Pssst, if the end is dissatisfying, read the log! It's a lot of text, but it explains things
SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:
Class 0
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The general appearance of the emptier rooms of Level 191.
A building that leads to Level 191 from Level 153; the number on this building is where the namesake of the level originates from.
Description
Level 191 is a finite, skyscraper-shaped abundance of at least 1,500 rooms spread amongst fifteen storeys. Each room takes on the appearance of relatively modern office areas, decorated with various office cubicles, open desks, wall-mounted clocks, wall-mounted TV's, plants, as well as shelves and bookcases which come fully stocked with blank books and empty files. Different rooms contain different amounts of furniture, with some rooms being representative of fully equiped offices, whilst others often are completely empty. As well as this, some rooms—whilst appearing fully decorated from a passing glance—may lack any smaller details such as items in drawers, personalisation on desks, and other small amenities.
Whilst most of these rooms are interconnected to one another via PVC wooden doors, the offices are occasionally interspersed with hallways that—much like the large offices areas—have varying levels of appropriate furnishings. These furnishings are usually objects such as water coolers, shelves, and occasionally floor-to-ceiling glass window panels1 which cover—at most—a 10ft wide area. Even longer than that, however, are the hallways themselves, which often span up to 30ft long in select areas. However, these corridors do not connect to other ones, and instead solely connect to other office areas via identical doors that connect other rooms to one another.
Each of Level 191's are in a pristine condition, even without the existence of janitorial entities, groups, or even any kind of self-cleaning system.2 Plenty of the fixtures and appliances in each of the main rooms and hallways are all in completely functioning order, and are stocked with functioning computers, charging ports,3 Wi-Fi, the aforementioned wall-mounted clocks, and televisions. Accessing the computers allows individuals access to usual software used in offices, access to the online service of the Backnet, and one can even choose to harvest the electronic components inside the computer towers and monitors, should one choose to disassemble them.4
Furthermore, it is believed that some of the office rooms are believed to copy or use components from other levels in similar design to it. Whilst no distinctly anomalous differences can be distinguished between Level 191 and other office levels, such as Level 4, Level 81, and Level 86, certain architectural patterns and items have been spotted that align to levels such as the ones listed above. This mainly comes in the form of minor decorations, building materials, or matching room layouts, however, other parallels are believed to exist—possibly within undiscovered levels of a similar layout to this one and other office levels.
One of many cubicle filled rooms, displaying both the edge of the level, and its colour coordination.
As said before, Level 191 is believed to be shaped in the dimensions of a cuboidal skyscraper with fifteen storeys. It has a theorised 1,500 total rooms, meaning that every floor contains one hundred rooms each. Whilst it is incredibly difficult to understand the actual layout of Level 191,5 each room makes understanding its identification in relation to the others relatively easy. On at least one pillar within every single room—with the exception of the hallways—there is a serial code etched into the plaster. These codes, aided by colour coordination on a select few pillars in each room, list what appear to be the floor one is currently on, and the actual number of the room itself in a pattern which resembles the following:
| "15:100". |
|---|
Each of these rooms have a different numerical listing, with the highest numbered room recorded to be 100, and the highest floor reported as being 15, which has brought forth the current estimates for the widely accepted floor and room counts. As well as this, each floor is colour coordinated to easily allow wanderers to assertain which floor they are currently on. The colours, with the exception of the highest discovered floor which has its pillars painted white, match that of a rainbow, descending from red to violet every two storeys.
Although somewhat more uncommon, stairways also exist within Level 191. Whilst these appear to go to the next/previous floor of the level at first glance, the floor an individual ends up on when using them is often completely random, no matter if the wanderer has ascended or descended a flight of stairs.6 This was initially unknown during the early months of exploration; however, the effects of this phenomenon were proven when wanderers started paying close attention to the serial numbers and colour coordination within each room. This effect is, at least to some, extremely disorientating to individuals unaware it. As such, it is recommended that individuals stick on the floor they end up in, and to not deviate from it if only looking for supplies, especially if in a group.
It is confirmed that some form of currently unknown, predetermined route exists which can be followed in order to reach the bottom floor of Level 191, and presumably access whatever the ground floor may hold.7 It is believed that there is a of specific order to follow with the serial code numbers, and that entering the rooms in the right order on every story grants passage down to the next storey when using the appropriate staircase. Although attempts have been made to solve this in the past, both via trial and error and attempting to decipher the etching on the pillars, no attempt has thus far yielded any significant results.
