“Level detection”
“Detection successful. Level 10: Wh… Wh… Wheat Field Wh— Bzzzzzt—”
The system suddenly began to emit static, as if malfunctioning.
It’s not going to explode, is it?
“Level corrected. Level 10: Abundance.”
Survival Difficulty: Class 1
Safe
Stable
Minimal Entities
Oh?
Chen fell into contemplation.
In his memory, Level 10 was called Wheat Field.
What was this “Abundance”?
(Don’t ask why. I don’t know as well – V)
Although this place was indeed a vast expanse of wheat, the system’s sudden glitch made Chen pause and ponder.
Then, the system glitched again.
“Bzzzt… System updating…”
“Update successful. You can now view your own attributes.”
Wait, there’s more?
Chen raised an eyebrow as he saw an attribute module appear on the system panel.
Clicking on it, Chen saw his attributes.
Wanderer: Chen.
Stamina: D (In the realm of a Legendary Captain)
Shooting: E
Mental: D (Memory Foundry bonus)
Luck: F
Mechanics: D
Vitality: S (Legendary King of Survival, buffed by the system)
Note: The stats of an ordinary Wanderer are all E.
All stats are growth-capable.
Holy crap!
Ignoring the system’s tasteless descriptions and his absolutely abysmal luck, Chen stared intently at the Vitality section.
S?
Doesn’t that mean I can just sit back and relax?
Chen didn’t know how high an S-rank was, but with that “Legendary King of Survival” tag, perhaps he really could escape that airplane.
After carefully reviewing the system update and confirming that this place was indeed quite safe, Chen began to explore Abundance.
Since this area was covered in vast, tall fields of wheat, Chen had to painstakingly forge a path through.
According to the data, the only Entities likely to be on Level 10 were Worms, and as long as one didn’t court death by digging up the soil, they wouldn’t be disturbed.
Entity 83: “Worms”
Appears To Be A “Common Earthworm”.
It is much more parasitic than its frontrooms counterpart.
If You Ever Have A Open Wound In “Habitat”, the worms will most likely crawl through it.
Once They Are in the wound, you will start feeling numb in the spot where the wound was.
“DAY 2”
The limb will become pink and itch slightly
“DAY 3”
You will become hostile, and the pink will spread all around your skin
“DAY 4”
Your eyes will be sealed shut along with your mouth
“DAY 5”
You will turn into a worm, and you Can’t Turn Into A Human Because of it.
Do’s
If you see your wound has “Eggs,” wash it down with Almond Water.
If your skin turns pink, isolate yourself
If Worms Are Seen, TERMINATE THEM
Don’ts
Try and eat the eggs.
If you notice there are eggs, pay no attention to them.
After walking in a random direction for about five minutes, Chen spotted a barn-like structure in the distance.
There seemed to be signs of human activity inside.
Upon closer observation, Chen spotted about five people moving inside.
They wore matching uniforms, with some kind of emblem on their chests.
Is this a temporary M.E.G.
base?
The M.E.G
(a.k.a. The “Major Explorer Group”) is a group created by the people of the Backrooms.
To keep wanderers safe from entities, traps, and other groups such as The Insurrection.
According to the data, because clipping from Level 10 to Level 11 was too easy, no permanent outposts were established here.
However, there seemed to be temporary bases scattered among these barns.
Seeing someone approach, a man inside the barn holding a Bizon submachine gun stepped forward quickly.
“Halt! State your identity.”
Chen quickly said
“I’m a Wanderer who just clipped into The Backrooms. A law-abiding citizen through and through.”
With that, he quietly took out a bottle of sealed almond water he had prepared earlier from his inventory and slipped it over.
The guard didn’t take it, but he lowered his gun.
“A new Wanderer who clipped into Level 10? You can clip into Level 11 to seek M.E.G.’s protection. They’ll provide you with a suitable job.”
Chen agreed, and the guard pointed him toward the path to clip into Level 11.
It was simple: just walk along a small trail for a long time, and once he heard noise, he’d be there.
In the end, Chen still gave the almond water to the guard.
After all, the man had helped him.
