When I slammed into that wall, all I could think was, "This is it."
But you know what they say, when you hit a dead end, there's always a way out. When I crashed into the wall, it didn't feel like a hard impact; it was more like I went right through it. It was like I just phased out!
Turns out, I actually did "phase out"!
According to M.E.G.'s data, the best way to phase out of Level 0 is to hit a wall. But the chances are super low and only happen under specific conditions. In their records, there are also a bunch of cases where wanderers phase out while being chased by entities.
And I managed to hit that tiny probability. Guess I got really lucky.
But even though I phased out of Level 0, my mind was totally messed up. The moment I hit the ground, I tried to get up and check out my surroundings, but my head was spinning and I saw these creepy black smiling faces in front of me.
My mind was on the edge. I couldn't hold on any longer and just collapsed with a thud, passing out...
When I woke up, I was lying on a white bed. It looked like a room, and the incandescent light above was kinda blinding. I covered my eyes and sat up, looking around.
Then I noticed a red thermos cup next to me.
For some reason, my mouth felt a bit bitter, but that wasn't a big deal because I felt super energetic. The dizziness and dehydration I had before were all gone. Apart from feeling a bit hungry, I didn't feel any negative effects on my body.
Just then, the door to the room opened and a middle-aged man walked in.
He had black hair and brown eyes, and he looked Chinese.
Seeing that I was awake, he walked over to the bed, smiled at me, and asked, "How are you feeling? Anything bothering you?"
I shook my head to say I was fine and then asked, "Excuse me, is this the Backrooms or the real world..."
The man smiled when he heard my question and said, "You mean the real world is the Front Hall, right? But unfortunately, once you enter the Backrooms, you can't go back to the Front Hall. You're now in Level 1 of the Backrooms. I'm from the 'Lifeline' unit of M.E.G., and I'm here to help lost wanderers."
M.E.G.?
My heart skipped a beat. It was the organization that left the info in the Manila room. From their data, I also learned about the characteristics of Level 1. level1
Survival Difficulty: Level 1
• Safe
• Stable
• Very few entities
In this level, there's the Alpha Base of the M.E.G., which is one of the main bases of the M.E.G. and where half of the M.E.G.'s groups and teams are based. It's pretty much the safest place in the entire Backrooms. Thinking of this, I breathed a sigh of relief. If I really couldn't escape the Backrooms, settling down here seemed like a decent option.
The middle-aged man noticed my expression and guessed what I was thinking. He said, "Don't get too excited too soon. Most wanderers end up at Level 1 after cutting out from Level 0, but still, most of them die here. Do you know why?"
I was startled and asked, "Why?"
"On one hand, Level 1 isn't completely free of entities. There are quite a few entities here, the most common being the 'Smiling Mask' and the 'Skin Stealer'. With your current physical condition, running into either one would mean certain death."
The man paused and continued, "On the other hand, no matter which level a wanderer is in, there's always the chance of cutting out. Some might stay in Level 1 for years without cutting out, while others might only stay for a few minutes before cutting into another level. So, many wanderers die due to cutting into other levels."
"Of course, there's a third reason: death due to low sanity caused by a lack of almond water. You'll understand why there's a lack of almond water soon enough," the man said with a meaningful look.
"So what should I do to survive in the Backrooms?" I asked.
I didn't want to die. I was only 20 years old and hadn't fully enjoyed this world yet. Besides, in the real world, the so-called "Front Room" as this man called it, I had 1 billion dollars. So I had to survive!
When the man heard my question, he smiled again and said, "Good question. To survive, one must be brave enough to explore instead of giving up. Such wanderers have the highest survival rate in the Backrooms... Come out with me first. Someone will explain these things to you."
I thanked him and immediately got up to follow the man out of the room.
After leaving the room, I was surprised to find myself in a huge warehouse. The floor and walls were made of concrete, and above my head were evenly distributed incandescent lamps. In some places, the steel bars were exposed, with a thin layer of mist floating on them.
This was my first sight of Level 1.
Just as we took a few steps, the lamps above our heads suddenly began to flicker and made a "sizzling" sound.
Apart from the incandescent lamps above our heads, there were no other light sources in the warehouse. So when the lamps flickered, the surroundings instantly darkened. And since we were in a warehouse, the atmosphere was extremely terrifying.
I noticed that the man beside me also looked very pale at this moment, but he didn't panic. Instead, he took out a flashlight from his pocket, clicked it on with a "click", and illuminated the path ahead.
Throughout the journey, I could sense that the man's body was constantly tense, as if he was on guard against something.
Fortunately, we made it safely without encountering any entities.
After walking for about a few minutes, we finally saw a huge black base. Above the base's gate hung a huge electric lamp, illuminating the surroundings brightly. Around it were several tents, each with a lighting lamp on top, making the area brightly lit.
As the man led me near the base, a young woman greeted us.
"Senior Yu, is this the new wanderer?" the woman asked.
"Ha ha, yes. You explain things to him first. I still need to check if the other wanderers are awake. There are quite a few lost wanderers today," the man said. The man surnamed Yu smiled and nodded, leaving me to the young girl in front of me.
The girl waved goodbye to the Yu surname vagrant and then smiled at me, saying, "The one who just brought you here is Senior Yu Rongbing, a very kind senior. I'm You Huanhuan, and I'm responsible for introducing you to the general situation of the Backrooms."
I nodded and said, "Thank you, Miss You."
She smiled and said, "It's not a trouble at all. Explaining to a new person can earn you a bottle of red almond water and a bottle of blue almond water. Many vagrants would love to do this job."
"Uh..." I was speechless for a moment because I was new to the Backrooms and didn't understand what she was saying.
You Huanhuan seemed to know that I didn't understand and said, "Let me first introduce the rules among the vagrants in the Backrooms to you."
"First of all, almond water is like currency in the Front Room. You can trade weapons, food and other resources with other vagrants using almond water, or trade with B.N.T.G. As for what B.N.T.G. is, I'll explain it to you later. Now, let me tell you about the effects and ways to obtain almond water."
"We are constantly exposed to mental pollution in the Backrooms, and this mental pollution reduces our 'san value'. When the san value drops to zero, we either go crazy, die, or become entities."
"Of course, the best way to restore san value is to take almond water. "
Almond water can be found at multiple levels and is refreshed regularly. It is served in iron thermos flasks and comes in four different colors: gray, green, red, and blue. Among them, gray and green are the most common. Different colors correspond to different effects, which you will learn about later.
Now I'll give you a brief introduction to the organizations in the Backrooms.
The girl spoke at length and seemed a bit tired. After taking a deep breath, she continued, "M.E.G. is the largest organization in the Backrooms. I'm sure you've heard of it before, so I won't go into too much detail."
"Another major organization in the Backrooms is called B.N.T.G., which stands for the Non-Aligned Trade Group in Chinese. You can think of them as the stores in the Backrooms. As for other organizations, you'll learn about them later. I won't go into more detail now."
After saying that, the girl suddenly asked me, "I have one last task, which is to ask if you want to join M.E.G."
I was digesting the information she had just given me when I heard this and was taken aback. I didn't know whether I should agree or not...