Level 1

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**Regular Anomalies**

* Flickering Lights
* Auditory Hallucinations
* Deja Vu
* Pitfalls

## Demographics

### Communities

Assorted communities, although existing, have been snuffed out by larger groups assimilating them. Examples of communities existing on Level 1 would be the Jade Razor Clan and Toms Diner.

### Group Presences

* MEG - Outpost Acherios
* Unbound Explorer Coalition - FOB. Dinamo

## Entities

* Smilers
* Radio Crabs (Crab - Speaker)
* Bacteria (T1 - T3)
* Signal Hounds
* Facelings
* Skin-Stealers
* Shadow People
* Partygoers
* The Company (E1 - E3)
* Pholcidae (T1)

## Sub-Levels

* Level 1.1 - "Inversion"
* Level 1.2 - "Lost and Forgotten"
* Level 1.3 - "Rolling Hills"
* Level 1.4 - "Broken Hallways"
* Level 1.5 - "Storage Units"

This article has a ***simplified*** version, for those that don't have time to gloss over the details.

Level 1, known as the level of **Lurking Danger**; the **Construction Zone**, or **Subterranean Complex,** is a sprawling multi-purpose, multi-floored warehouse complex and storage facility, made mainly from concrete and an assortment of other common building materials. Level 1 is in an unfinished state, with various elements of the level being missing or in the process of being constructed, many walls inside the level are not finished as well, with rebar and wooden beams showing behind, and walls can be cracked or broken, have caulk in them, be made out of cinder blocks, et cetera, as well as possible graffiti and vandalism that seem to be naturally part of the level. Construction equipment is most commonly found inside the level; however, the majority of the items are either inoperable or broken. Running across the ceiling of the level are large red and black pipes that carry two types of liquid; the red pipes are the most fragile and often will burst and rain down Carpet Fluid. This fluid is transported across the level and supposedly downward into further levels; it is highly acidic and has an oily red color to it. The second liquid is known as Mariner Fluid, which is a byproduct of levels; it has a sickening black color to it, and it has the consistency of hot boiling tar, this fluid is also used for construction purposes, holding blocks of concrete together and concrete bricks together, like mortar.

Sometimes large rooms will have separate hallways that are accessible through doors lined with red and white caution tape. However, opening these doors will show an environment that is far more finished than the original room you enter from. These hallways are often made from dark bricks and metal panels, with concrete tiles as flooring. These hallways can eventually fan out into larger and larger hallways that eventually become worse and worse looking, made up of grimy stone brick walls with dirty, dust-covered concrete floors. These areas pose a hazard to users, if the dust is kicked up it can flood the airways of a user and can often be deadly; the dust is very fine, like sand, and can get into electronics and small areas. Mariner fluid inside the wall can sometimes melt due to extreme heat from pipes on the other side and turn back into a liquid state, seeping from the walls and making it dangerous to touch. These hallways also prove more of a threat going on, as traces of Radon have been found in some parts where yellow caution tape is used. The grimy hallways can also have walls that extend upward for an indeterminate amount of distance, so far up that they seem to reach past the ceiling of the level and into the sky. These areas look like a night sky filled with stars and often give off a cool breeze from above. This area is known as the Cogwell Matrix. The hallways also contain catwalks above that move across the level, however, are inaccessible by ordinary means, requiring the user to climb up onto them or find an alternative way onto them. They are a quick and easy means of traveling throughout the level; however, it should be noted that the catwalks often have more environmental hazards to them, as well as additional entities.

