Level !

## Level !: "Run For Your Life!"

### Description:

**Level !** is an anomalous level of the Backrooms. It is notorious for being one of the most dangerous Backrooms levels, and should never, under any circumstances, be entered deliberately.

**Level !** is fairly uncomplicated in appearance and layout, though that does not take away from the ever-present danger here. **Level !** consists entirely of one long, narrow hallway, reminiscent of hallways commonly found inside modern hospitals. Exact measurements of the hallway's length cannot be made due to the level’s dangers, but it is believed to be about 10 kilometers in length (although this is disputed). While turns in the hallway are uncommon, they are prone to happen at least once during one's journey.

The entirety of **Level !** seems to be constructed from a powerful material that strongly resembles concrete in presentation and, possibly, its composition. “EXIT” signs are a common sight on the ceilings of the level and provide the only source of light on the level and come in a deep red hue. Strangely, their positions and brightness seem to be random; one area may have a cluster of them while in the next there may be none. As a result, some areas of **Level !** can be extremely dark due to lacking the signs. This makes for a very liminal, disordered, and *wrong* feeling that wanderers may experience. Another common item seen throughout the level are doors. These are made out of what *appears* to be steel and, oddly, they cannot be opened. Multiple explorers have made the mistake of stopping to try and open a door as a means of escape. However, doing this is *certainly* not recommended, as it is a waste of time, and it will most likely lead to one's demise.

It is currently unknown what lies behind the doors, and any information on this subject likely will never be obtained. However, some have postulated that each door in the level simply leads to a copy of the first area of **Level !**, or perhaps the original rooms, which would make this level a non-Euclidean space-time anomaly.

Despite most people's notions, the first area one will find while in this level is *not* the infamous hallway. When one first enters **Level !**, they will be in a small room, estimated to be about 625 square feet. The walls, ceiling, and floor appear to be made of an *extremely* reflective metal, and the room is dimly lit by a dull red light, emanating from an unknown source. As the walls appear to be hollow (due to the frequent echoing sounds from within), there have been attempts to break through the walls, but all have failed. It is theoretically possible (though not practically feasible) to break the walls with sufficiently powerful technology, such as an explosive device or a mechanized battering ram.

Two doors are located in the room, opposite of each other. Although these resemble regular doors, both have no reflectivity whatsoever (despite being made out of metal), have no visible hinges, and seem to be unnecessarily thick. One of these doors leads to an unknown area, in which numerous entities will begin to gather. These entities, presumably after smelling, hearing, or “seeing” the person, will begin pawing, scratching, and eventually banging on the door in an attempt to break it down. Normally, the structural integrity of the door will begin to decrease around thirty seconds after the person’s arrival, with dents appearing and the door beginning to visibly bulge. This has been known to cause extreme fear within those who have entered this level, which tends to increase because attempts to open the second door (which would allow them to leave the room) rarely work on the first try, or even the tenth. However, the door *is* guaranteed to open eventually.

It should be noted that there have been reports of the entities breaking through the door extremely quickly (approximately 10 seconds after the wanderer arrives).

The area the second door leads to is a long hallway with architecture resembling that of a modern medical hospital. Once exiting the first area of **Level !**, one will see that they have exited from one of the many doors on the side of the hallway, with the hallway extending in both directions without a visible end. Present throughout the sides of the hallway are unlocked metal doors, located at random locations. In a similar manner, “EXIT” signs similar to those found in normal buildings can be seen at random locations on the ceiling. Like a normal hospital, the floor is made out of what appear to be porcelain tiles, with the walls being apparently wooden and the ceiling being made out of white tiles.

After a certain amount of time which varies between people (often just seconds after they leave the first room), the first door in the room one began in will finally break and fall down, resulting in an extremely loud noise (around 50 decibels). Afterwards, a horde of entities, mainly consisting of entities one would typically find throughout the Backrooms (such as Hounds, Skin-Stealers, and many more) will emerge from the room, and will begin pursuing the wanderer, forcing them to begin running down the hallway, away from the entities.

