.
"I'm sure he's a nice person! He must have his reasons for why he said no."
The girl's eyes widened, quite surprised by that response. She clasped her hands together and looked down at the ground.
"I never thought about it that way. Maybe there really are reasons I don't understand."
Once the two of them were a hundred meters away, the hydra's eyes lazily opened. It slowly lifted its head before each of them let out a yawn one after another.
"Is it the next examinee?"