Level 999

SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:

Class Final

  • Unchanging Landscape.
  • Unchanging Structures.
  • Unchanging.



Level 999 is nothing.

Description

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The void of Level 999, as seen from its sandy coast.

Level 999 is a floating, tropical island that rests deep within a starry, space-like void. The entire landscape is coated in a desaturating aura, which causes all matter in the level to lose its hue and display a greyscale effect. This effect—which dissipates upon leaving the level—is believed to carry a bleaching effect onto items or people that inhabit Level 999 for extended periods of time, due to the fact that the sand, dirt, trees, water, and artificially constructed materials found naturally within the level do not revert to any expected color if taken out.

The island's geography vaguely matches ones of a tropical, exotic nature, similar to what one may expect to see within humid and lush locations within the Caribbean and Fiji islands. However, the sweltering heat of such climates is not a factor that applies to Level 999, as the island sits at somewhat cold—yet not freezing—temperatures around 13 to 16 degrees Celsius.1

Beach edges are adorned in smoke-grey, fine scale sands that drift outwards and subsequently hold in the void once they surpass the perimeter of the island itself. The sand particles are occasionally accompanied by rocks that are trapped in the void in the same manner, floating in weightless, motionless silence outside the reach of others.

Occasionally, the sands are disturbed by the presence of both grey palm trees and much darker hued rocks that jut out of the ground. These rocks are smaller components of the much larger underside of Level 999, which is that of a large and irregularly shaped pyramid of gray rocks that are similar in aesthetic to a rough, rocky, and upturned mountain. This, in turn, makes the rocks on Level 999's beaches impossible to move, as they are just one small part of the level's much larger and unseen underside.


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Deep inside the forests of Level 999..

Venturing deeper from the occasional palm trees, grey coasts, and floating rocks brings individuals further into the main, thickly forested area of Level 999. Trees are plentiful within these forests, yet are never hard to weave or maneuver between due to an almost completely flat physical geography. Level 999 is hopelessly flat, possessing no extreme hills or any depressions that could be considered valleys. Due to this, the entirety of the level can be seen from one spot, should one be deep enough within the island to see it.

At the threshold between the perimeter sands and the deeper forests, the ground shifts from fine scale sands to coarse, still dirt. The soil holds still even in the strongest of winds, barely even succumbing to the movement of creatures. Grass does not appear to grow on this rough soil, a phenomenon caused by the lack of nutrients embedded into it. This creates harsh, brutal conditions that only the oldest of trees can survive in.

Level 999's trees, despite the constant sounds of unnerving, ethereal wind, do not move or sway, and instead tower above in an attempt to touch the stars above them. Their rather dense nature oftentimes blots out the view of the stars, but the constant semi-illuminant aura that coats the entire scape forbids this blockage of the celestial bodies above from affecting the level's brightness.


Just like the stationary nature the rest of the level is perpetually held in, the trees are unable to alter any of this environment's qualities.









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Structures







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One of Level 999's unchanging houses.

Deeper in, and towards the island's epicenter, masses of concrete, glass, wood, and stone lay in occasional spots, eternally resting within the ground. These formations made by creatures slumber in the ground, surrounded by the same trees that pocket the rest of this scape. These homes—though appearing to have rotted in their state of dormancy—are in the same condition as they ever have been, and ever will be.

They are but a sparse addition to the rest of the landscape, and have no paths nor other indicative clues to connect these dormant, still monuments to one another. Finding them is a commodity, though they are just as indifferent to the natural elements of the islands, everlastingly sitting and settling into the dirt like an abandoned object left within moss, forgotten by all but the thing that overtook it.

These buildings host dark and dank insides, laced with emotions of longing and isolation in their barely decorated, rectangular spaces. The beds are empty, the blinds are closed, and the furniture is sparse—a condition they will always remain in.


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Deeper inwards..

Even when nearing the epicenter of the island, passing by its rocks, its coast, its coarse ground, its trees, and even through its still homes, the constant of Level 999 remains the same as it ever has. You are no different to the landscape that surrounds you; you are as unchanging as the ground below you, the trees in front of you, and the stars above you.

Following the numbers, increment by increment by increment, brings scouring eyes to the island. Passing by the stories of greats, gods, woes, and tragedy, the final inkling of the journey only the all-seeing can experience ends here. Nothing new learned, nothing to take away, nothing of value. Just the island.

Amidst change elsewhere, when levels before this form and pass, and as lives pass by in the blink of an eye. When memories come, stay, and eventually fade, Level 999 stands as it ever has, with not a single leaf nor stone unchanged as lives pass, and experiences die.


Even when the universe comes to its end, Level 999 will sit as it always has, never a single stone upturned.

It is the ultimate constant.


Entrances And Exits



The halls that echo are the only transport to Level 999, appearing in one constant position among its millions of square cells. Its placement is far, further than the doors for its only other exit, but it is accessible to those diligent enough.




The only method of exit is to return to the echoing halls through venturing to the epicenter of the unchanging landmass, and utilizing a single trapdoor amongst its benches. Returning back to where one came, unable to push forwards after the finality.








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rating: +98+x

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