It is believed that when the trail is followed correctly, the non-Euclidean nature of the stairs will not have an effect on the wanderer who followed the trail. The vague pattern of the fifteenth storey has been somewhat established by The Eternal Repository,8 who have been able to travel down to the fourteenth storey successfully. Despite that, however, no discernable patterns between the room numbers, the hallways, and the level of decoration in the rooms9 has been established by any group.
Bases, Outposts and Communities
As detailed above, no groups occupy Level 191, with the exception being temporary research stations by various groups to try and make sense of Level 191's layout. These bases have mainly been hosted by The M.E.G, but bases by The Eternal Repository and even The Backrooms Remodelling Co. have briefly established themselves in this level in previous years. Despite their individual efforts, however, no group has been able to determine the pattern of where individuals need to walk to in order to reach the bottom floor of Level 191, despite aforementioned numerous attempts.
Entrances And Exits
Entrances
There are six known entrances Level 191, all of which are all listed below:
- Wooden doors on Level 26 can open to into rooms present on Level 191. Going through these doors will transport individuals to Level 191.
- Interacting with any destroyed buildings on Level 49's battlegrounds will cause one to noclip to this level.
- Similar to Level 26's entrance, wooden doors in Level 123 that appear to resemble PVC doors will instead lead to Level 191 upon using them. When closing the door, the way back to Level 123 dissipates, and the door used becomes a regular door.10
- One of the buildings in Level 153's only accessible sidewalk will read "191" on both of its corner pillars. Going through the main wooden door leads to Level 191.
- Whilst most of Level 224's storefronts are empty and unlabelled, besides the ones which are modified by the Avalonians, ones that have an abundance of office supplies in their shop windows will lead to this level.
- Pulling a lever on the side of a fusebox in Level 356's "With a Twist" hallway will switch that hallway's exit from The End to Level 191.
Exits
To compliment the entrances, there are an equal number of six exits within Level 191, all of which are listed below:
Level 191 as seen whilst exiting to Level 811.
- Any rooms in Level 191 that are entirely filled with floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as lacking any pillars, will lead to Level -3 if entered.
- Whilst walking through the lower floors of level 191, the sparse halls may begin to shift to resemble Level 70's hallways. Should one follow the hall down to its ending, they will arrive within one of Level 70's halls, usually nearby to a storage room.
- Any doors in this level that are built of visibly aging wood will lead to Level 137.
- Certain computers in Level 191 appear as though they date back to the 1970's. Interacting with them for extended periods of time will teleport one in front of a computer in Level 175.
- Finding small reception areas on any floor and walking out of the main doors will lead to Level 811.
- In a similar vein to Level 811's exit, finding a noticeably larger reception area on any floor and walking out of the level will place individuals within a random urban area in The Frontrooms.
<Begin Log at: 3:00PM>
Date: 11/01/19
Location: Level 172, on the Tramvajáci's mobile streetcar.
Participants: James Smith, John Robert, Ava Brown.
[Within Level 172, during the day event of the level, three M.E.G. aligned individuals are recorded having been sat within the mobile streetcar owned by the Tramvajáci. They were sat together; somewhat crushed on a bench on one side of the tram, speaking to one another about their work. This speech excerpt was only discovered after the amalgamation of the Tramvajáci, three months after the formation of The M.E.O.D. Here, the three individuals—who all worked in the M.E.G.'s site maintenance before restructuring—were assessing various recently published pages for any small grammatical errors and ensuring that all the facts were accurate.]
James Smith: Guh, wait… The hell is this, John??
[James Smith, being seated in the middle of the three, was currently in possession of the group's tablet they were working with. At this specific time, he was reading the page for Level 191, and assessing it for grammatical errors.]
John Robert: Hm?
[James Smith, seemingly unable to address his point verbally, angrily twists the tablet to his left for John to see. He had highlighted over the final exit listed for the page, causing it to become selected in a transparent light blue. To compliment the aggressiveness of his turning, James gives a clear look of frustration at them, which both Ava and John seemed completely confused at.]
James Smith: This. The bottom exit! Are you trying to get us reprimanded??
John Robert: What? It's true.
Ava Brown: You didn't hear about it?
