SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:
Class 1
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A photo of Level 309.
Description:
Being the 310th level of the Backrooms, Level 309 is a densely populated forest with an abundance of plant life. Birch trees are the most commonly found tree, although other species are present. Level 309’s soils are also very rich in nutrients, which allows for a multitude of flora to grow and makes for excellent farmland. Level 309 is non-Euclidean in nature, as many wanderers have reported finding themselves going in circles despite walking in straight lines. The landscape is fairly flat, with occasional groups of small hills. The sky is clear and remains constant in color and brightness, heavily implying that the level does not have a day and night cycle.
The air in Level 309 is abnormally humid, causing a thick layer of fog throughout the level. Visibility is limited to a few feet within the foggiest areas. Some of the hostile entities that live within the level have evolved to bypass the fog's effect on vision, using this to their advantage.
Level 309 is home to various species of fungi, primarily faintly glowing mushrooms native to the level. Despite research attempts made by the M.E.G, these mushrooms are poorly understood. Regardless, most species of mushrooms within the level have been found to be safe to eat, albeit with a bitter taste that is difficult to swallow. However, those who plan to stay in the level for extended periods of time should not stockpile large amounts of fungi. They rot in 2-3 days1 once uprooted, so travelers should plan ahead and keep track of time. A mushroom that’s gone bad can often upset a wanderer’s stomach for several days.
A glowing mushroom within Level 309.
The most infamous species of mushroom found in Level 309 is known as the Rapture Spore. The Rapture Spore, contrary to other fungi within the level, does not emit any glow and is inedible. Rapture Spores are dark yellow and around 3 feet tall. When cut up into small pieces and boiled, the mushroom becomes a drug known as Rapture. Those who have inhaled the drug first-hand describe it as tasting salty and feeling suffocating for the throat.
Rapture constantly emits a cloud of smoke that induces a feeling of intense, manic joy and pleasure upon inhalation, inflicting the brain with mass amounts of dopamine. Primary effects include loss of rational thinking; a loose, flighty feeling; and an unorthodox amount of energy, which wanderers will often try to expend as much as possible via running or other means. Various groups within the Backrooms have collected the substance for trading and recreational purposes. The average price for a pound of Rapture is around 1 liter of Almond Water.
The Path
The Path is a straight 1-yard-wide road crafted out of old and worn-down wooden planks. While traveling on The Path, one may find once toxic, corroded wood, which is often the result of a brawl with a Deathmoth. Estimated to be 10 miles long, The Path has a unique effect in which fog is less prominent the closer one is to The Path.
The beginning of The Path is where most wanderers will find themselves upon entering Level 309. Those who wish to quickly exit the level or travel in a safe manner should stick to and not stray from The Path. Otherwise, they will find themselves in the foggy and more hazardous sections of the level.
Starting at the 1/2-mile checkpoint, The Path becomes unstable, with any wanderers walking on the wooden planks past this point being prone to sudden no-clipping. The level the wanderer is transported to is correlated with the distance they have traveled.2However, walking next to The Path instead of directly on it will prevent no-clipping.
Entities
Deathmoths are fairly common in Level 309; they usually stay near The Path in order to see properly. Deathmoths that enter the fog become either easy prey or tough targets for entities who lurk within, depending on their gender. Luckily for travelers and predators alike, female Deathmoths are quite rare, and their appearances have been on a decline. If one wishes to do so, it is possible to tame a male Deathmoth using the mushrooms found within Level 309. However, doing so is rarely more than a waste of resources.
Another entity found within the level is the Hound. Hounds in Level 309 have evolved to be able to see through the fog with relative ease, using infrared vision to detect infrared radiation. Additionally, they show very different behaviors from their baseline counterparts. Forming in groups of 2-4, they perform ambushes on unsuspecting prey; mainly travelers and stray Deathmoths. A fair number of injuries and even deaths have been caused by wanderers being ambushed and panicking too much to perform the necessary counteractions.
To prevent ambushes, one should try and present themselves as tough, ideally holding a weapon of sorts. Hounds are often intimidated by this and may avoid conflict. Additionally, spotting and staring down a Hound before the ambush has started can often be enough for them to retreat. If a brawl does occur, and one does not have any escape options, then it is recommended to attack with a bludgeoning weapon (such as a hammer, wrench, crowbar, etc.) to take advantage of their weak skin.
The Mycellennium
Also found in Level 309 are the Mycellennium, native sentient mushroom-like humanoids that form the primary civilizations found within the level.
