■■■ Backrooms: It's Always Been This Way

■■■ Backrooms. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It's always been like this from the start. A crevice where the world went wrong. A space twisted off from reality. The term for falling into this place is 'noclip,' right? Wait, no—is it for moving to another layer? On second thought, it's the phenomenon of ignoring physics and passing through objects or walls. ...Honestly, I have no clue.

"Who gives a shit. Fuck."

Right now, I'm standing on the 102nd floor. A maze-like space smeared in yellow everywhere. Even though it's open, it feels suffocating. A claustrophobe would pass out here. It's gloomy, like a late-night bus terminal. The floor is damp, the air humid and heavy. The lighting is dim, casting everything in shadow.

"...Is that a fluorescent light?"

Yellow wallpaper, yellow carpet, yellow fluorescent lights stretching on like a maze. A place with no name, no rules, no known structure.

That's how it should have been. But the Gallery had info on the 102nd floor.

I recalled the info I'd read in the Gallery. Environment level is basically the layer's difficulty. Higher levels mean more dangerous environments. Entities are the creatures that show up on layers (mostly monsters, of course). But nowadays, nobody uses words like 'level' or 'entity.'

'Guess that lingo was big back in the early Gallery days...'

People who used those terms are mostly dead. Fatality rate of 99.99%. The early Gallery users were the last generation to reduce themselves to statistics. They ditched all dignity from the start for the sake of those who came after. So most info providers are gone now—high waters.

Most Backrooms info in the Gallery was written in blood long ago. Nothing new there.

"......"

I paid my respects to the high waters and dove back into the 102nd floor info.

Compared to the 103rd floor, the 102nd was a breeze. No major threats. No entities means no big dangers. Just a few minor rules. Basically, avoid the trap exits that noclip you somewhere other than the 101st floor. Lucky for me, the high waters had logged even that in the Gallery.

One thing to watch out for on the 102nd floor.

You can't sleep before reaching the 101st floor. That's the only rule here.

From the comments on the post, the distance isn't far.

"Hm."

Censored bits scattered through the comments. Happens sometimes when reading layer info in the Gallery.

Both in the post and comments. Backrooms distortion affecting the Gallery.

—Backrooms Distortion Phenomenon.

Gallery layer info never gives direct strategies. Like the 103rd floor rag golem info I read before. 'Find and smash the core.' That's the gist of the 103rd strat. If it was helpful, it'd say 'Core's between right chest and flank, smash it.' But direct strats get censored by Backrooms distortion into ■■■ crap.

"...What the hell is with that mosaic."

Reading comments, seems plenty slept on the 102nd. Why court trouble? But somehow... I feel like I'm about to.

"...Hm."

Should've ignored layer regen and napped a bit on 103rd. Body's worse than I thought.

Late Gallery post caught my eye with a warning.

This guy's a saint. But why not say it sooner?

...Nah. Even if he did, I'd have come up anyway. Wasn't that bad then. If I'd passed out, layer regen would've woken me.

My vision ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swayed as I replied.

"Ah."

Probably overdid it fighting the rag golem. Fatigue crawling up my neck, pressing my eyelids.

"...Why's my body like this."

But I can't sleep. Per the info, everything changes the moment you do. All that hard-earned Gallery intel on 102nd becomes worthless.

'Just don't sleep, easy peasy. No big deal.' Path's short too. Entrance to exit in under 10 minutes. That's what they thought...

"...Ugh, hm."

Stomach still wrecked. Cold sweat beading on my forehead nonstop.

Why am I feeling so shitty? Getting worse faster now. Started like indigestion, now full flu vibes. No wind, but chills everywhere.

"Haa..."

That potato from morning? Chest feels tight, specifically between right pec and flank. But it tasted fine. Should've fried it instead of baking. No oil, but... french fries. Salty goodness even without.

What else is tasty? Oh, bananas, bana—

"...Tsk."

Stumbled without realizing.

"Whoa, close call."

Stomach's fucked, but goddamn am I sleepy. No idea why. Just dizzy like carsick, wanna lie down now.

'101st's close. Hang in there.'

Snapped to, reread 102nd info. No one else reported symptoms like mine in post or comments.

So why me? Potato? Plausible. Potatoes are devil's crop since forever. Why? Grow underground, no light, unseen till harvest. Medieval Euro nobles fed 'em to peasants to...

"......"

Tsk.

"Whoa, that was a real close one."

Swallowed hard, loosened my throat. Pressed heavy eyelids, fought the drowsiness. Sighed, opened eyes—something off.

"...?"

Thought I hadn't slept... guess not. Yellow wallpaper, carpet, lights—all red now.

"Not yellow anymore... red."

"Hm."

Floaters are quick on the uptake.

"Hm."

Scavenger and NoPension pissed means I'm really fucked.

"Ah. Still, feels refreshing."

Might as well crash fully since I did. Slept over 20 hours maybe. Stomach settled, chest clear. Eyes a bit dry from oversleeping probably.

Why's PollutedVillain picking a fight outta nowhere?

"Whatever."

Gallery's full of psychos anyway. I looked around. Maze was yellow walls before—now red. Nothing else changed.

'Where was I up to?'

Checked 102nd info again. Must've conked out right before the end. Structure same minus color, so followed post from there.

Then I got it.

"So that's why they said don't sleep."

Three iron doors in a row on the wall. Post said yellow walls make two red doors stand out. Yellow door, red, red. But now everything's red—all three look identical.

'...Two red ones noclip to wrong places.'

Two traps out of three. One to 666th floor, Suicide Room. Other infinite loop noclip. Doors shuffle, so match by color.

'Infinite loop means repeating the same spot forever?'

If so, worst hell. 'Suicide Room that deadly?'

I tried Insight on the doors just in case. Vision shook violently, headache slammed in. Eyes felt like bursting, couldn't focus.

"This... won't work."

Guess I gotta roll 33.3% odds. 66.6% chance life ruined. Gambling time?

"Hm."

Put off deciding, filled belly first. Munched jerky from EatAndDie, scoured 101st info.

101st like spot-the-difference. Seemed easier than 102nd from post.

Memorized, posted.

No sign of Sword Saint or other big shots. Probably busy. I dove back into 102nd info.

"Moment you sleep, entities spawn..."

Looked around. Unsettling red everywhere. Fluorescent glow reddish, my skin bathed in it. Creepy.

Drew rapier, focused senses. Faint noises, but not monster. No blatant entities then. Maybe none nearby.

"Pops from floor or ceiling maybe."

Searched Gallery for more 102nd info. No monster details. Asking floaters got censored advice.

Sat zoning out. Then idea hit—stood up.

'Attack the doors?'

Swung rapier at each in turn.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

All solid metal, thick—no echo, no diff in sound.

"Not that."

Touched carefully. Cold, eerie metal same on all. No texture diff.

"Nope."

Racked brain awhile. No entities yet. Got more anxious. Better if they showed—could assess.

"Won't get snuck while sleeping, right."

Moved away from doors, sat. Watched doors, swallowed all orbs from rag golem. Lucky yellow cognition one among five.

Combat power up 110 in one go.

"Ooh."

High-grade orbs as expected. Felt stronger all over, puzzled more.

Staring at doors stung eyes. Stayed alert—monsters could burst any sec.

Doors on isolated pillar-like wall, open on all sides. Sketchy setup. Drop guard, ambushed for sure.

"Which damn door..."

Right then.

"Huh. No way...?"

I figured it out. The answer.