He opened his eyes to a vast expanse of lush green grass.
Chen looked at his hands in silence, then scanned his surroundings; what greeted his eyes was a large field of grass and some low-lying trees.
Yes, Chen had transmigrated.
The cause was that he had received an email titled “If You’re My Brother, Come Hack Me,” which included a cursed audio file.
The person in the recording didn’t laugh, but Chen did.
After clicking the link, his vision went black.
And then, he ended up here.
Being a person with quite a bit of life experience, Chen realized he had transmigrated.
After carefully observing his surroundings, he felt he should do something about it.
For instance, explore this place?
But before that, a buzzing sound that had been accompanying him ever since he arrived made him feel a bit uneasy.
It seemed like this sound had gotten louder since he first arrived here.
Chen didn’t know what this sound signified, but the gradually intensifying buzzing seemed to portend something ominous.
Without further delay, Chen tidied himself up and followed a clear path on the grass.
Looking into the distance, the road seemed to have no end.
Five minutes later, Chen walked back to his starting point.
At the same time, his brain buzzed, and an echo like metal being struck and vibrating wildly rampaged through his mind.
A terrifying thing happened: Chen suddenly couldn’t recall his memories from just a moment ago.
But at that moment, a cold, electronic voice rang out in Chen’s mind
“Mental influence from this level detected and blocked.”
(Current uses remaining: 2)
Huh?
At the same time, the missing few minutes of memory suddenly flooded back into his mind.
Is the system here?
Chen felt a surge of joy, but he also realized something was wrong.
Level?
This term…
That’s not right, Chen thought, his heart sinking.
Could it be?
The concept of The Backrooms immediately flashed into Chen’s mind.
Before he transmigrated, he often encountered introductions to The Backrooms levels on certain video websites, although he only dabbled in it and only had a shallow understanding of the more famous levels.
And as far as Chen knew, shouldn’t people who noclip into The Backrooms usually appear in Level 0?
He had heard that a small number would fall into Level 1.
But regardless of whether it was Level 0 or Level 1, it seemed to differ greatly from the scene before him.
Concentrating his mind to call upon the system, an interface similar to a control panel appeared in front of him.
Chen saw basic modules on it such as Level Detection, Item Retrieval, Entities Retrieval, Quests, and Inventory.
It also contained features like the automatic blocking of mental influence, which was determined by the system’s intelligent module.
Furthermore, the icon for the “Newcomer’s Backrooms Starter Pack” on the side of the interface felt quite out of place to Chen.
But Chen claimed it nonetheless.
After claiming it, two “Umi’s Sweets” Object 27, “Gray Almond Water” Object 1, and “Compression Cubes” Object 49 were deposited right into Chen’s inventory.
After experimenting, Chen discovered that the items in his inventory could appear in his hands out of thin air through his mental intent.
Awesome!
It’s a storage bag!
Chen quickly checked the general descriptions of the items he had obtained.
Gray almond water seemed to be the most common type of almond water, famous in The Backrooms for providing sufficient energy and nutrition, but it had no other effects.
It seemed that almond water of other colors existed, but Chen hadn’t seen them yet; his system seemed to only retrieve items that had already been collected.
(“Almond Water” Object 1)
Useful object that can be obtained on most levels of the Backrooms
There are a variety of colours of the almond water bottle.
Gray – The most common, having the highest nutritional value, satisfies hunger more than others.
Has no side effects; can temporarily tame entities such as Deathmoth and Jerry.
Green – Tastes like an energy drink and has the highest caffeine.
Too much consumption will cause insomnia, drowsiness, fatigue, and lowered attention span, as well as addiction.
Red – Has an extremely bitter taste, acts like an antibiotic or cough syrup, helping with ailments such as colds, headaches, and blood‑pressure regulation.
The side effect causes severe fatigue as the body reallocates energy to healing.
Overuse can lead to serious side effects like infections, pneumonia, or even cancer, so it’s advised not to drink more than one bottle within eight hours.
Blue – Tastes like plain water; it increases melatonin, causing drowsiness, making it popular among those with insomnia.
It also protects the mind from external influences and can interrupt or reverse the Wretched Cycle if treated early.
People with anxiety, depression, or ADHD report benefits, but overuse can lead to dependence, vision problems, and muscle weakness.
As for Umi’s Candy…
it seemed quite tasty, hmm.
Chen could only see one specific effect, which was for the Almond sugars version he held.
As for the effect, it seemed similar to almond water, but the system specifically noted that this thing could create a large amount of almond water.
It seemed like a good item for trading.
(“Umi’s Sweets” Object 27)
Can be obtained only by knocking on any door on Level 9, and after waiting exactly eight seconds, a serpentine entity called Mummy Umi will open the door and confront the individual.
There are a variety of Umi’s Sweets.
