The backrooms

Level 0

I'd wake up on the floor of this very weird building. Where am I? What is this place? It felt nostalgic, but I still don't think I've ever actually been here. Confusion and worry would fill me but I'd try to think clear. I stood up and tried to rethink the last things I remembered. I was going downstairs to my brother, Hio. He was just ready with dinner. When I actually touched the stairs I had this weird feeling of falling and like it wasn't actually anything there. this is so confusing. I can't come up with any logical explanation for this, so instead I'd look around the place for an exit. The floor was only grey, moist carpet and the walls were tarpeted and yellow. The whole air in general just felt yellow. I'd hear nonstop annoying buzzes from some sort of lamp and the whole place smelled like mold and it made me uneasy. I started to walk and the rooms seemed completely identical to each other. I see doors every here and there but I don't really want to go inside them. It'll be easiest to find the exit if I just go forward and don't stop. It really made me feel weird though, what kind of building is this big? Have I been kidnapped or something? I'd reach in my pocket for my phone and it was surprisingly there. I'd open it and check the time. 00:00. 12 am? It was around 3pm last time I remember... Was I asleep for that long or does the time just not work? I'd look at the time for a bit to see if it changes, but it doesn't. Maybe my phone broke? I'd log in and see that there's no connection at all. There's no use for it. I'd put it back in my pocket and start to walk again. Now I encountered some stairs. Finally there was some change... the stairs were brown and went down a spiral. Maybe there was someone downstairs? I'd walk downstairs and notice that... The rooms looked the exact same. Disappointment would fill my chest but I wouldn't give up hope for someone to be here. "H-Hello?" I'd yell. And I'd feel someone behind me covering my mouth while grabbing me and dragging me to another room. Fear would wrap itself around my head and chest and I tried to scream but the scarred hand just got tighter wrapped around my mouth. I'd look into the other room where I was before and see this humanoid creature with gray skin and no facial features or ears. After awhile it was gone and whatever hid me from that creature would let me go and I'd turn around to look at- him. He was pretty tall, had cherry red hair and extremely pale skin. He looks Japanese (Am I in Japan..? How? I was just in Britain...). Half of his face is covered by his messy hair and the half of his body is filled with scars. His clothes are ruined and he looks like he hasn't slept for.. A really long time. He had an axe wrapped around his back. He looks like he's around my age. To be honest, he's scaring me. He'd get closer to me and look at my neck and it'd make me feel even more uncomfortable, but atleast he stopped doing that and started to just inspect me atleast a bit more normally. "Um- what are you doing? What is this place? What was that thing?" I'd ask, hoping to get atleast some sort of answer from this weird boy. "Huh... You really are new here." What does that mean? What's going on? "You are in the backrooms,, the thing was a duller and I was looking if you were having any signs of being a skin stealer or maybe even a stalker." His answer confuses me even more. What is the backrooms? What is a duller? What is a skin stealer? How am I a stalker? "Look, if you want me to explain, you better give me a good reason." Um... A good reason? I don't know everything, there's nothing I could do. I'd take out my phone from my pocket. Maybe he has some use for my phone? "Um... I have a phone, but I don't know if it works properly." He looked at me like I said the most stupidest and thing ever. "No, phones are to no use here. But..." He'd think for a bit. "But maybe it'd be good to have you around to avoid the stalker..." he mumbled. "But I haven't actually met someone in such a long time... How am I going to know if he can be trusted?" He'd sigh to himself. "Aight. So, I'll explain if you come along with me. It's a win win. The stalker will have it harder to get to the both of us and you'll get to know why and how you're here." I don't know if I should trust him, but he seems to know way more than I do about this place. I'd reach my hand out and he'd shake it. "Great, I will start by telling you the rules." He'd say. "Rule number 1. Don't think about escaping. 2. Don't show signs of anxiety, be calm. 3. DON'T search for others. You're just lucky you met me. 4. Don't walk too far off from your entry point. 5. DO NOT stare at lights. 6. If you feel like you're losing your senses, do Anything to regain them." He'd put his hair back to show me a hole where his eye should've been. "7. Don't forget about the time. It's VERY easy to lose sense of it and then it'll be way harder to escape. 8. Don't touch any wall that seem darker than the one beside it. 9. Don't interact with other human beings. 