So, there I was, just chilling at home, when I spotted this random button on the coffee table. Outta nowhere, this voice pops into my head, like, "Yo, press this button and you'll score a cool hundred mil, but heads up, you're gonna get zapped to level 0 of the Backrooms. Make it back, and we'll throw in another nine hundred mil as a bonus."
I was like, "Wait, what? The Backrooms? That's a thing?"
I mean, I always thought the Backrooms was just some made-up, fake world. Could it actually be real?
But hey, a hundred mil is a hundred mil, right? Just as I was about to Google it, the voice was like, "Tick-tock, you've got ten seconds to decide. No press, no cash."
"Ten, nine, eight, seven..."
Hearing that countdown and thinking about that sweet, sweet cash, I was like, "Screw it," and smashed that button.
As soon as I did, my phone went "ding!" with a text. I checked it, and bam, a hundred mil just landed in my account.
But before I could even celebrate, the voice was like, "Three minutes, and you're off to level 0 of the Backrooms."
At that moment, I was kinda like, "Oh crap." I mean, yeah, I got the money, but if I'm stuck in the Backrooms forever, what's the point?
Plus, I had no clue what the Backrooms even was.
But time was ticking, so I had to figure out what this level 0 and Backrooms thing was all about in, like, three minutes.
I quickly Googled it, and the first thing that popped up was level 0 and a quick rundown of the Backrooms.
Turns out, the Backrooms is this massive, made-up world with, like, six hundred million square miles of random rooms, like a giant maze.
There's all sorts of weird stuff that makes no sense, and these things called "entities" that only exist there.
Entities are all over the place, from friendly, smart human-like dudes to crazy aggressive beasts, and some things that are just beyond understanding.
They're the biggest danger in the Backrooms.
Reading that, I was like, "Oh man, I really screwed up." My chances of surviving were pretty much zero.
But hey, at least I was going to level 0, which, according to the info, is the first level and supposedly has "no" entities, so it's one of the safer spots.
I was about to dig deeper, but two and a half minutes had already flown by.
No time to waste. I grabbed the only kitchen knife I had and ran to the kitchen.
As for food and water, I didn't have any at home, and there was no time to prep.
When the three minutes were up, I felt this crazy falling sensation, like I stepped into thin air. I fell for a few seconds and then landed on the ground.
I got up and looked around. It was exactly like the videos I'd seen—yellow wallpaper, flickering lights.
I touched the ground; it was this damp carpet, but the dampness wasn't water. It was some weird liquid I'd never felt before.
Then I noticed the damp air and this nasty smell of decay and mold. All I could hear was the "sizzling" of the light bulb.
I looked down and was relieved to see the kitchen knife I brought was still there. I held it tight and started looking for a way out.
But then I saw this yellowed piece of paper stuck on the wall next to me.
On it was this crooked drawing of a black humanoid figure made of lines, kinda like a messed-up stick figure. Next to it was the word "run"!
I was like, "What's this? Run if I see this thing?"
I thought, "According to what I read, level 0 is supposed to be safe and stable, with only a few entities. Maybe this is one of them."
I stayed on guard, held the knife tight, and started walking along the wall.
After about ten minutes of walking on this damp yellow carpet, all I saw was the same old yellow walls.
But just then, I spotted another piece of paper on the yellow wall up ahead. I got all excited, thinking, "Could this be another clue?"
I rushed over to check it out, but my heart sank.
The sticker had the exact same content as the one I saw when I first got here, which meant I was going in circles! But I swear I was walking straight along the wall.
Then it hit me—from what I'd read, Level 0's linear space is so messed up that walking straight brings you back to where you started. And if you backtrack, a whole new set of rooms pops up where the old ones were.
So, I figured, "Why not change direction?" Since the space isn't linear, walking straight is pointless. I decided to keep switching directions as I moved forward.
Being right-handed, I naturally chose to keep turning right.
Every time I entered a room, I'd make a right.
Gotta mention, though, even though there are yellow-walled rooms everywhere, they only have door frames—no actual doors. It's like I'm stuck in this massive yellow maze.
I kept turning right, hoping to find a way out.
But all I saw was the same monotonous yellow, nothing else.
I don't know how long I'd been walking, but I was exhausted. The tension, loneliness, and irritability kept coming in waves.
As time went on, the buzzing from the light bulb above got louder. Occasionally, I'd hear whispers, like human voices, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.
I pushed down my irritation and fear and kept exploring.
Finally, I saw something different—a special wall.
It looked like someone had used a thick black marker to draw a smiling face on the wall, and below it was a line of crooked English letters: "DONT MOVE STAY STILL" (Don't move, stay still).
I stared at the English on the wall.
What does it mean?? My English is terrible, and I couldn't translate it.
I got closer to the wall to study it, but suddenly, I heard a rapid "tap tap tap" sound coming from the wall beside me, like something was constantly tapping on it.
What's that sound? Just as I was trying to figure out where it was coming from, I suddenly saw a black figure appear at the corner on my left.
The "black figure" I encountered
It wobbled towards me, and from a distance, it looked like it was waving at me.
Could it be another person who'd come in here? Was the tapping sound its way of calling for help?
Just as I was about to walk towards it, I remembered something crucial from the info I'd read before coming here about entities in Level 0:
It's known that there are no entities, including humans, in this level. If you see or encounter anything you think is another wanderer, it's not a human.
Thinking this, my hair stood on end. If it's not a human and not an entity, then what the heck is this thing in front of me? But I didn't have time to think, because that black figure suddenly sped up and charged at me.
I quickly turned around and started running, gripping that kitchen knife tightly in my hand. After all, it was my only weapon against this monster.
With such a huge danger looming, my adrenaline shot up, and I ran faster than ever. I could feel that whatever that creature was, it was getting closer.
I didn't dare to look back. I just used every last bit of strength to run faster, hoping to shake it off.
Gradually, I started to run out of steam.
From all the physical exertion, my vision started to blur, and my panting drowned out the sound of my footsteps...
Just when I thought I couldn't go on, I suddenly noticed a door in front of me!
I had no idea what was behind it, but I knew if I didn't go in, I was done for.
I quickly opened the door, rushed in, turned around, and slammed it shut in one smooth move. As I closed the door, I saw that humanoid monster, and it was only an arm's length away.
After closing the door, I leaned against it, collapsed to the ground, and started gasping for breath. ...…
The Backrooms can disclose information: Bacteria
This is a kind of monster made up of black thick lines, usually found in Level 0, but there aren't many of them.