[In utter disbelief, James Smith turns his head between John Robert and Ava Brown, stuttering in an apparent disbelief and awe.]
John Robert: Did you forget to check your emails…? I'm sure the lads would've sent you something.
James Smith: I think the "the lads" forgot to email me, John.
John Robert: Well- yeah, okay… That's a possibility.
Ava Brown: Well, regardless it's… true? John and I both wrote that page together, we have the sources to back it up.
James Smith: Unsurprisingly, Ava, I'm finding that hard to believe!
John Robert: No no, James! It's true, it's true!
Ava Brown: Yeah! Uh, do you remember Smith and his friend?
James Smith: No.
Ava Brown: Oh, I suppose it doesn't matter if you do or don't, but they both went through the reception and winded up home!
John Robert: Well, home… sort of, they did appear on earth! Just not in the same city they used to live in. We couldn't keep contact with them for long, only for about a week, but yeah dude… They just went back home, and started to live another life?
Ava Brown: Th-they couldn't get back in contact with each other, mind you, but they did find each other's social media accounts, just neither of them replied to one another.
James Smith: Yeah, cus that's not suspicious, is it. Are you sure they didn't just end up on Level 101 or something?
John Robert: Oh, definitely not, no. They didn't end up back at their original homes.
Ava Brown: They also didn't notice any of the odd effects in 101 either!
John Robert: Yeah, exactly! They just… went home, simple as that.
[James Smith, still in a state of disbelief, flops back into the bench and drops the tablet onto his lap. He sighs to try and clear his head, glancing between Ava brown and John Robert, giving them both a pretty bleak look.]
James Smith: So, what… We can just… Go home? Leave all this shit behind, and just go?
John Robert: Pretty much…?
Ava Brown: Some people already have been! Not many, mind you, but… You know, a few have?
James Smith: Right…
Ava Brown: Uh, are you… Okay? I can understand if it's a lot to take in, the fact you can just go home at any time is a-
James Smith: No no, it's not that-
[James Smith briefly pinches the bridge of his nose, shuffling to sit more upright and look at Ava with a bit of a wide, empty look and a slightly contemplative frown, taking a moment to gather all his words together.]
James Smith: The idea we can just go home isn't really… Okay, going home is big news too, but we all expected there'd be an exit home one day, right?? I'm not the only one who thought that?
Ava Brown: No, I expected one too.
John Robert: I thought there'd be one too, yeah.
[Both Ava Brown and John Robert spoke simultaniously, with James Smith sitting still and silent as he glanced between the two, soaking up both of their answers.]
James Smith: Right, so we all agree that we expected one, and… Yeah, we got one! But… I didn't expect it to be there.
John Robert: What, really…? Where did you expect it to be?
Ava Brown: Don't tell me you actually thought it'd be on Level 1000 or something dumb like that.
James Smith: No, no no! Nothing pretentious like that! Moreso just… I dunno? I didn't expect the way back home to be somewhere so… obvious. I expected a trial, or somewhere difficult to find, or at the very least have the exit be difficult to use! But… no, it's just in some level, and we can use it at any time.
John Robert: I… I guess I see what you mean?
Ava Brown: Mmmm… I disagree. Where else would it be, James?
James Smith: I guess just somewhere that's not a boring liminal space level? I thought it'd be a little bit more… Important or mystical.
Ava Brown: Why?
James Smith: Why? What the hell do you mean "why"?
Ava Brown: Well, it's obvious isn't it? Why would the way home be something hard to reach or magical?
James Smith: Because it's… Well, our home! For the longest times it's been "oh we're stuck here forever, this is our new home now", and people have died looking for an exit in the past! And now it's just… There! In some fucking office! And… you can just use it with no questions asked!
Ava Brown: Yeah…? You can do that with any level, besides ones like 972 where the entrance is a little more proprietary.
James Smith: But… That's our home, going back home i-is different than just going to 972, it's returning back to normality! The… real world, and all that stuff I said earlier.
Ava Brown: Yeah, don't worry, I heard you… But… All that is just stuff we made up? The idea we're "trapped here" or the fact that getting home is a mystical journey is, frankly, made up shit! We invented those things, and you've just decided to buy into it.
James Smith: W-Well- even if… Okay, even if you're right, which I… disagree with, it was still a question on everyone's mind! We all wondered if there was a way home, where it'd be, and how it'd work. Now it's been answered, and it's… Boring.
