In the Backrooms, You Don't Age

In the Backrooms, you don't age. You can die, but you never grow old. The problem is when you enter already ancient.

"Aigoo, my poor aching body."

"Ughhh..."

The song of creaky joints.

Her real name: Kim Chunbok. Age: eighty-three. Hip replacements: five. Artificial knees: one. Disc surgeries: two. And that very body had plummeted straight into the Backrooms.

Luckily—unlike Kim Hogu, who'd crashed into the 103rd floor—she'd landed in the Central City on the 50th floor. And her assets in Gold Banking had carried over, giving her over a million gold to start with.

But nothing could erase the torment of time.

"Ah, ugh..."

Her knees throbbed, her back refused to straighten. Uric acid crystals clung to her finger joints, turning bad days into pure agony just to endure.

No hospitals here. No painkillers. No growing younger or older. Just the pain etched into her bones by the years. Day after endless day of bearing it.

Yet her devout faith kept her from suicide. The terror of living on in this withered shell was all that mindlessly propped up her spirit.

"Aigo... my eyes are so cloudy today."

Chunbok scrolled the gallery with indifferent eyes as always. She lacked the will to post or even comment.

But she kept watching. It was her only lifeline.

It started by chance.

The old woman had no clue what this meant. It had taken her over a month just to learn how to use the gallery. Without computer classes at the nursing home, she wouldn't have even made a nickname.

"Wh-what's all this mean...?"

Gallery slang was alien to her; she couldn't grasp "betting" literally. But seeing the excited oldbies and hyped floaters, she wanted in on the fun.

Their "betting" seemed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like harmless fun to her, not real gold on the line. So she wandered to the betting board, punched in some gold randomly, and thought:

'Magic Tower Alliance? Never seen a decent alliance in my lifetime.'

'Blind Faith Society? Machines? No idea what that means.'

'Bloodline... like nobles?'

'Nobles move slow. They'll lose, easy.'

She picked Offspring of Devourers on a whim—the lowest-rated group in upper-layer raids then. And forgot all about it.

If she'd checked her status window or balance often, she'd have realized it was real betting. But she didn't notice the gold drain.

Days later, buying food and checking her balance, she finally saw.

"...Huh?"

Her supposed million gold had doubled to two million.

"Wh-what the heck?"

From then on, she dove into the gallery functions and Backrooms rules with fervor. That's when she learned about orbs.

"Heavens... just eat 'em to boost physical stats and cognition? What kinda weird shit is this."

She bulk-bought orbs at auction and scarfed them down. But her body was wrecked beyond repair. Hips metal, knees fake, spine braced with rods long ago.

And her ancient flesh couldn't absorb them properly. Before the pain of years vanished, orb resistance set in.

"...Not the answer. But my fingers hurt less. Not totally useless."

Big hopes, bigger letdown. Freedom from this old husk—what she'd give.

That's when she learned of the Golden Apple.

Golden Apples restore youth upon consumption. For the elderly, they rewind biological age to prime.

From that day, she lived for the Golden Apple.

And now, her life's goal dangled before her eyes.

***

"...Good thing?"

The gallery was losing its shit. But to me, it was just a plain yellowish apple.

The gallery exploded.

"Spot on."

I entered young. No aging here, so Golden Apples are worthless to me.

But not for those who came in decrepit. To them, it's a dream item.

I learned something unexpected.

Even more unexpected.

Both elves. And oblivious to each other.

'Still got each other blocked, huh.'

I tuned them out. Checked the Golden Apple again.

"Auction it? Bound to sell."

The freakout confirmed it was huge. Then a better idea hit.

Facing the rag golem taught me plenty. Swords are better weapons than I thought. And I need more lessons from Geomseong.

Without her swordsmanship lecture, I wouldn't have beaten that golem easy.

Geomseong ignored the floaters. Really no need despite youth sounding nice?

Right then.

A new oldbie appeared.

Buyer showed fast.

JointsSong took forever to reply. The apple's value made her hesitate on price.

I waited patiently.

Her response, when it came, blew past my expectations.

Another long pause.

That's when it hit me.

"...Ah."

This was real. Desperation dripped from her words.

Definitely some venerable senior.

Even typos at the end.

I felt a pang. But economy is cold. Swayed by petty pity, how survive this brutal world?