Mycellennium are similar in appearance (and presumably biology) to both the glowing mushrooms and Rapture Spores of Level 309. Similarly to the mushrooms themselves, the entity’s biological processes are poorly understood. They emit a faint glow, and can change color at will. Further investigation has suggested that the entities use this technique as a way to communicate to one another. While the Mycellennium’s language is impossibly hard to decipher, a few basic phrases have been translated. For example, a Mycellennium will emit a green glow as a sign that it is comfortable and content, and red if it is angry or perceives something as a threat. Generally, Mycellennium will not show hostility unless threatened or while hunting for Hounds.
Mycellennium are around 2 feet tall, and weigh around 30-40 lbs. The species is omnivorous, primarily eating the meat of Hounds and the glowing mushrooms within Level 309. They are fairly weak, and lack much durability, so they use group tactics and tool-making in order to hunt and defend themselves.
The Mycellennium have learned to make use of their biological similarities with Rapture. Reports have shown the entities carefully cutting off small parts of their body mass using wooden knives and heating them up with makeshift fire. The resulting Rapture is then wrapped into a ball with leaves and attached to a spear. When engaging in combat, a group of Mycellennium will have 1-2 individuals who will attack the threat using spears, which will expose their enemy to the effects of Rapture over the next few minutes. This allows other members to more efficiently take care of the threat using weapons better tailored for killing.
An assortment of miscellaneous tools used by the Mycellennium.
Mycellennium Civilizations
Mycellennium form communities within the foggiest sections of Level 309. The further one strays from The Path, the more likely they are to come across one of their civilizations. A Mycellennium civilization usually consists of multiple villages and a singular capital city all within a 2-mile radius, though abnormal nations have been found that have multiple capitals or only a single village.
Villages typically have 8-12 Mycellennium at any time and contain about one wooden hut for every 2 residents. Additional buildings are created for either working or housing children. Inhabitants will be assigned separate jobs in order to ensure the stability of the community. Occupations include hunting, collecting materials, and crafting weapons and tools. Each village also has a designated envoy who sends a portion of the village’s resources to their capital city at varied intervals.
Mycellennium are able to reproduce asexually, and do so approximately once every few months. Newborns are kept within small huts and are fed food until they reach around 1 year of age. From this point, they are either sent to the capital city with the envoy or integrated into the village if the inhabitants are struggling to survive.
A village will act neutral towards wanderers and may provide small amounts of food if they are well off at the moment. However, Mycellennium will begin to feel sour towards those who stay within their living quarters for prolonged amounts of time. After around a week, they will express outright hostility towards wanderers until they leave.
Capital cities contain anywhere from 25-50 residents and have large stone brick buildings able to support several citizens without issue. Due to the various villages sending food and supplies, Mycellennium living in capital cities do not have to work as much and live much more casual lives. Their opportunity for vanity results in much more impressive architecture and decoration in capital cities.
Found on the buildings are painted imagery of what is believed to be a ‘god’ or ‘king’ of the Mycellennium species. Illustrations depict a tall, white Mycellennium resembling a lion’s mane mushroom3. The king wields a wooden spear, and is often shown in artwork stabbing pitch-black, unidentified creatures that look plant-like in appearance.
Also present are shrines devoted to the aforementioned god, consisting of an abnormally tall glowing mushroom surrounded with a circle of small pebbles. Here, Mycellennium will occasionally sit down and rapidly change color, believed to be performing a prayer.
Bases, Outposts and Communities
Disregarding the large amounts of Mycellennium villages and cities, there are two noteworthy settlements within Level 309.
Asset 309 Rapture Extraction Camp
- A camp created by the B.N.T.G. The base’s primary purpose is to extract Rapture and transport it to Office Space EL3A via The Path.
- Consists of 18 members, and is willing to hire wanderers for B.N.T.G. credits or other forms of compensation.
U.E.C. Experimentation Base
- A base created by the U.E.C. in order to experiment the offensive uses of Rapture.
- Little is known by the general public, as the base has high security and does not allow any non-U.E.C-affiliated individuals entering the premises.
Various Mycellennium Villages and Cities
Entrances and Exits:
Entrances:
- Staying in a forest for prolonged amounts of time in Level 9 can transport one to Level 309.
- If one finds a large grove of closely packed glowing mushrooms, touching them will transport one to Level 309. These can appear in several levels, but are most common in Levels 4, 37 and 47.
Exits:
The Path can lead to various different levels depending on the distance traveled from Level 309’s starting point.
- Traveling about half a mile will leave an individual susceptible to no-clipping into Level 46.
- Traveling over a mile can bring one to Level 10.
- Traveling over three miles brings one to Level 2. Notably, wanderers that clip into Level 2 with this method will find themselves a walking distance from Office Space EL3A.
- Traveling over five miles will transport one to Level 474.
- Trees may occasionally have signs pointing upwards placed next to them. Climbing these will cause a wanderer to find themselves holding onto a tree in Level 39.