After Jiu gave me the lowdown on Level 31, I kinda got the gist of it and what his mission was all about. Turns out, Jiu was planning to sneak into Level 40 from Level 31 and take down this terrorist group called "The Jammer Outpost" all by himself.
When Jiu finished laying out his plan, he suddenly looked at me and said, "Hey, when I head to Level 40 to wipe out The Jammer Outpost, wanna tag along? You're just chilling anyway, and after this mission, I'll hook you up with a place in Level 1..."
That's when it hit me—this guy in front of me seemed to be a big shot in the Unbound Explorers Alliance. According to Jiu, he was the captain of the Blade Ridge Guerrillas, which, in my book, made him the third-in-command of the whole alliance.
So, if Jiu wanted to get me a pad in Level 1, it'd be a walk in the park for him. Hearing that, I was like, "Sure thing! I'm in."
After all, I've got two nuclear cores and have been through some pretty dicey levels. I figured I could lend Jiu a hand.
From Jiu's intel, the outpost we were targeting only had five guys. I'd be the backup, and Jiu would handle the dirty work. Taking down a five-man outpost didn't seem like a big deal. Or so I thought.
Jiu was stoked when I agreed, but I couldn't quite figure out why. Compared to Jiu, who'd been living in Level 9 for ages, my help probably wouldn't make much of a difference. But seeing him invite me to fight alongside him this time, he seemed dead serious.
What did he see in me?
I wasn't sure, but I knew Jiu wouldn't screw me over. If he wanted to, he wouldn't have sent people to carry me back to the base in Level 9, nor would he have dragged me into the bushes when I was being chased by an entity.
Just then, Jiu suddenly grinned and said, "I see something special in you. Something that fits the Backrooms like a glove. If you joined the speedrunners, they'd be all over you."
Special? High compatibility with the Backrooms? Speedrunners?
I had a rough idea of what Jiu meant by special, but I wasn't entirely sure.
Jiu then said, "Let's chill here for a bit and then head straight into Level 40."
Jiu was always quick and to the point. I just nodded, "Sure."
Then, Jiu led me to the "Food Street" in Level 31 to grab a bite and get ready.
Level 31 had three main spots: the main area, the arcade area, and the food street.
The big skating rink we were in now was the main area.
In the arcade area, you could hop into Level 40 through any running game machine.
Jiu and I hit up the food street first to refuel and get our heads straight.
In the food street, there was a little restaurant area with some cheap eats and a cold drink shop where you could score some almond water.
There was only one entity here—a faceless spirit in an employee uniform with a blank name tag.
This entity was pretty chill. If you asked, it'd give you food and almond water for free.
But if you started asking about the Backrooms, it'd get all worked up and tell you to scram.
Jiu and I grabbed a bottle of gray almond water and a pizza from the faceless spirit.
After munching on dry compressed biscuits and jerky for so long, finally getting some hot food was a relief. For a sec, I couldn't help but feel a bit better. Theoretically, this place should be more livable than Level 1, but unfortunately, it's pretty cramped and there's no place to crash. Plus, it's a pain to get here. Apart from coming in from the hub, you can only access it by stumbling upon a special door in the first few levels. But that door's random and doesn't pop up often, which is why even though Level 31 is a livable area, there are no bases or outposts here.
After Jiu and I finished eating, we headed to the arcade area. The arcade area seemed pretty big, but it wasn't endless. There was a dangerous entity here—the hounds. But the hounds weren't much of a threat to me right now. A grown man with a sharp weapon could take down a single hound. Plus, I had Jiu with me, so I wasn't too worried about my safety.
We found a running game machine and touched it. Immediately, I felt that familiar falling sensation. When it stopped, I felt solid ground under my feet. I quickly looked around to scope out the place. That's the first thing I always do when I land in a new level.
Level 40, Rock Pizza!
Survival Difficulty:
Level 1
• Safe
• Stable
• Very few entities
A photo of "Rock Pizza!" snapped by a wandering traveler.
According to Jiu, in this level, the real deal isn't the entities, but the travelers. When I heard this, I was kinda shocked for a sec, but then I snapped out of it. The reason I was taken aback was that ever since I landed in the Backrooms, I've been wondering why everyone's so chill in such a dangerous place. I've met folks from M.E.G., the Unbound Explorers Alliance, and the Homey Hotel, and they've all been super friendly to travelers.
This made me think that the only danger in the Backrooms was the entities. But now it seems like a lot of travelers are also something to watch out for. The outpost we're about to take down was set up by a notorious terrorist group in Level 40. They don't hesitate to rob travelers and might even kill you under certain circumstances. Jiu wants to eliminate this outpost because they secretly took out one of their members not too long ago. Even though it was a secret hit, the Unbound Explorers Alliance still got wind of it. So Jiu, who just escaped from Level 9, decided to go solo on this mission after hearing the news and brought me along as his sidekick.
I looked around. This level's got some pretty wild design elements. Like, there's this deep blue neon carpet and concrete walls covered in planets and stars, and it looks like spaceships and astronauts are moving around. There are not just a ton of game machines here, but also a bunch of vending machines, and you can actually buy stuff from them.
I wandered around for a bit and soon bumped into Jiu. We came in through the same game machine, so we weren't far apart and found each other easily. After meeting up, Jiu grinned and said, "Wanna play a few games first? There are a lot of arcade games from the front hall here. They're pretty fun. Every time I come here, I gotta play a few to get my fix."
As he said this, Jiu actually walked up to a game machine and started playing King of Fighters... This totally threw me off. Not because Jiu was playing a game, but because he was playing against someone. I saw clearly that Jiu was in a player-versus-player match, not against the computer. If it wasn't against the computer, then who was he playing against? That's when I noticed a young guy next to Jiu also playing King of Fighters. And his opponent was the character Jiu was controlling, Kula. I was surprised to find that the game machines here could even connect for multiplayer. I didn't get how it worked, but I was pretty impressed. Soon, Jiu finished a round. I noticed he looked kinda smug, while the young guy looked like he didn't wanna admit he lost. Clearly, Jiu had beaten him. Seeing my shock, Jiu laughed and said, "Don't be so surprised. There's a lot of crazy stuff in the Backrooms. You'll see more if you stick with me." At that moment, the young guy noticed us too. He gave me a curious look, then started the next round. Jiu patted my shoulder and said, "Let's go. We need to get ready. I'll fill you in on the plan." Jiu seemed super familiar with this place. He casually pulled me over to a rest area, sat down on the sofa, and then said to me mysteriously, "I've got a perfect plan. I thought of it when I met you..." Suddenly, I had a bad feeling...