The Second Passage!
After a long while of sitting there in a daze, a thought suddenly struck me and I opened the Gallery — and of course, it was in complete chaos.
No, seriously? This fast?
“Haa..”
Pushing my gloomy feelings aside, I wrote a post.
And so the Gallery filled up once more with posts mocking me.
[Newbie, the Backrooms is easy, isn't it~]
[99999+ reasons the newbie couldn't have escaped]
[Yeah, you're not going anywhere~]
[I hereby withdraw my support for the newbie.]
[This kid just doesn't understand the world]
“Ugh.. whatever..”
My head was a mess, so I uploaded one more post.
“The Main Mod..?”
So the Main Mod actually uses the Gallery. Aside from announcements, I think this is the first time I've ever seen them post.
After that, the mockery posts on the Gallery stopped as if by magic. Guess they really are a grand mage.
SaveMe..? Why is this person so intent on helping others?
“So they're a good person, either way.”
“Something different, huh.”
Five passages up front.
The watery passage. The mossy passage. The footprints-in-dirt passage. The mushroom passage. The cold-chill passage.
All the same.
Three passages in the back.
The one tangled with tree roots. The one paved with gem-like things that sparkle under light. The one with iron bars jutting slightly from above and below.
All the same.
I compared the hole I'd climbed out of and the mud against the photos I'd taken — identical.
But right before I set out, a different commenter replied.
“Okay. Ignoring the third passage up front.”
First, I'd head to the first chamber and test the duplication.
“What should I leave behind..”
Of course, because I'd been thinking of going back, I'd minimized my gear.
What if I left something behind, came back, and instead of duplicating, it just vanished?
What would I miss least if it disappeared?
Flashlight? No.
Food? No.
Water? No.
Phone? Hmm..
Oxygen tank? Better safe than sorry — no.
As I was deliberating, I spotted something half-buried in the mud pile.
“Ah. Right, I dropped a flashlight.”
So that makes two flashlights.
“Alright. Let's go with this.”
I placed the flashlight in the center and headed for the first passage once more.
A winding path, slightly humid air.
“Same so far, at least.”
Then I came face to face with the small hole, water welling up from the cracks in the floor.
Gurgle-gurgle—!
I turned around and headed straight back. Carrying the oxygen tank made it a lot harder, but somehow I made it.
“Phew..”
Now it was time to see the results.
Once I'd fully exited the passage, I shone the flashlight at the center.
Two.
“Yes!!”
“Oh, right.”
I went to check the mud pile — something was slightly protruding from it.
“A little disappointing, though.”
Suppressing the urge to smash it, I watched as the protruding mud slowly sank back down.
“Maybe I'll get some sleep in the meantime..”
My body was exhausted. Judging by my phone, it was just about bedtime anyway.
Mmmgh..
When I looked toward the mud, it had completely sunk back down.
Checking my phone, it seemed I'd slept almost seven hours.
“Same as what the elders always say.”
Gathering my gear one piece at a time — no, taking both flashlights — I headed for the second passage.
I'd thought about it when I dropped the first one, but now that I had light, it seemed like I could toss one like a flare to scout ahead, too.
The second passage was covered in moss. This one was just as humid as the first, if not more so.
Worse, the mossy floor was slippery.
Flashlight in one hand, camera-mode window open on the other, I took careful, deliberate steps forward.
The farther I went, the thicker the moss grew. No — not just moss. Blades of grass, vines..
“Could this lead out into a forest?”
The cavern was widening little by little, after all.
Though whether it was a forest in the Canadian mountains, or another Backroom.. or, for that matter, whether this was even a passage at all, I couldn't say.
A little more tense now, I pressed on, taking photos as I went.
And then,
“Oh..”
An enormous hole appeared.
A vast pit descending downward, its rim and the walls along my path tangled thick with vines, countless strands all streaming down into the dark.
“I could climb down if I grabbed the vines, I suppose..”
They'd probably work as a makeshift ladder, but even shining the flashlight down, I couldn't see the bottom.
“Hmm. Well then..”