SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:
Class Nostalgia…?
- You're Home
- You're Safe
- …Right?
An image depicting one of Level 114's many different forms.
Level 114 is the 115th Level of the Backrooms, discovered on 4/17/2021 by wanderer Janine Brown. It takes the form of each wanderer's childhood bedroom, with a black void extending infinitely behind the doorway.
Description
Level 114 is spatially desynchronous – with some exceptions, every wanderer’s experience is unique, and each wanderer will experience the level alone. Physically, the level resembles each wanderer's childhood bedroom as it appeared in their pre-teen years (around 9 to 12 years old).
If a wanderer had more than one childhood bedroom, Level 114 may assume a form that contains jumbled spatial architecture similar to that of Level 38, often described as "several rooms fused together erratically". Additionally, if two or more wanderers who once shared the same childhood room enter Level 114 simultaneously, they will be placed in the same space together. Unless this condition is satisfied, wanderers cannot observe their simultaneous co-existence within the level.
Upon entry into Level 114, wanderers usually find themselves standing in the doorway, oriented such that they face into the room. The door behind them will be slightly ajar, with nothing except a black void beyond, which appears to be completely empty.
Apart from the void space, the bed within the room is a key similarity between each distinct manifestation of the level. In every instance of Level 114, the wanderer's childhood bed will be replaced by the same single-sized bed.1 This consists of a single-size mattress fitted snugly to a wooden frame, with a blue bedsheet sporting a floral pattern on the underside. The bedsheets are infested with bed bugs, and wanderers who lay on the bed will often find themselves bitten on exposed skin, experiencing an uncomfortable rash.
Additionally, most electrical or electronic appliances which manifest within Level 114 cannot be powered on. This effect appears to be extranormal – when examined, electrical components of these appliances never showed discernible defects. Devices brought into the level are thankfully unaffected by this phenomenon and will work normally. Despite this, working batteries or other power sources remain unable to power the level's broken appliances.
The only functioning appliance found within the level seems to be the light switch, which is turned on by default. Even so, the lights in the room are unlikely to appear as they did in the wanderer's original childhood bedroom. Without fail, the lighting in the room appears a dim, sterile white, only barely bright enough to illuminate the surroundings. Wanderers are advised not to turn off the lights in the room under any circumstances, as this would allow Smilers hiding in dark spaces to emerge and attack.
Properties of The Void
Rather than acting as a hard "barrier" indicating the confines of the level, the void appears to be integrated within its spatial architecture — it may be entered freely, and contains breathable air. Gravity is also lowered within the space, creating an effect similar to being suspended in water.
Despite this, the viscosity of the ether is too low for simple motions to counteract the remaining gravitational forces. In other words, it is not possible to swim upwards in the void, and wanderers who fall out of reach of the doorway will continue drifting down into the darkness. No bodies have been recovered from the void, and it is assumed that those lost within eventually die of dehydration.
While it appears devoid of the fearsome monstrosities which lurk in other such spaces, this is by no means a pleasant domain. The gulf is wide and yawning as the ocean, with no discernible beginning or end in any direction. It is deep and black as ink, descending to depths into which no man may dive and return to the light. Though no creature has emerged from it to devour the quaking forms of passers-by, it may yet be that some foul beast lurks unseen within the endless abyss.
Peering into this haunting chasm, one is inexorably reminded of the jaws of death. It is disquieting to realize that such a fate awaits our spirits — even here, in this lost world — at the end of our journeys upon the mortal plane. Neither is the room behind the doorway of any comfort, drab and devoid of life as if the looming horror of the void had crept in and overshadowed the space also, choking out the life within it, till it too was a deathly shadow of its former self. Such is the fate of many men, given to despair at a wasted and futile existence, doomed to do naught but wait to be swallowed whole by the darkness of the gulf below.
— Excerpt from το χαμένο βιβλίά του χώρου (to Chaméno Vivlíá tou Chórou), volume XII.
Fig. 1: A description of the void of Level 114, taken from a Lost Legions document (dated ~650 CE). Courtesy of Leo Castellos.
To stop wanderers from falling irretrievably into the space, the M.E.G. has tied a long rope measuring about 150 yards (~137 m) to the doorknob on the other side of the room2. Wanderers who inadvertently fall in may "swim" towards the rope and use it to climb back up into the adjoining room.
Entities
Stress Mould
It was only recently discovered that Level 114 plays host to a unique form of mould, which grows in small patches on the walls and ceiling of the room. The mould appears to have anxiety-inducing properties. Analysis has revealed that the fungal growths contain a presently unidentified biological protein responsible for the mould's intense "soggy dirt" scent. The compound has been found to stimulate the parts of the human brain which manage stress response, increasing levels of adrenaline and eliciting anxiety.
The patches of Stress Mould will grow rapidly over the duration of one's stay in the room, causing one's stress levels to heighten gradually over time. It has been found that levels of mould in the room exceed safety limits after approximately 8 hours, becoming hazardous to human respiratory and neurological health. Wanderers are thus advised not to linger within Level 114 for extended periods.
Smilers
The underside of the bed hosts an infestation of Smilers, and more may be hiding in dark areas, such as the inside of a cupboard or drawer. They will remain harmlessly within their dark spaces while the lights are on, but turning off the lights in the room will allow them to emerge.
Windows
The windows in the room are occasionally replaced by their malevolent liminal counterparts.3 Wanderers who recall having windows in their childhood bedrooms should be wary. If a wanderer’s childhood room had no windows, they should have nothing to worry about.
Bases, Outposts, and Communities
Due to the small size and spatially desynchronous nature of Level 114, no bases, outposts, or communities have been established within.
Entrances And Exits
Entrances
- Travelling far beyond the limits of Level 29 supposedly leads to entry into Level 114.
- Entering any of the doors labelled with an exit sign in Level 109's corridors leads to Level 114.
Exits
- Fall asleep in this room, and you will awake on a street on Level 9.
- Saying "I'm so bored…" in a dull voice leads you to Level 25.
Interview Log
The M.E.G. conducted the following interview with Janine Brown. As the first wanderer documented to have entered and exited Level 114 successfully, she is credited with its official discovery.