10. Count seconds, and every 500 seconds or so you should try to remember who you are and where you're from. For example, I am Fukase Satoshi, I am 17 years old and I come from Japan. And here's the last, and most important rule. If you hear a sound, don't look into it's direction. Walk the other way." I'd look over at him."Why do you trust me anyway?" He replied, "I don't, but you're small and if you were to betray me I could easily take you out. I'd rather have to deal with a human that could possibly be a bad person than a human eating demon thing." Oh. Well Jesus Christ that was a bit too honest in my opinion. I'm not that small, right? "Listen, we gotta get going. We wont escape if we stay only on level 0." He'd walk out of the room and start to move forward. I'd try to follow him but he was a lot faster than me. I didn't really say anything though. While we're walking, I could probably ask for some more information..."So, level 0? What's that suppose to mean? Are there different levels?" He'd sigh. "Yes, there's almost thousands of levels. Though most of them are empty. This is the easiest and safest level, but there's a very low chance to find escape through this level." he'd say. "How do you know so much about this place?" I'd ask him. "I've been here for about a year, I know most of the things to it." He'd look back at me trying to keep up with his paste. "But, why are you only on level 0 if you've been here for a year? And how have you survived? How is there so much food in here?" He'd look forward again. "There is no food, only seeds and almond water. The thing is that you don't really need food or water at all here." Oh. Well... How is he still in level 0? He didn't answer. "And I'm in here because I decided break a rule. I was stuck on a very, very difficult and terrible level you would never want to be in. I had enough of exploring so I went through a noclipped wall even if I knew it'd lead me here." He said. Oh... So that happens when you noclip. "At what levels can you escape?" I'd ask. "Usually the more difficult ones. I mean, I've heard it's possible to escape at level 1 or maybe even 0, but I don't think that has ever happened." He'd start to walk even faster around these hallways that all look the same, and I'd try to follow. "I'll tell you more about monsters if we encounter them. There's not a lot of dangerous ones here." That filled me with relief, but also worry at the same time. So if that gray faceless monster isn't too dangerous and this is the easiest level, how bad can things end up? I'd sigh. Well, I guess I got lucky to meet someone experienced. He'd hold his hand out to stop me in my tracks, and I'm guessing that's because there's some sort of monster nearby... He'd listen and mumble to himself. "Facelings..." "Um, are they dangerous?" I'd ask him. "No, they're just insane. They are humans that turned insane because of how long they were trapped in here. Some Facelings used to be my friends." "I'm sorry..." I said, and then I was able to see Facelings myself. They were normal height, a bit shorter than Fukase. They looked normal at first glance but I'd then notice that they have no faces. Even if I was told they're harmless, fear whelled up in me. Fukase would have a look of regonition, so these are probably ones he's either seen before or some of his old friends. They were holding hands. One of them would have this white, almost shoulder length hair with this big "swoop" that'd stand up from their head. I think that it's a male but don't want to make up assumptions. The other one has yellow blonde hair and a short ponytail. "Piko, Len, Vflower and me." Fukase said. "We used to roam this place together. But Piko and Len turned insane after Flowers disappearance. You see, Piko was in love with Vflower, so when she disappeared, he couldn't take it. Len however, was in love with Piko. He couldn't deal with Piko turning insane. This happened about 9 months ago." He'd say, and I'd now feel extremely bad for him. Why is he telling me all this? Just to make me understand or maybe because he hasn't been able to talk to someone for... Such a long time. "Hello Fukase!" They'd say. I don't really get how, but I decide not to question it. "Who's that? Is he a new one?" they'd both point at me. "Yes, he's new." they'd both laugh. "Alright! I hope he becomes one of us, rather than a mummified corpse!" they'd walk away, laughing to themselves. "Mummified?" I'd look up at him. "They're talking about a stalker. They are very dangerous creatures, but I've never seen one on level 0." he'd say and start walking again, so I'd follow. "How do you get into a new level?" I'd ask. "Either through noclipped walls or it'll happen over time. In level 0 it usually takes about 4 or more days to get to level 1." I'd nod, but I'd really just feel even more confused. 4 days? How big is this place? Who even knows? I could just be in a coma for all I know... Fukase would stop me again. "Fuck. It seems we've gotten really unlucky today." He'd whisper to me; "There's a lighter up ahead. Don't look at it, it'll make you go blind for a minute. It's as fast as us, but it doesn't have much stamina. Just, follow me, I don't think it noticed us." Fukase would slowly back away and go another direction than the one we were planning, and I'd follow him. After a minute of just walking random directions and taking weird turns he'd say;."Run." And we'd run.