Although the hospital seems to be in pristine condition, it is eerily empty. Many have reported seeing “shadows” in the distance walking in the hallway or entering and exiting some of the doors, though it is unknown if those are entities or hallucinations. However, as time goes on, the hospital will begin to change. After an extended period of time, the doors will lock, preventing people from entering (or exiting if they wandered in). The lights will dim, and the red lights illuminating the EXIT signs will increase in brightness and will take on the hue of the light which illuminated the room one began at. Sightings of the “shadows” will stop, and visibility will greatly decrease. In addition, a faint alarm tone will appear in the distance, and the material that the walls are made of will change to a concrete-type material.

At some point, the faint alarm noise one heard at the start will become almost deafening, although the source of this noise is unknown. The apparent objective in **Level !** is to run as fast as one humanly can to the exit before the enormous horde of entities chasing the person catches up to them. Helpful items may be found to aid one during their escape. These may include bottles of Almond Water, which can be found laying on hospital beds and chairs (which can also be found in the hallways), along with energy bars, which usually accompany Almond Water bottles. These can be found in isolated groups, most likely sitting on tables. But (with a couple of documented exceptions) they are either hidden or out of one’s view, forcing people to backtrack and risk their life to retrieve them.

The hallway possesses turns, each one a few kilometers apart, often leading wanderer to think they've reached the exit early. If you see an exit door, but notice a turn in the hallway, do not go into the door, as it's a fake exit and it will lead you into an empty room, resulting in your being caught by the entities. The only way to know which one is the real exit is by going as far as you can until there are no more turns; if one comes across a dead end with the exit door, then they've reached the *true* exit.

The entities will adapt to one's capacity of running, to a point of giving difficulty even to the ones experienced at sports such as these. However, the further one goes, the more entities will slow and fall behind, eventually leaving one alone if one can go for an extended period of time. This may convince one that they have escaped, but *this is an illusion*. The entities will continue pursuing the person who is in the level. Interestingly, the amount of ”EXIT” signs present in the hallway also decreases the farther one goes, making the further parts of the level much darker.

Around this point, several “traps” have been discovered, including, but not limited to, electrical cords draped across the halls, and gaping holes in the floor. The amount and types of traps one encounters seemingly varying from person to person. As the traps can be extremely difficult to see due to the darkness in this level, it is recommended to, *slightly*, slow down in this section, so as to buy yourself enough time to observe and evade the traps, while not giving the entities enough time to reach you. It has been reported that different people can be in **Level !** at the same time. However, like many Backrooms levels, one will never meet another. It's presumed the level will create a copy for each person that is in it, and as such, one cannot be with someone else inside of **Level !**. If one happened to enter with multiple other people, however, one will be reunited with their group once they and their groupmates have exited **Level !**.

One will eventually come upon an exit door at the end of the hallway. Entering it will lead to a random level. It should be worth noting that if one enters and completes **Level !**, they will never be able to enter again. It is unknown how this is done.

If the horde of entities catches you, however, you will be killed in a most painful and gruesome way.

### Events and Reports:

Despite how simple **Level !** works, there have been reports of the level behaving in unexpected ways. As the amount of people who have survived **Level !** is small compared to the amount who enter, it is likely that there are several “events” that have not yet been recorded. They include:

* Starting in the hospital instead of the starting room (very common)
* Having to run away from the exit door, with the starting room’s exit becoming the exit door (frequent)
* (An) entity/entities breaking out of the doors (frequent)
* “EXIT” signs malfunctioning and exploding, resulting in fires (rare)
* A safe zone appearing about halfway through the level with supplies (rare)
* The exit door leading back into the level (1 report)

### Entrances and Exits:

#### Entrances:

* Very rarely, going through faulty elevators in relatively unstable levels can lead you here.
* One will immediately be transported into Level ! when a certain thought arises in Level 354.
* If randomly at any time without warning and without any reason, manually, accidentally or intentionally the fire alarms on Level 54's Floor 2 are triggered, the corridor will transform into this level, eventually ending up here.

#### Exits:

* Run 10 kilometers to the end of the level, and one will be transported to a random level.
* Tripping on an object will cause one to noclip through the floor and end up in Level 52, though this is extremely difficult and this cannot be done with intentions to trip. It has to be accidental.
* In rare occasions, coming across a vent and entering it will lead to The Maze of Vents.
* Rarely, one may find two open doors, one on each side of the hallway. If there is only one unlocked door on the side instead of two, entering it will lead to Level !-!.
* Some have claimed that they entered a bright red door to reach Level Critical.