All Answers Lie Above

The man held a sword roughly a meter long.

Pale blue frost, mingled with a thin mist, wrapped the entire blade. Darkness kept trying to overwhelm him, but before swordplay too fast for the eye to follow, it was torn apart helplessly. Having finally cut down even the last shred of darkness, the man did not stop. He drew a gun with his left hand and aimed it at Minel.

"You. What are you?"

A man in his early thirties. About six feet tall, his build was solid with no excess. Sharp eyes and a hard expression combined into an oppressive aura so intimidating that even approaching him felt dangerous.

Overwhelming martial prowess. Unhesitating aim.

Minel decided to speak honestly.

"I'm Minel. A newbie."

"A newbie? Then why are you in the elevator?"

"It seemed safe."

The man stared at Minel as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, then slowly sheathed his sword. The gun, however, remained trained on him.

"Safe? That's the most dangerous place on the 1st Floor."

"No monsters came in."

"Monsters know exactly how dangerous it is—that's why."

"..."

"Interesting guy. Hiding from monsters in an elevator. Yeah, you're definitely a newbie."

He finally lowered the gun he'd been pointing at Minel. From the look in his eyes, he didn't consider Minel even the slightest threat.

Using a sword and a gun together—wasn't that something only done in games?

The man walked toward him. Minel remained wary, but the man paid no mind and stepped into the elevator. He immediately crouched down and began examining the skeleton lying inside.

Suddenly the man's eyes went wide.

"Th-this is a Sacred Bone? Th-that's impossible..."

This was someone who had effortlessly swept away the monsters of the dark. He couldn't be an ordinary person even in the Backrooms. If even he was this shocked, then this corpse was clearly no ordinary thing.

While examining the remains this way and that, the man suddenly glared at Minel.

"Did you find anything here?"

"Sorry?"

Minel genuinely hadn't caught what he said and asked him to repeat it. That was pure luck—the man lost interest and turned back to the skeleton.

"Well, of course there was nothing. No way they'd leave something for a newbie to take."

"..."

"At least the bones are still here. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd see an item like this on the 1st Floor—something I might never get again in my whole life."

Minel felt a chill crawl down his spine. He couldn't read the man's intentions precisely, but if the man learned of the Backrooms Field Guide, he would definitely take it.

Should I hand it over now? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Should I give it up if it means keeping my life?

As the calculations spun through his mind, the man abruptly stood and flicked his fingers lightly. But a clear, pure sound rang out that no ordinary finger-snap should produce. He made a gesture as if placing the skeleton into something—and in that instant, the bones vanished without a trace.

Minel instinctively understood. That was definitely a virtual pocket from a game—an inventory.

Is the Backrooms a game-like world?

Then the man glanced at him.

"Aren't you getting out?"

Minel immediately stepped out of the elevator. There might still be danger outside, but it seemed less dangerous than this man.

At that moment, the man flicked his fingers again. Something appeared in his hand—an elevator button. He set it against the wall by the entrance as if attaching it, then pressed it without a word.

Is he leaving?

Minel spoke on instinct.

"Could you take me out with you?"

The man looked at Minel with a peculiar expression—a gaze as if appraising an object. He snorted a short laugh.

"Out where? If you go where I'm going, a newbie like you would turn into a monster in a second."

"Turn into a monster?"

"If you can't keep your reason, you end up that way. Even if you die, you become a monster. So just climb up properly."

Become a monster. Could it be that the sudden surge of monsters earlier was people who'd died and transformed?

He had even more reason to get out. Minel swallowed dryly once.

"Then could you at least tell me how to get out?"

The man, who had been watching Minel quietly, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠suddenly pointed a finger upward.

"..."

"Climb endlessly upward while suppressing the Wildness that builds as you experience the Mystery of the Backrooms. Once you come up, you'll be able to obtain whatever you want. If you can't obtain it, it's simply because you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠haven't climbed high enough."

With the man's smile as the last thing Minel saw, the elevator doors closed.

Thud.

"..."

Minel quickly sorted through what had just unfolded before his eyes. Using a sword and a gun at once. Opening an inventory with a single gesture and storing the skeleton. It was impossible to accept as reality. To make sense of this situation, he had no choice but to treat it like a game. For now, that was the most coherent interpretation.

Then what about what had just happened? It was like a veteran briefly visiting a newbie hunting ground and, on the way back, discovering another veteran's corpse. The corpse itself was a good item, so he took it. The elevator was probably something like a portal to a high-level zone.

In that case—the Backrooms Field Guide was definitely a far more valuable item than he'd thought. That man who had been indifferent to everything had been greatly shocked just from seeing the corpse. He must have been looking at the remains of a veteran stronger than himself. And the item that corpse hadn't let go of even in death was the Backrooms Field Guide.

So how extraordinary must it be? If the man had investigated Minel even a little, the Field Guide would have been exposed immediately. Treating him like a pebble by the roadside had cost him that precious item. The man had been arrogant. And so he had missed the Backrooms Field Guide.

Then a memory flashed through Minel's mind. Two thigh bones. He had clearly thrown them at the monsters earlier.

Minel looked outside. There were no monsters—not even the darkness they had brought with them. Relying on the fluorescent light, he began searching the area thoroughly.