He indeed planned to head to Level 11 first to rest and recuperate, and also to see if he could take on some exploration missions from the M.E.G.
After all, if he wanted to grow stronger in The Backrooms, frequently taking on system-issued tasks was necessary.
This was a perfect opportunity to farm some contribution points with the M.E.G.
After walking along the path pointed out by the guard for five minutes, he hadn’t clipped into Level 11 yet, but he did discover a large body of water.
There even seemed to be fish swimming inside.
He wondered if these fish were edible.
Someone was craving grilled fish.
According to the data, most bodies of water on Level 10 were potable, though they had an earthy taste.
So, the fish should be edible too, right?
However, when Chen waded into the water to catch a fish, it vanished instantly.
Dun, dun, dun…
Realizing something, Chen quickly took out a bottle of grey almond water and took a huge, gulping swig.
Looking back at the water now, there were no fish, not even water weeds.
There was only water.
Sure enough, ever since spawning in Level 150, Chen hadn’t drunk any almond water, causing his Sanity to drop.
It seemed he would have to pay attention to this in the future.
Stepping back onto the shore, Chen continued walking along the path for a while when he suddenly felt a strange sensation.
It was the feeling of clipping out!
Awesome!
Chen had already closed his eyes, ready to enjoy the atmosphere of Level 11, The Infinite City.
But after three seconds, it was still very quiet.
There was none of the city’s characteristic clamor.
Huh?
Chen opened his eyes.
Before him was still a vast expanse of wheat.
Still on Level 10?
Then what was that feeling of clipping out?
Just as Chen was wondering, he suddenly caught a strange scent.
It was a metallic, acidic smell.
Though extremely faint, Chen’s sharp sense of smell still picked up on it.
Following the scent, he saw a lake far ahead.
But this lake was rather strange.
The liquid inside was reddish-black, like venous blood.
The center of the lake was an even deeper, ink-like, impenetrable black.
In front of him were several warning signs and a quarantine zone enclosed by barbed wire.
The signs read:
WARNING: Ahead lies Level 10.1, The Lake of Corpses.
This is a dead zone.
Please leave immediately.
At the same time, the system also successfully detected information about this level.
“Level 10.1: The Lake of Corpses”
Survival Difficulty: Class 5e Environmental Hazard
Unsafe
Unstable
Non-Entity Hazards
The Lake of Corpses is an artificial (forced) lake created by the M.E.G.
during an experiment.
It contains a large amount of a new substance produced by attempting to melt Object 24 liquid with an unknown substance.
This substance is highly radioactive and toxic.
Standing within the vicinity of The Lake of Corpses for three minutes will cause one’s entire body to fester, leading to death.
At the same time, entering the lake’s area of influence even for a short time seems to cause various radiation sequelae.
Object 24 – “Wall Masks”
Theatrical masks that can be found in various levels (most abundantly in a stage/theater environment): Level 0, Level 68, Level 74, and Level 177 of the Backrooms.
Multiple variants of Wall Masks cater to a wanderer’s personality.
(If interested in this information, check it out in next part because it’s too long and also includes some lore toward it.)
In short, The Lake of Corpses is a completely man-made hazardous level.
What few know is that before The Lake of Corpses was formed, the M.E.G.
discovered that its center seemed to lead to an unarchived level.
The reason it remains unarchived is that the entrance to this level is random, and Explorers who went in never came out, with no information ever being transmitted back.
The M.E.G.
had hoped to dump the destroyed wall masks into this level, but things did not go as planned.
The liquid seemed to absorb some kind of ability from the unknown level, turning into what is now The Lake of Corpses.
After reading the data, a chill ran down Chen’s spine.
If he went deep into this place, forget about S-rank Vitality—even Ultra Seven Vitality would end up dead here.
Better leave quickly.
Ignoring the faint, shimmering glints reflecting off The Lake of Corpses, Chen had no doubt that staying here for even a single minute would subject him to radiation attacks, causing irreversible symptoms.
Running with giant strides, Chen returned to the normal Level 10.
After changing paths and walking for another two minutes, he finally arrived at Level 11, The Endless City.