Sharkpremeproof
479
Class 2
Level 479, commonly known as "Entomophobia," is a series of interconnected hallways lined with doors leading to studio apartments and hotel rooms. Dull colors paint the walls, floors, and ceilings. Muck, mold, and grime crust the corners of the rooms. The rooms incorporate unconventional designs yet still resemble a livable space. Therefore, the geometry of some rooms is non-Euclidean, as some rooms may overlap the same three-dimensional space.[1] Signs of damage are uncommon in Level 479, which include — but are not limited to — gaping torn holes in the ceilings that drip murky water that reveal a black void and fire damage encompassing up to half a room.
When a wanderer stays within Level 479 for at least five minutes they begin experiencing random itches throughout their body. An itch may occur on isolated portions of the wanderer's skin. These itches occur once every 3 minutes on average, lasting twenty seconds. In rare instances, itches have left rashes on the wanderer's body, possibly leading to severe eczema.
Most windows within Level 479 are concealed by a concrete wall. In rare instances, genuine windows reveal a dark, inaccessible courtyard lit exclusively by park streetlights. These windows anomalously emit a faint noise of rush hour traffic and a sniff of gasoline. Hot air rushes in from these windows; the level's average temperature is 29°C.[2] At the far reaches of the level, a white void lies at the outer border, seen through shattered windows. Sometimes, a wall is absent within a given space, revealing the white void. The void emits ubiquitous light, illuminating its surroundings up to 80 meters[3] and blinding those who see it for too long.
Doors in Level 479 are usually locked, although rarely, a key can be found on the floor of any hallway that can unlock any door. The door remains unlocked for 90 minutes until it locks again.[4] Doors commonly lead to a soft mud wall filled with earthworms and roots. When opening such a door, heaps of mud slides down to the floor, and the door cannot be closed again due to the buildup. One may find Backshrooms growing on this mud, although most are volatile.
Some doors may lead to a room; these rooms sport unorthodox layouts, yet all feature a bed, sofa, old television, small kitchen, storage compartments, and a bathroom. Several dusty ornaments decorate the rooms. The furniture in these rooms shows minor decay, and any electronics are dysfunctional, except for lighting. Garbage and purposeless items are scattered around these rooms. However, one may rarely find beneficial objects, mainly canned goods, MREs, and Backshroom-based meals.
Level 479's warm temperatures make it susceptible to Backsacks. The level is home to the most Backsacks, and approximately 10%-12% of Backsack reports are on the level. There are slight differences between the Backsacks of Level 479 and those of other levels. These main differences include an absence of odor, more erratic movement suggested by slight vibrating of the Backsack, and the potential to leave a hole in the ceiling if popped. If a hole forms, it will drip a Backsack's fluids for 96 hours until it stops, and the ceiling slowly regenerates itself for 48 hours after the fact. Note that natural holes in ceilings do not drip a Backsack's fluid and stay perpetually.
Rundown vending machines occasionally dot the hallways of Level 479. These machines have broken windows, allowing one to grab anything. However, they lack beneficial foodstuffs and instead contain bottles containing Backsack fluid, chipped drywall fragments from Level 0, frozen raw entity meat, and insecticides, among many others. The vending machines emanate a foul stench akin to decomposing foodstuffs. Prolonged exposure to this smell may cause wanderers to pass out. Certain parts of the vending machine's mechanisms are exposed, and touching these may cause dire electrocutions.
Strangely, any food eaten within Level 479, either brought into the level or found within it, is tasteless. Moreover, any foods from the level brought outside of it have a regular taste. When one eats food within Level 479, wanderers sense a sour and unpleasant aftertaste. Wanderers that have stayed within the level for extended periods incur weaker tastebuds.
Quarter Critters[]
Level 479 harbors various insects, including centipedes, spiders, beetles, scorpions, flies, mosquitoes, leeches, and bees. Their sizes are slightly larger than their typical Frontrooms counterparts, a significant difference with more diminutive counterparts, including flies and mosquitoes. Thus, they often move slower and require more nutrition to sustain themselves. Due to the similarities between the differing insects in Level 479, they are collectively classified as one type of entity, known colloquially as Quarter Critters.
Quarter Critters prefer living in areas with high heat, high humidity, and low light. Prime examples include hiding underneath a blanket, within a Backsack, mud walls, boxes containing food, and more. They leave their habitat when they need food, feel threatened, or during random migrations. Occasionally, they will migrate out of their zone into a new place for an undetermined reason, even to uncomfortable spots. Quarter Critters are harmless unless they either feel threatened or are in dire need of sustenance. If they wish to attack, they move in unpredictable directions at blistering speeds and bite the threat.
