Level -28

> Embrace the Unknown
> Forestal Desire
===Level -28 - "Forestal Desire"===
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"Sometimes you have memories you can't explain. Memories of early childhood, when hands were small and innocence shone splendidly.
Some swear that when they were little they saw their toys move, others claim they saw long-dead relatives standing beside them. Of course, this is because young minds misremember or imagine it.
For me, one of my earliest memories, my first memory, was of being in a strange land. It was a mixture of green, brown and black. The grass hugged my frail body and the trees whispered gentle, soothing lullabies. A land whose rivers ended in cross.
Throughout my life, it was the only time I could remember feeling safe and at peace. When my heart wasn't thudding from my mother's screams and slurred speech, when my fingers weren't dripping scarlet from touching one of her broken bottles. Every day seemed like a constant war for survival within the fragile walls of my house.
My room felt like a prison, despite the posters, CDs and belongings I had, but it could never bring me any comfort for what I was going through. Not when I was a mouse hiding from a predatory lioness outside.
My relatives, when I saw them, talked about my father. It was the only time I knew anything about him, apart from my mother muttering wryly that I couldn't live without him since his death.
My aunt used to show me photo albums of my father, with a rich smile, a splendid moustache, coppery hair that suited him and his business suit that made him look so much more elegant.
My uncle talked about how my father used to be dark and spooky, like the mysterious protagonist of a novel, who spent his time reading Grimm's tales by the forest instead of playing like other children.
My grandmother would mention how gentle and soothing my father was, how his loving caresses and whispers were the only thing that calmed me when I was a baby.
—Yes, your father was... strange. I was often convinced he was some kind of wizard, dark and creepy and mysterious. But he was also the kindest person I've ever met. He could walk into a room and it was as if a spell of peace fell over everyone.
It was nice to hear about my father, as he had died when I was little. But I couldn't really... connect with him, with the words of my relatives. Because I hardly ever had a moment of real peace in my life. I didn't feel his caresses or hear his words, so in a way, he was like a fairy tale made not to lose innocence or hope.
Today was a normal day. I sat in my room, the only sounds were my mother's murmurs, the faint sound of my Queen CD and the occasional clink of the bottle being put down.
That was all I remembered. After that, it was all slamming doors, shouting, a broken bottle, a faint smell of iron and a run.
I ran, my legs refused to stop. It was a moment when pure adrenaline took over my brain, and somehow I had the strange instinct to go somewhere.
I walked past my friend's house, my aunt's house, and soon my shoes hit the grass instead of the pavement, a slight crunch as I ran away from my cage.
My legs failed me, forcing me to duck and fall face first into the dirt and branches. I let out a sob of anguish.
—Why... just... why can't I feel peace for once in my life?
I stood motionless, eyes closed, as tears, blood and dirt adorned my face. My weak sobs suddenly stopped, and the sound of rushing water filled my ears.
I looked up, dazed and confused about where I was and why I suddenly felt this way. It was as if a wave had crashed over me.
Through the tears, I made out a patch of green, brown and black.
Suddenly, it all came together in my mind. This... was the place.
The emerald grass embraced my body, enveloping me like a veil. I faintly heard the brown trees, the brown river and the black darkness whisper soothing lullabies in my ears.
A sensation I hadn't felt in so long settled inside me, like a slowly growing puddle. My mind was calm, my breathing now slow and deep.
Was this what peace felt like?
At that moment, I whispered only one thing that could come to my mind:
Father, Are you there?"
— u/Ghostofamermaid (Adapted)
Tempus Fugit
==Description==
Level -28, known as "Forestal Desire", is the 28th negative level of the backrooms.
Level -28 is a dark forest of endless aspect. When the wanderer enters the level, he can see a crossroad marked by an X, which is made by the crossing of four rivers of something similar to red blood, like water with iron oxide. These four rivers lead to different parts of the level, but in between the paths it is believed that nothing exists but a growing area with a lot of trees.
It is known that the junction between the four rivers leads to a singularity, which means that it has infinite depth. It has been reached from there to a maximum depth of 13 kilometres, but it is not believed that it will end there.
The four parts of the level are very different, each one with its own properties and its own distortion of time.
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===Route East: Staggered Settlement===
Following the path to the east, where, from the start, you can see a well-made road, eventually leads you into a forest that has many earth displacements, as many faults as folds, all in constant motion, as if the movement is at a much higher speed than on Earth. Earthquakes are common here, so you are advised to tread very carefully. This area is a little brighter than the core area.
After passing many kilometres in this forest, gravity starts to play an important role. Gravity is gone with every step you take, so more structures can be seen floating, revealing a monochromatic void full of glitches at the bottom of the level. There is no way of knowing what's there, but it's better not to know for now. There is much more light here than at the beginning of the path.
In this part of the level it is rare to find any time distortion, unless you are near the void, where time begins to go exponentially faster.
