Level 39997 is the 39998th level of the Backrooms.
Contents
Level 39997: "The Basement"
The beginning section of Level 39997.
Level 39997 consist of a maze-like, dilapidated basement, with dim flickering light-bulbs hanging from the ceiling. This is easily the most dangerous level in The Marathon due to its layout constantly changing, holes in the floor that seem to go infinitely deep, and lethal entities that you can easily encounter if you're not careful. It begins on the other side of the door found in Level 39996, with a staircase leading down into the basement.
The Beginning
The beginning of the level is fairly tame. There are no holes, no entities, and only a few of the aforementioned holes in the floor. Throughout the level, you'll find drawers containing things such as dusty bouncy balls, old photos of people with the faces scratched out, and letters with indecipherable text on them. None of these items seem to have much purpose, though. Additionally, certain hallways and paths can simply disappear randomly, so you should try not to go down the more narrow pathways if you can. Eventually, you'll come across a staircase going further downwards. These will take you to the next "section" of the level. However, blowing the dust off the bouncy balls and touching them will lead you to level -609
Cobweb Emergence
As the name suggests, this area of the level is infested with cobwebs. If you happen to touch one of these cobwebs, it'll wrap itself around your arm and a ~8 meter tall spider will appear behind you. If you manage to escape from the cobweb (a difficult task, but definitely feasible), the spider will simply disappear. But if it catches you, it'll create a new cobweb and trap you in it, eventually coming back to eat you alive. As you delve deeper and deeper into the level, the more these cobwebs show up. Besides that, this is essentially just the first area but darker and amplified (more holes, and more inconsistent layout). Once again, you'll have to find a staircase going down to enter the next section.
Darkness
This section is completely devoid of light, has even more holes, and cobwebs covering the walls. There are also jukeboxes found throughout the level playing either slow jazz, nothing, or a constant 1000 Hz humming at ~160 dB. If you want to survive in this area, it's best that you bring a flashlight so you don't accidentally touch any cobwebs.
Hospital Rooms
There are certain side paths in this section that take you to what looks like old run-down hospital rooms. These rooms consist of a hospital bed covered in blood, a few seats, a sink with a faucet that doesn't work, and sometimes a flat-lining heart-rate monitor. If you enter one of these rooms and it contains a heart-rate monitor, a wall appears covering the entrance, a dim red light appears, and your heart rate slowly descends until it reaches 0, killing you. But if you enter one that doesn't contain a heart-rate monitor, a dim green light appears, and a staircase emerges in the ground, taking you to the next section.
Death Sentence
This is the "last" section of the level. The lights are constantly flickering, most of the hallways are much more narrow, and the spider that'd normally appear after touching a cobweb now freely roam the wider paths. The hospital rooms and jukeboxes are nowhere to be found. Instead, messages can be found scratched into the walls in some unknown language. To escape this section, you simply have to survive for an hour, and you'll be transported to Level 39998.
Section Five
It is unknown whether or not this section exists, but according to a certain report, if you fall through a hole in the 4th section, you'll end up here. The walls are soaked in blood, the spiders are twice as tall and significantly faster, there are holes that can take you directly to The Void, and the air is much thinner, making it near impossible to breathe. However, you'll still be sent to Level 39998 after one hour, it's just that it's way harder to survive here than in Section 4, so you're better off not attempting to get here.
Colonies and Outpost
This level is likely too dangerous for these to be established here.
Entrances and Exits
Entrances
- Go through the door at the end of the staircase in Level 39996.
Exits
- Survive for one hour in the final section(s) to enter Level 39998.
- (unconfirmed) Fall through a hole in the 5th section to enter The Void.
- Falling through a hole in the 5th section has a 3.141519% chance of sending you to Level ℵ1.
- The holes may also send you somewhere else.. far worse than the other two. That’s for sure. It is only an 0.08% chance but be wary.
- blowing the dust off the bouncy balls and touching one or all of them will send you to level -609 and easily put an end to this hellish nightmare.