As other entities are absent in Level 479, humans are the sole biological threat to Quarter Critters. Their bites cause minor bleeding and will leave the area around the bite swollen. All Quarter Critters are venomous, and if they bite one's limb, the venom can paralyze the limb in dire cases. To remedy a bite, one must wash the wound with water and move to another location as soon as possible, as a critter may return for another attack. Washing the wound with Almond Water speeds up the healing process. Centipedes and scorpions possess the most severe bites.
When staying in a room with a Quarter Critter for two hours, wanderers will contract eczema, developing skin rashes that gradually worsen. The eczema may leave the wanderer tired, weak, and doozy. An insect may stealthily inch closer to a wanderer and painlessly bite them while they are in this state. Wanderers will incur a fear of insects; they may either sprint away or violently kill the insect on sight. When a wanderer leaves Level 479, these fears slowly wane out, yet a slight fear may persist.
New Monticello[]
New Monticello is the only known settlement in Level 479. Founded by an American hiker in 2018, the namesake originates from his hometown in the Frontrooms. His colony has twenty members, most of whom are temporary visitors. They get their food from cooking insects or scavenging throughout the level and their water from purifying Backsack fluids. They have close relations with the N.A.X.O.S. group, which has plans to establish a colony of their own in Level 479. New Monticello is highly secluded from outsiders, and if one wants to open relations or join the settlement, N.A.X.O.S. must be contacted first.
- Entering through a set of glass doors displaying a star-filled night sky in Level 577 leads one here;
- A set of heavily tinted sliding glass doors in Level 306 leads one here;
- A hole in the ground in Level 9.7 leads one here;
- Doors in pink stores in Level 624 leads one here.
- A metal door leads one to Level 480;
- Noclipping through a Backsack sends one to Level 570;
- Noclipping through a rusty metal pillar sends one to Level 147;
- Fireplaces, though extremely rare in the level, conceal an exit to Level 913;
- A heavy metal door, one commonly found in large ships akin to Level 17, leads one to Level 480.
Footnotes
RMorrison 7/5/15 at 3:56 PM
hey man, i think i found some sorta classified document
i feel like i shouldnt be sharing this at all but since youre my best friend i trust you the most
BeejayBlastGoWhiz 7/5/15 at 3:56 PM
how do you manage to even stumble upon a fucking classified document
do you even know who it belongs to?
RMorrison 7/5/15 at 3:56 PM
idk i was just found this dustied on the side of the road in level 603
as for who it belongs to, it belongs to something called the agency
but there's like a letter y before the word agency
BeejayBlastGoWhiz 7/5/15 at 3:56 PM
as far as i remember, i do not recall any group in this hellscape that has agency with their name
from what it seems, you are right, you can prolly only trust me with this
have you even opened it btw?
RMorrison 7/5/15 at 3:57 PM
no, but we can view it in a video call
BeejayBlastGoWhiz 7/5/15 at 3:57 PM
aight, just make sure to keep your doors locked and that no one is watching
RMorrison 7/5/15 at 3:57 PM
sure bro
BeejayBlastGoWhiz started a call that lasted for 2 hours.
We, at the Anti-Entity Group are proud to commence this year's large scale operation: Operation Bayani.
Operation Bayani, translated from Tagalog as "Hero" symbolizes a major step in the technological advancements of both the AEG and of humanity as a whole.
For a decade, we've only hunkered down, advance our technology and exterminate a few entities that came in our way. Those were the days where our manpower and technology were lacking, but as time progresses, so do we.
Up until this point, we have only commenced minor operations which wipe out fractions of entity populations in a whole level.
This is the day where such a sedentary era concludes; we now have the manpower, resources, and technology to commence our first ever total entity extermination throughout an entire level.
Operation Bayani will clear the entity populations of Level 479, comprised only of mere insects. We've been doing that for thousands of years in the Frontrooms, who said we can't do it here too?
The insects here won't stand a chance against basic pesticides, as since they've never dealt with them before, they are unable to resist them.
Throughout the course of three months, a team of 50 pest control personnel will spray pesticides all over Level 479, forever exterminating its entity population.
It may sound simple, but it's a whole level we're clearing the entities of.
After this, we'll go back to the usual: resource gathering, technolgical advancement, increase of manpower, but stuff like this will become regular, and we'll all enjoy that sweet morale boost that comes from this great victory.
As the great Neil Armstrong once said,
That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