It is rare to find resources here, but it is possible.
No entities have been found on this path, and it is unclear if there are any bases, colonies or outposts, but none have been seen so far.
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===Route North: Woodland Road===
The northern path, which starts from the centre with a lot of vegetation, gradually turns into a large road, where the trees no longer have leaves and become remnants of what used to be some trees.
This part of the level has even less light than the beginning, making searching for light sources such as lanterns recommendable.
This road doesn't really have any dangers, unless you count the possibility of a branch falling on you, but the dangers that are created here are from the wanderer himself, as it seems the perfect environment for a lot of entities, so a wanderer can start to become delirious or exploit his fear of the unexplored or of the darkness.
On the side of the road you can see some cars, only most of them don't work, but if you're lucky, you can drive one of these along the road.
It's a bit tricky to get resources in this level, but there are a lot of artifacts inside some cars.
As you pass approximately 4500 kilometres of road, you can see a huge wall, as if it were a barrier, showing a monochromatic void. As you approach this void, time slowly slows down, but not as much as on other roads.
There is no entity in this part of the level, although it is not apparent.
It is known that there is one base, which is called "The Cocheros". These can be between 100 and 200 people, they admit members and are willing to make exchanges. This base is located 1200 kilometres from the start of the road.
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===Route West: Patidifuse Causeway===
The western path on level -28, which differs in the beginning because the river is covered with grass, leads to a denser and higher forest, with a path that is barely distinguishable from the forest. In this part of the forest there is more light than in the beginning, but the atmosphere is cloudy. So cloudy that you have less visibility.
The trees in this part of the level usually have no leaves or if they do they are very high up.
The biggest danger in this level is the ground. There are bombs hidden in the ground which, at the slightest contact with a wanderer, will explode. These mines are not in the pavement, but there are times when the pavement disappears, so you ought to be careful where you walk.
In this area, there is a monochromatic void in the level sky, approximately 23 kilometres high (the height at which the trees can reach).
In this area there are many resources, including almond water lakes. It is also recommended to take as many supplies here as possible.
There are no entities on this area, and there are no bases, colonies or outposts on this route.
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===Route South: Intertemporalis Curvae===
Record of level 28.
Path Followed: Route South
Date: 5/12/2023
Record made by the wanderer Estanislao Obira Mendez
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Start of recording
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Here I am, at last, in this level that is so intriguing. Level -28. I see a cross formed by four rivers that meet, although one is not very long, I can see from here how this river ends and it is just mud after that.
I wonder what's further in that direction...
Well, I'm going that way.
I don't know what it's going to be like, but it doesn't look good...
...
Well, the place is just as dark as the beginning, I'm still on a path and I can see something different in the distance. That doesn't look like a forest over there, it looks like something worse.
...
I'm going to take a photo of this because I don't know how to describe it...
It's just that... It's like circles, but it's all perforated...
This was a forest, not a thing like this, I thought...
I'm going to walk around here a bit and see what's there.
...
Okay, it's just this, there's no resources, there's no life, nothing. Just these perforated spheres that repeat indefinitely. It looks like a fractal, but I don't know. I have to be careful with the big holes here, because the drops seem to be very big.
...
What was that?
...
It looked like a noise, but I don't know. I'm going to keep exploring this to see if there's anything else. Bad luck I lost my way back-
Where did that come from?
And why am I hearing footsteps approaching?
...
I see something in the distance, like some kind of wolf with a clock on its face. Or rather in its eye, and it's getting closer.
That clock is going very fast, I see its clock hands going very fast, they seem to turn around in a few seconds...
...
I-I c-can't a-almost t-talk.
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End of recording
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PS: Estanislao is believed to be dead.
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==Entrances and exits==
===Entrances===
To enter this level, you can access it from level 28 if the lights are off for a long time on that level.
You can also do no-clip on level 6.5, which can, with low chances, get you here.
===Exits===
To exit, it depends on which way you are on:
*On the east route, you can exit the level by doing the following:
**If you access the monochromatic void without first dying, you can reach level -358 or level -29.
*On the north route, you can exit the level by doing the following:
**If you access the monochromatic void you can reach level -69.
**By getting into a car, there is a low chance that when you get out of that car you will reach level 23.
*On the west route you can exit the level by doing the following:
**If you access the monochrome void you can get to level -40 or level 30.
**If you fall out of a tree there is a chance to reach level 391 or level 398.
*On the south route, no ways out have been found yet.
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 Now I'm the one who tells the story.
 A narrative that feels like chaos.
 A new deal that humans have signed.
 Ætinerrabu is still too slow.
 Another world to myself.
 Rust X smiles, Excentrix shrieks and yelps.
 I cracked my fate, left him betrayed.
 Now all the forest shall fear my name.
 Fugit
es:Nivel 28