Ava Brown: Yeah? Any big question has a simplistic, boring answer.
James Smith: You really don't see it, do you?
Ava Brown: No, I see it just fine! I just think what you're saying is stupid, really.
John Robert: I… I see what you mean, James. It's probably a bit of a shock to a lot of people… Even disregarding where the exit is, going home is probably huge for a few people.
[After the awkward conversation, the trio stayed quiet for a moments. Each of them seemed to ponder their own thoughts and feelings over what they were talking about, with James Smith seeming to be in a more dire state, contrasted by John Robert's seeming sympathetic expression, and Ava Brown acting rather pompous and smug.]
James Smith: I guess I just… Didn't want the answer to be "we hadn't found it yet". It's… Unrewarding. Kind of throws years of theorising out the window; you can't blame me for feeling a litte bummed out about that? And to know that so many people have sacrificed themselves or hurt themselves over finding this… The lacklustre exit makes it all seem like it's for nothing.
[Ava Brown momentarily pondered, her look changing to one of sympathy, which contrasted her previous cocky expression. Understanding James Smith's feelings, she opted to give him a moment to think, and to reflect on her own thoughts. She tapped her thumbs together, only speaking after a long moment of her own contemplation]
Ava Brown: Well, I… I can see that. Did you care about finding an exit a lot?
James Smith: Who didn't? It was all I could think about the first few months after arriving, and I think a lot of people across a lot of places theorised about it… It may as well as have been a bigger question than life after death! Aaaaaand… now it's answered, and there's not even anything to talk about with it!
Ava Brown: Well- hey… Look at it like this. Isn't it a good thing it's not hard to use? Imagine if someone wanted to go back home, and to do it they needed to kill a billion entities, prove themselves worthy, or go on some epic heroes journey, that person wanting to go home would be stuck! The… Well, the people who want to go home now very easily can, and the people who don't want to don't even have to think about it.
James Smith: I… Guess so. Is the exit two ways?
John Robert: Oh, no it's not. I mean, I'm sure you could noclip back into The Backrooms if you tried it? But you can't go back the way you came after using the exit.
James Smith: So you've gotta be pretty sure that you wanna use it before, well… Using it.
John Robert: Yep, it may as well be a one-way trip…
Ava Brown: Are you contemplating using it James?
James Smith: Well, are… either of you guys going to?
Ava Brown: Nope! I'm staying, I've got my partner, and some friends over in 993. No way in hell I'm abandoning them.
John Robert: Same here, really… As dangerous as The Backrooms is, it's… It's become my home. Sure, there's people back at home I'd like to speak to, but they're all probably older than me now, and have probably moved on from me not being around… I'd rather stick here, where my friends are.
Ava Brown: What about you though, James? Are you thinking of going back? You sorta dodged the question back there.
James Smith: Heh… You know, no. I won't be.
John Robert: Well, now there's a surprise!
James Smith: Wait, is it? Or am I just missing your sarcasm.
Ava Brown: Tsh, honestly I thought you'd be packing your bags up right now to leave. Is the exit just that disappointing to you?
James Smith: No, it's nothing like that-
Ava Brown: Even if you were pretty disappointed by it?
James Smith: Well, I… was, but-
Ava Brown: So it is that!
James Smith: No! It's… It's the same reason as you guys, I'm… Attached to this place, you guys, and… Honestly, even the dangerous bits. I mean, would you rather stay here where we live as we want—even if we don't have easy access to washing machines or deodorant—or would you rather go home and… I dunno, file taxes? Worry about some economic crisis? Complain about TV all day?
John Robert: Oh god, well that's definitely making me miss home less-
James Smith: So you guys see it too? Nice to see we can all agree on that?
John Robert: I don't think it cancels out enough for Ava, you do know she's gonna berate you about the whole Frontrooms exit thing forever now, right?
Ava Brown: Yeah, you're never gonna live that down James!
James Smith: Guh, well… Maybe I deserve that. Or I'll just leave back to The Frontrooms and go complain about TV!
Ava Brown: Pah, yeah, you're not gonna do that! I think a prime opening for a bit of harmless teasing has finally opened up, it took long enough.
James Smith: Well… Who knows, maybe I deserve that. I'll find a way to tease you back though, mark my words on that.