Level detection in progress…
Detection successful!
“Level 219, Good Ol’ Days”
Survival Difficulty: Class Dead…
Dead…
4
Unsafe — Safe — Unsa…
Hab…
Hab…
Habitable
Inev…
itable…
Certain Death…
Survival
Holy shit!
The system is glitching out again.
What is this supposed to mean?
Seeing those fragmented words, there seemed to be the phrase
“Certain Death” in there.
Chen was so scared he nearly pissed himself.
Seriously, bro?
Is it really necessary just because I was taking a nap?
“Eh, who knows? What if it’s like Abundance, and after glitching out, it detects as safe? After all, it’s called Good Ol’ Days, so it must be really nice, right?” Chen comforted himself.
Meanwhile, Chen hurriedly took out his phone to check the M.E.G.
Library for information on Level 219.
However, the unstable Wi-Fi in The Backrooms played a little joke on him; there was no signal now.
Damn it, it was working just a moment ago!
After a minute of static, Chen finally heard the system’s voice again.
“System under attack from an unknown source. Correction complete.”
Hearing the system’s voice at this moment was like listening to the voice of heaven; it seemed the system was still badass.
Then, under Chen’s hopeful gaze, he saw the following information.
“Level detection successful.”
Level 219, Good Ol’ Days
Survival Difficulty: Class Dead Zone
Abnormal nature
Extremely uninhabitable
Certain death
It’s over.
Seeing these words, Chen let out a few drops of pee from fright.
“Level 219 has several independent areas that unlock over time, like a set procedure.
When you spawn here, you will first see a modern house, followed by a long road shrouded in fog.
Finally, a school will appear.
These scenes will repeat day after day until the Wanderer dies.
Hm?
I don’t get it.
This information is all foggy and confusing.
“When you are inside the house, this level will force Wanderers to perform actions as if they were following a pre-set program, such as packing a schoolbag and taking the necessary books (even though there are no books), eating breakfast (this level does not spawn any food), and washing up.”
“Inside the house, there is a clock recording the scheduled times for each pre-set program action. When the clock strikes 7:30, the Wanderer will be forced to leave the house to begin the ‘going to school’ program, and then step onto the road leading to the school.”
“Upon arriving at the school, the Wanderer will be forced to engage in studying activities until school ends. This repeats day after day until the Wanderer dies.”
“This level has an isolation effect similar to Level 0, meaning Wanderers are not supposed to meet each other in this level. It should be noted that the moment a Wanderer enters this place, their body no longer belongs to them; they must strictly follow the action route planned by the pre-set program.”
“Finally, this level seems to have no supplies of any kind, and the exit is unknown.”
After reading this information, Chen felt like he had eaten a pound of shit; he felt terrible.
Then, Chen’s body began to move on its own.
With a constipated expression on his face, he moved slowly and stiffly.
Am I getting possessed?
Suddenly, a sound seemed to ring in Chen’s ears:
“One-second mutation! Drop legs, reload, head armor, gun, chest rig, backpack, flower, come!”
These sounds drifted in and out, elusive, much like the humming of the Memory Foundry.
Then…
“Forced mental control detected in this level. Shielding activated”(Remaining uses: 1)
Suddenly, the sounds surrounding his ears vanished, and Chen regained control of his body once again.
System, you are my daddy!
After carefully reading the information for this level, Chen discovered that there are no Entities in this level.
The method of death is quite cruel: it lets people starve to death.
This way of dying is very special; it is one of the few ways to bypass one-time respawn devices.
(you would just starve to death again after respawning, unless you have energy replenishment in your body the moment you respawn; otherwise, you’d die a second time. It’s similar to a death flash).
However, Chen could avoid this by committing suicide.
Fortunately, he had the system to break the control; otherwise, he wouldn’t even be able to commit suicide and would have just died here.
Of course, suicide is a last resort, because life-saving opportunities are still very important, and Chen didn’t want to waste them at such a bizarre level.
Since he was no longer under control, Chen effectively had the best start among any Wanderers who had arrived here.
Moreover, because he had a major safety net, Chen was not afraid of this level.
He simultaneously realized that this was a good opportunity to farm contribution points.
After all, he was the only person who brought purification.
This purification could even break the isolation effect of Level 219.
Because just as Chen was following the route of the house, road, and school, filming along the way while exploring the new map, he discovered a female Wanderer walking numbly on the road.
The Wanderer’s face was ashen.
Her face, covered by messy hair, could only vaguely reveal her former appearance.
The shoes on her feet were worn out, her clothes were tattered, and her whole body had abnormal swelling; she looked like she was about to starve to death. You are reading on novelping(.)com, the official source.
Moreover, she seemed to only be able to walk along a fixed route.
Because when Chen tried to block her path, she didn’t show any intention of dodging.
Seeing that they were about to collide, Chen hurriedly dodged.
Then, because he was a step too slow, her forehead bumped into Chen’s body, making a crisp sound.
Sounds good?
If it sounds good, it’s a good head.
Just as Chen stood up, clutching his forehead, he saw that the Wanderer had frozen in place.
Under Chen’s puzzled gaze, she began to tremble violently, emitting whimpering sounds.
As the whimpering grew louder, it finally turned into wailing.
However, due to her long-term malnutrition, it seemed like even crying exhausted all her strength.
Seeing this, Chen hurriedly handed her a bottle of almond water.
The female Wanderer hesitated, then tremblingly and slowly took it, sipping it in small mouthfuls.
After finishing the bottle, as if feeling the energy from the almond water flowing into her limbs and bones, she began to cry again.
Chen handed her another bottle.
She seemed to have regained her ability to move.
It seems the mental control described for Level 219 isn’t absolute; perhaps it just needs a little bit of external help to break free from the control.
However, due to the isolation effect of this level, it is impossible for Wanderers to run into each other.
Of course, except for Chen; this guy is a cheater.
After a long silence, it was Chen who spoke first:
“Uh, hello. My name is Chen, and I am an Explorer from M.E.G. I am currently exploring this level and looking for an exit. Do you want to come with me?”
The female Wanderer opened her mouth, trying to make a sound, but Chen didn’t hear anything.
She tried again, and finally, she made a sound:
“C-can we get out…” As she spoke, tears fell from her eyes again.
The mental control of this level is truly soul-crushing.
Chen had no doubt that if it weren’t for the special effect of this level, namely the Entity prohibition effect
(specifically manifested as no Entities appearing in this level, and Wanderers not triggering the Sad Corpse Cycle), people who came here would turn into Smilers in minutes.
“Well, who’s to say?
Although the files say there is no exit here, the mission of us Explorers is to discover and record.
I will do my best to find an exit.” After Chen finished speaking, seeing her eyes dim again, he added, “Relax, there must be one.
After all, I am a very lucky person, and we aren’t being bound by this level anymore, are we?”
The female Wanderer wasn’t unaware of this, but the long-term body control had left her in despair.
Now that Chen had suddenly broken her control, she was like a drowning person grabbing onto a straw, urgently needing a glimmer of hope to keep going.
After realizing this, she patted the dust off her body and solemnly extended her hand.
“Thank you, Chen. My name is Tina. I’m very happy to have met you. Even if we can’t get out, having a companion with me is much better than accepting death in loneliness.”
After speaking, she seemed to realize something was wrong.
“What am I saying? We will definitely be able to get out, don’t you think?”
She forced a smile, but due to the long-term loss of control, her smile was quite stiff.
“Yes, we will definitely be able to get out,” Chen comforted her.