(include popular one)
Paprika Pumpkin Puffs – have no negative effects but are described to have a powerful, pleasing taste nearing euphoria.
Almond Sugars – Small white crystals of highly concentrated Almond Water.
When heated, it can create at least 5 liters of almond water.
Marshmallow Crunch – A potent energy source that removes the need for sleep or rest, enabling long physical exertion.
Doses above ten grams cause weakness and fatigue for up to three hours, while more than twenty grams lead to lasting confusion and eventual transformation into a Wretch.
Lucky Bars – The harder the Lucky Bar is, the luckier the individual becomes.
Effect turns into bad luck once the Lucky Bar becomes soft enough to be chewed.
Mints of Knowledge – The most common, eating the mint instantly grants any desired skill or knowledge, from medical expertise to athletic ability—even simple awareness like knowing the nearest exit.
Once the minty aftertaste fades, all gained knowledge vanishes, leaving side effects such as confusion, fatigue, or random memory loss.
As for the last one, the Compression Cube.
Simply put, it was a PokéBall that could physically capture Entities, but it was a version that included the Entity’s collision volume.
(“Compression Cubes” Object 49)
Projectile weapons manufactured by the Backroom Robotics with the purpose of self-defense against hostile forces.
They are composed of reinforced steel, crafted from scrap metal found on Level 2.
The dimensions of each cube in its normal state are 4.5 inches.
The cube will engulf the target (or targets) it was thrown at and then fold back to its original size.
This results in their entire body forcefully compressed into a cube-like state.
After carefully reading the usage methods and power of the item after retrieving it, Chen reached a conclusion: use with caution; it’s quite dangerous.
But it would work as a trump card to save his life.
Buzz—
The annoying buzzing sound came again.
Chen tried to find the source of the sound.
He looked around, but the sound seemed to come from all directions, making it impossible to pinpoint.
However, as he looked up, he discovered another rather strange sight.
The “Sun” in the sky could no longer be called a sun.
Hanging in the sky was a red, cratered sphere resembling the moon, and Chen could clearly stare directly at it.
What was surprising was that such a celestial body could actually emit incandescent light like a sun.
The sense of strangeness in his heart grew stronger after Chen discovered the “Sun.”
Chen hurriedly summoned the system and used the Level Detection function.
Detecting— A series of electronic beeps rang out in Chen’s mind.
Your current location is:
Level 150, Memory Foundry.
Survival Difficulty: Class Ψ
Unsafe
Unstable
Mental Hazard
This level mainly consists of some green grass, with bushes growing beside the grass.
It is worth noting that every place within the level is shrouded in an unknown light blue light; this is a sort of alternative evening.
In the sky, there is a red spherical object similar to the moon.
According to the native inhabitants of this level
(not actually native; they are usually called ‘Newcomers’), this thing is called the ‘Eye.’
This red-glowing spherical object, according to M.E.G.
investigations, might be a celestial body, an Entity, or some other anomalous object.
It should be noted that the ‘Newcomers’ have a fanatical, excited worship of this sphere.
Additionally, Level 150 can usually be found with a damaged, narrow asphalt road, with weeds visible everywhere in the cracks of the road; apart from this, this road, along with the entire level, seems to extend infinitely.
When you are in Level 150, a buzzing sound will often drill into your head.
At first, this sound is not loud, but as the time one spends in this level increases, the intensity of this sound will also increase.
Eventually, the sound will rise to a despair-inducing, piercing noise.
This sound may be related to the mental hazard this level causes to people.
The most critical thing is that if you stay in Level 150 for too long, your memories will gradually be lost and replaced, eventually completely transforming you into another person.
It seems this phenomenon is precisely why Entities cannot survive in this level.
Chen read this and pondered for several dozen seconds.
He thought of a possibility: could he be one of the brand-new individuals created by the Memory Foundry?
That shouldn’t be…
right?
Combining this with the characteristics of the level, the more Chen thought about it, the more he felt this possibility was high.
Oh no, I’ve become a replacement.
According to the data detected by the level scan, from the moment this place is stepped on, it will continuously cause mental influence to Wanderers, eventually completely changing the Wanderers’ memories.
It seems the mental influence block that activated automatically just now was to prevent this.
It seems the system is quite impressive, being able to block even this kind of level-based mental influence.
No, wait, Chen discovered a blind spot.
If he was a personality that had been replaced, then why was he being subjected to mental influence again?
The records seemed to indicate that after becoming a “Newcomer,” that is, after having one’s memories replaced, things would stabilize.
After thinking it over, Chen guessed that perhaps his transmigration had usurped the new personality that would have been generated for the Chen of this level, but because he was an independent individual from The Frontrooms, a tiny bug had occurred.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Upon learning that he had spawned into a high-risk level right from the start, Chen’s first thought was to get out as quickly as possible.