I was frozen stiff, not even daring to breathe. The moths above me seemed totally clueless about my presence, just chilling on the ceiling.
Man, I was freaking out. If this kept up, those moths would totally spot me sooner or later. And judging by how long they'd been here, they must be starving. And guess what? I was right there, like a buffet...
I couldn't even think straight, just desperately trying to figure out a way out.
Almond water? Nah, too many moths. By the time I'd unscrewed the cap, those dozens of moths would've already made a meal out of me.
What else could I do?
I was racking my brains but coming up empty.
Then, outta nowhere, this gruff voice pipes up: "Chill, dude. These are all male 'Death Moths'. They're pretty chill and won't mess with you."
The voice came from behind me. I spun around and saw this guy in military gear. Seeing me turn, he gave me a grin: "Huh? Judging by that deer-in-the-headlights look, you're new to the back room, right?"
I nodded and asked: "You said these Death Moths don't hurt people..."
"Yup," the guy said, all enthusiastic, grabbing my shoulder. "This is Level 5, the Haunted Hotel, where all the Death Moths hang out. Here's the deal: the females are total psychos, but the males are super chill, even tameable. The ones above us? All dudes. To tell 'em apart, just remember: big ones are girls, small ones are boys..."
"Got it," I nodded, then said: "Thanks, bro. What's your name?"
"I'm Duan Yongning. Just call me Brother Duan. And you?"
"Lin Yi. Could you fill me in on the do's and don'ts of Level 5? I can pay you with almond water..." I asked.
"Haha, Brother Lin, no need to be so formal. Forget the almond water. Even if you hadn't asked, I'd have told you. It's part of our M.E.G. duty," Duan Yongning said, giving me a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"M.E.G.?" My heart skipped a beat. There were actually M.E.G. folks here?
"Oh? Brother Lin, you've crossed paths with M.E.G. before?" Duan Yongning asked, noticing my reaction.
I nodded and said: "Yeah. M.E.G. saved me when I first got out of Level 1. But then, I accidentally ended up in Level 19 and came out here."
"Brother Lin, you've got some serious luck..." Duan Yongning said, clearly impressed by my back-to-back exits from three levels.
But just as he was talking, his eyes suddenly widened and he stammered: "Lin... Brother Lin, you said you came from Level 19? The one called 'The Attic'? Did you run into any orange light there? Did you touch it?"
Duan Yongning's rapid-fire questions threw me off. I replied, kinda confused: "In Level 19, I saw the orange light like every ten minutes, but I didn't touch it."
Hearing that, Duan Yongning let out a sigh of relief. He explained: "You don't know this, but Level 19 is super sketchy. That orange light can mess with people's minds and control their memories. It's seriously dangerous. Most folks who end up in Level 19 get drawn to the orange light and then get messed up by it. You didn't get contaminated, which is a huge stroke of luck. But we still gotta test you later to make sure." I nodded. On one hand, even though I didn't touch that orange glow, I was close to it a few times, so I wasn't sure if I was contaminated or not. So, a test was necessary. On the other hand, I also wanted to know where the M.E.G. base was. After all, it's the biggest player in the Underverse...
On the way, Duan Yongning explained that there's an M.E.G. outpost in Level 5, used to shelter wanderers and some groups here. His job was to patrol daily, searching for and rescuing wanderers. I also got the lowdown on Level 5 from him.
Level 5, the Terrifying Hotel
Survival Difficulty:
Level 2
• Unsafe
• Stable
• Few entities
There are three main areas here: the "Hotel Main Hall", the "Beverly Room", and the "Boiler Room". The types of entities here are also quite diverse, including hounds, wood spirits, and skin stealers, but these entities are rarely seen. The most common entity is the Death Moth, and Level 5 is the largest gathering place for Death Moths.
During our conversation, we arrived at a room. Duan Yongning knocked on the door and said, "Someone just came out from Level 19. I'm going to take some steak to check if they were contaminated."
"Steak?" I was a bit confused. "How do you check for contamination with steak?"
"Haha, of course not with the steak. But the steak is indispensable when I check for you later. Come on, you'll understand when we get there," Duan Yongning said with a laugh, seeing my puzzled look.
A person in military uniform came out from inside the door and handed Duan Yongning two packaged steaks. Duan Yongning gave me one and led me to a hall.
He said, "This steak is for exchanging with 'Samantha'. In exchange, she will perform 'Spirit Reading' to confirm if you were contaminated. Besides, you can also exchange some special information."
"Samantha?" I repeated the name. "Is she a wanderer with special abilities in the Underverse?"
"No," Duan Yongning shook his head. "She's an entity, but she's relatively friendly to wanderers. However, when you encounter her, you must feed her meat, otherwise she will attack you."
As we spoke, we arrived at the hall.
To be honest, I was very curious about what this friendly entity, Samantha, looked like. Most of the entities I had seen would chase and kill you without a second thought. It was the first time I had seen an entity that was friendly to humans.
We entered the hall. This hall looked exactly the same as the one I saw when I first arrived, but I could clearly feel that this wasn't the same hall.
At that moment, I noticed a black cat lying on the ground by a flowerpot, leisurely swishing its tail.
A wanderer's record of Samantha
The cat saw us and stood up, walking gracefully towards us with its tail held high.
What surprised me the most was that the cat spoke in a human voice, saying, "Did you bring any meat?"
The voice sounded like a young girl's, but it seemed to have a magical quality, constantly echoing in my ears, making me a bit dazed...
At that moment, Duan Yongning suddenly elbowed me and said, "What are you daydreaming about? Take out the steak quickly. Otherwise, if Samantha gets angry, it won't be easy to handle."
I snapped out of my daze and quickly took out the steak, opened the packaging, and placed it on a plate beside me.
Samantha nodded in satisfaction and slowly ate the two steaks.
After finishing the steaks, Samantha sat on the table and looked down at us, asking, "Why have you come?"
"Well, noble Samantha, the wanderer beside me just came out from Level 19. I would like to request you to use 'Spirit Reading' to check if he was mentally contaminated." Duan Yongning said respectfully.
Samantha nodded and replied straightforwardly, "No."
I was slightly stunned. So fast?
I had thought it would close its eyes to sense for a while or stare at me with glowing eyes, but who knew that in less than a second, she had detected that I wasn't mentally polluted.
On the other side, Duan Yongning responded, "Thank you, Samantha. We'll leave now and not disturb you."
Saying that, he pulled me to leave.
At this moment, Samantha suddenly stretched out a claw and pointed at me, saying, "This vagrant stays. I have something to ask him. You can leave first."
Duan Yongning was somewhat taken aback, not understanding why Samantha suddenly wanted to talk to me, but he still nodded, letting me stay behind, and also gave me a reassurance: "Samantha never harms the vagrants who exchange steaks with her, unless you attack her first."
Hearing this, I felt a little relieved. After Duan Yongning left, Samantha slowly walked up to me, staring at me with her yellow pupils in confusion and muttering to herself, "There's an orange glow on him, but why isn't he polluted? Strange..."
Watching Samantha curiously circle around me, I didn't dare to move until she suddenly stopped and said, "I kept you here for a reason. I need your help with something. Whether it succeeds or fails, I won't blame you. Are you willing?"
Hearing this, I quickly nodded. Of course I was willing! No matter what, helping this mysterious entity would be a step closer to it, which would be very beneficial for me in the Backrooms. Of course I couldn't refuse.
Seeing that I agreed so readily, Samantha nodded in satisfaction and walked past me, saying, "Follow me."