How long had it been? At last he managed to recover both thigh bones that had been scattered haphazardly. But that wasn't all. Scattered across the floor were numerous round, foreign-feeling objects the monsters had dropped. Hardened clumps of dark crimson blood. They looked like organic matter that had dried stiff without any luster.

If this is a game world—wouldn't the things monsters drop have some use?

Without thinking further, Minel scraped up everything on the floor without missing a single piece. Two thigh bones. The round remnants the monsters had dropped. Gathered together, they had some bulk and were fairly heavy. His clothes barely had pockets; he couldn't carry it all.

"Inventory..."

Recalling the man from earlier, Minel carefully flicked his fingers. Unfortunately, no inventory window appeared.

Have I not yet reached the stage where I can use an inventory?

There was only one way to check. Minel took out the Backrooms Field Guide and opened it. He'd meant to look at the later pages, but to his surprise, the content of the first page had changed.

Is the Backrooms Field Guide some kind of tutorial guide? If that's all it is, why did that veteran's corpse cling to it so desperately?

For now, Minel followed the Field Guide's instructions. After focusing his mind, he lightly flicked his middle finger, and a clear, pure resonance that had no business coming from a fingertip rang out.

The inventory was invisible. It had no tangible substance he could grasp. But he could clearly sense that the inside was empty. Minel put both thigh bones and all the monster remnants into the inventory. The objects vanished one after another, their presence lingering strangely somewhere in his senses.

He never knew when he might run into someone else. In preparation, he practiced putting things in and taking them out until he could do it smoothly.

"Good..."

Now should I just climb to the upper floors where there's supposedly a way to escape? Will it also tell me how to go up?

Holding onto hope, Minel opened the Field Guide ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠again. Unfortunately, the text hadn't changed at all. He had no idea under what conditions the writing would update. All he could do was open it frequently and check. Simply sitting still wouldn't make it change.

Suddenly struck by intense thirst, Minel decided to look for water first. A person could last three days without water. Given his condition, he needed to find water within a day.

Minel moved immediately. Walking the corridors, he found not only the office-like spaces he'd already seen but conference rooms, spacious executive offices, and all sorts of rooms—yet no path leading outside was visible at all. A few fluorescent lights flickered like lonely streetlamps in the dead of night, barely pushing back the dark. Through the occasional windows, there was only another room or corridor—never the outdoors.

No matter how far he walked, not only was there no water—not even a single bathroom appeared. Walking in a straight line only produced endless abandoned offices. It lacked the sudden impact of seeing a monster face-to-face, but the sense of wrongness slowly tightening around him seemed even greater.

Minel grew increasingly exhausted. He felt his physical and mental strength draining toward the bottom. He no longer knew how much time had passed. His mind grew hazy and his senses strange. From the half-darkened ceiling, a buzzing drone stabbed at his ears. That eerie vibration tickled at his eardrums. He could no longer tell whether he had been to a place before or not.

A sticky unpleasantness slowly squeezed his entire body. A space where every object seemed to have lost its reason for existing. The mental panic made his thirst even worse. He felt ready to gulp down toilet water if he found any.

At the moment he felt he might collapse at any second—suddenly, far down the office, a door creaked open.

Minel's mind snapped clear. He held his breath and quickly hid behind a nearby pillar. He peeked carefully, watching the door. People began to appear beyond it. Four people of different clothes and demeanors, but with one thing in common—their eyes. They too were exhausted to the limit, their gazes empty as hollowed-out sockets.

"See? It turned into a safe zone, didn't it? Huh? I told you so."

"So what? A monster could jump out any second?"

"Nah, they actually won't. What's a danger zone? It's where monsters swarm around, right? So once they pass through, it actually gets cleaned up."

"You never know. There might be stragglers. Everyone stay alert for now."

The one at the front held a flashlight. The light slowly swept here and there, then began approaching the side where Minel was hiding. Minel crouched tight, not even daring to breathe. If he just stayed quiet, they might walk right past.

But then—words landed clearly in his ears.

"So how much farther do we have to go?"

"Not far. We'll be able to fill the water containers. We can't just come whenever we want. Only when it's just turned into a safe zone."

"Please. Anyone listening would think you're some veteran survivor, huh?"

"I've survived longer than you, at least. I'm clearly the senior here."

"By two days. And you don't even have any skills you've learned."

Filling water containers. That means there is water.

Minel was already on the brink of collapse. If he couldn't get water, he wouldn't last long anyway. Dying this way or that—it was the same. He was bound to run into other people someday.

"Wait."

Minel slowly, carefully stepped out from behind the pillar. Every gaze locked onto him at once, and their expressions hardened instantly. Strong wariness filled their eyes, but fortunately, unlike the veteran from earlier, none of them drew a gun or made any threatening move.

Minel briefly considered what attitude to take. The answer was simpler than expected. Being exposed as a newbie wouldn't do him any good. The veteran had ignored him, but there was no guarantee these people would do the same.

Imitating the veteran, Minel stripped the emotion from his voice and asked casually in a flat, monotone register:

"Where are you people going right now?"

A voice cracked by severe thirst. But that only made the atmosphere more frightening. The four stood frozen, staring at Minel in silence. In the held-breath quiet, a faint killing intent began to rise.

Brutal, cold eyes. People clearly unhesitant about murder.

Did it backfire?

Minel steeled himself and met their gazes head-on.