“Object 23, Consequential Cube. Picking it up results in immediate immobilization. Fully solving the Consequential Cube will cause you to noclip to a random level. Solving it correctly grants a reward; solving it incorrectly incurs a penalty.”
(Not gonna explain again -V)
Bro, I bet the reward and the penalty are actually the same thing, aren’t they?
(Heh.)
“If the side prioritized for solving is in the warm color spectrum (red, orange, yellow), there is a random penalty. The severity is related to the color, with red being the most severe.”
“Conversely, if the side prioritized for solving is blue, green, or white, there is a random reward. The degree of the reward is related to the color, with white being the best.”
“Addendum: Detailed rewards and penalties are in the table below. Additionally, the Consequential Cube can be moved without direct contact. Addendum 2: Once you store the Consequential Cube in your system inventory, it becomes a system item. This removes the immobilization restriction, but in its place, a new condition is added: the cooldown will only refresh each time you noclip into a level.”
For example, after using it once in Level 11, you cannot use it again until you noclip out of that level.
However, you can noclip in and out to refresh the cooldown.
(A certain 363 starts laughing.)
Another noclip item.
After carefully reading through the rewards and penalties, Chen wrapped it up with a piece of cloth from the laboratory.
Then, he used the system to store it.
In his system inventory, Chen saw the icon for the Consequential Cube, which also had an upward arrow symbol on it.
Without a doubt, this was a good item; the rewards from the Consequential Cube were quite diverse.
Moreover, looking at the upgradeable icon, the large amount of almond water in the rewards section, and the fact that it could be reused, Chen seemed to smell the scent of a bug.
It seemed the system could even modify items?
After studying it in detail, Chen discovered that the condition for upgrading the Consequential Cube was completing five system tasks.
Alright, it seems that once he got out, tasks would need to be put on the agenda.
After continuing to check for any missed items and recording the information, Chen arrived at the next location: the theater.
Its exterior was just like a common screening hall in a university; with a fairly large footprint and opaque glass windows, Chen could barely see the situation inside.
It seemed to have a main hall inside, filled with many red seats and a huge screen.
Never mind, record it first.
After pushing open the theater door, Chen felt the familiar sensation of noclipping.
“Warning, entering this will noclip you into Level 68, The “Eater”.
Great, another exit.
I’ll record this!
Quickly photographing the details here, Chen still had one last place to go.
That was the skyscrapers in the fog, not far from here, outside the school.
Stepping back onto the fog-filled road, after some maneuvering, Chen encountered two Wanderers who were near death.
After pointing out the exit to them and giving each of them two bottles of almond water, one of them actually pulled out a terminal and added Chen as a friend.
Chen was shocked; so there were actually people here whose terminals still had power?
After adding this person named Hayden, Chen continued moving forward.
He had explored most of the road, and there was nothing on the way except asphalt and stones.
Chen felt like vomiting from the smell of the asphalt.
After walking for another while, Chen suddenly saw an alleyway that extended abruptly from the road.
And the other end of the alley seemed to be a large shopping mall.
?
A door!
He didn’t even need to push the door; the mall didn’t have any doors at all.
Looking from the outside, the entrance was a pitch-black void.
It was as if the words “Noclip Exit” were plastered right on its forehead.
“Entering here will bring you to Level 33, ‘The Infinite Mall”
As expected!
After quickly recording this exit, Chen continued walking forward, and the skyscrapers were now not far from him.
However, strangely, when he saw the buildings, the distance between him and them seemed to freeze.
No matter how far he walked, the buildings remained a short distance ahead of him, as if he could reach them in a few steps.
But this bit of distance completely stuck Chen.
With a guess in his mind, Chen took out a bottle of almond water and started chugging it.
However, the situation did not improve after drinking it; he still couldn’t get closer to the buildings.
Could it be?
Chen wondered if he had stumbled upon an incredible map; it seemed Good Ol’ Days didn’t want him to enter.
Could the secret to the Level Core be hidden here?
It didn’t care when he noclip slightly before.
Chen wisely turned around and walked back.
Just kidding, if he angered this level and it sealed him off, that would be screwed.
The walk back was very smooth; he didn’t have the feeling of being stuck in distance anymore.
“Alright, this level has been explored enough; let’s organize the data.”
Having taken enough photos, Chen took out his terminal to organize the data.
Then, he discovered, luckily, that he had connected to a one-bar The Backrooms Wi-Fi signal.
Well, what are you waiting for?
Upload it for me!
It’s an easy task.
“Beep, upload failed. Please check The Backrooms network.”
The terminal made an unfriendly sound.
Hm?
Retrying the upload.
“Beep, upload failed. Please check The Backrooms network.”
He tried opening the M.E.G.
Library database, and the content displayed normally.
Hm?
Chen looked at that garbled The Backrooms Wi-Fi named “cxkctrplq” and his eyebrows slowly furrowed.
Damn it!
After complaining frantically in his mind, Chen finally gave up on the upload; he was getting ready to leave.
As for the upload, he would deal with it after getting out.
“Should I look around on the road to see if I can run into anyone?” Chen rubbed his chin.
“Hmm… let me check the information on these three exits first. If I still need to go back to the school, then I’ll run into people on the way.”
Since he hadn’t entered these levels yet, the system couldn’t scan the level data for the time being, so he had to start logging into the M.E.G. This chapter was taken from novelping dot com without permission.
Library using the one-bar Wi-Fi signal.
“Level 57, Diurnal Art Gallery. ”
Survival Difficulty
Class 0/1.
It is very safe here, unless you touch a painting you shouldn’t touch.
“Level 68, The “Eater”.”
Survival Difficulty
Class 3.
Unsafe.
Unstable.
Few Entities.
Please do not sit down to watch a movie.
Thank you for your cooperation.
“Level 33, “The Infinite Mall”
Survival Difficulty
Class 2
Unsafe
Stable
Few Entities
Please explore moderately; do not go deep.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Alright, after checking the level information for these three exits individually, Chen felt that the Diurnal Art Gallery was the most reasonable.
Additionally, he opened his phone and posted a message on The Backrooms mutual aid forum: “Is anyone in Level 219 needing help? Please tell me your location; I can take you out.”
Then, he stopped looking at his phone and prepared to rest on the spot for half an hour, setting off again after restoring his status.
Half an hour later.
Chen reopened his terminal; there were many replies under his post, which Chen scanned roughly.
Most of them were saying: “Are you kidding me?”
“Helping others in Level 219? That’s very superhuman.”
“Is anyone in the Red Light District needing help? Tell me your location, I can take you out.”
Ignoring a large number of such mocking or sarcastic replies, Chen saw one among the flood of information.
“Even if you are lying to me, please give me a little hope. I am in the leftmost classroom on the third floor of the school.”
Oh?
It seemed there really was someone.
In the M.E.G.
archives, Chen knew that even if controlled, Wanderers still had a few things they could do, such as a Wanderer carrying food being able to eat after stopping, or a Wanderer carrying a terminal being able to send messages to the outside world, etc.
It was just class time now.
“Man! Don’t be afraid, kids, the locomotive is coming.”
After receiving the message, Chen immediately used High-Speed Movement.