Other areas of Level 1 that are finished include carparks, which often branch off of hallways; these carparks are multi-floored and will often have vehicles parked inside of them. The vehicles inside, however, are inoperable, with the glass being tinted, and when broken, the glass reveals the cars inside to be filled with concrete or solid bricks. Looking down the shaft shows that it goes both ways for several hundred floors; however, Level 1 has only 40 floors going both down and up. Generally, the farther up you go in the level, the more and more finished the level looks, with rooms eventually turning into warehouses or storage areas filled with rows and rows of shelving or packages. These large areas are often maze-like and hard to navigate, as well as being common areas for pitfalls. Different floors on level 1 are accessible through large freight elevators or regular service elevators, which are usually found in every couple hundred or thousand rooms. However, going upwards in the level poses a greater risk, as the more finished areas of the level contain more anomalous effects, as well as environmental dangers. Anomalies often include: completely missing floor or glitched flooring, revealing the floor below the one you are on; glitched rooms that noclip you to other areas of the level, rooms filled with a black, toxic gas; and rooms filled with holes, doors, or vents. One very important anomaly is the poor power supply of the upper level. Often these areas are run by smaller generators than the lower floors, which are directly connected to the Backrooms Power grid. hence, these areas are often prone to lengthy periods of blackouts that often last extremely long times, ranging from 3 hours to 2 weeks at worst. This is often warned with the flickering of the lights or occasional small blackouts that last around 1 - 5 minutes, to as long as 1 hour. During these blackouts, entities will appear, often crawling out of ventilation shafts, small dimly lit rooms, or even emerging from the walls. This does not mean lower floors inside Level 1 aren't prone to blackouts as well, they are often more frequent and shorter, lasting only around 1 hour or even as short as 30 minutes, and taking around 2 hours for another one to possibly occur, on higher floors. After a blackout period, it will take around the same amount of time for another blackout to occur, giving a pretty safe window after the blackout for people to go down to safer floors. Floors on the ground floor going upward (which all users enter upon entering the level) are lettered A-Z, while floors going downward are numbered from 1 to 40.

Similarly to Level 0, some walls or areas inside the level may be covered in coagulated mold, or may be tinted with a slight monochrome yellow, a running theory as to why the walls are colored this way is due to the Carpet fluid, it is assumed that it is a type of mold that spreads throughout the room and covers it in a yellow mold, though it is most likely the same reason as in level 0: a heavy rotting factor inside of the walls. Carpet Fluid isn't always found inside these rotted areas; often these areas are old and serve completely different functions from other rooms inside level 1, not being stored or an area under construction. they are often fully finished and even have furniture that is also covered in a drab-yellow color. It's assumed these areas are simply different from the rest of the level due to their function. These rooms also often contain pipes with mariner fluid in them as well as a great deal of other pipes lining the ceiling, such as pipes containing boiling water, a strange kind of gel, and other such liquids. Some pipes may be searing hot and cause the rooms to get extremely hot; it is unknown what is contained within these extremely hot pipes, but it is either assumed to be magma or some other incredibly hot liquid. These rooms may also sometimes be filled with said liquids, though they cannot seem to move into other rooms.

Some hallways in Level 1 may be carpeted are more thin than their parent hallway, and are made from solid drywall instead of the regular concrete bricks. These hallways always end in dead ends, however, contain doors that lead into small or even large office areas; they are often heavily decayed and contain very few resources; however, frequently and often the majority of the time contain pitfalls, that sometimes can lead into lower floors or the pitfalls of the level. It is recommended to bring a flashlight into these areas as they are almost always dark, though seldom contain entities, even during blackout periods.

It is recommended to bring a flashlight in the level in general, as you are guaranteed to be in the level (as well as all levels in general), for a long time, trying to find an exit, and during that time you will experience a blackout. This is aided by one anomalous event that causes crates filled with supplies to randomly appear and then disappear out of thin air. These crates contain a layer of hay with an assortment of different items resting on top of it, all with varying uses and purposes. these crates almost always contain one useful item, which could be a flashlight, though can be an assortment of other items as well, such as canned almond water, batteries, tarps, plates, worn clothing, and small amounts of medical supplies. It may also contain some junk items as well as harmful items, such as assorted car parts, boxes of crayons with toddlers' drawings, and used syringes. partially burned stacks of paper, human hair, loose change, a bottle of liquid pain, a can of mariner fluid, shoelaces, children's toys, loose change, and bundles of human hair (sometimes covered in blood), to name a few of the items that could be inside these crates. These crates should be approached with some caution, as the contents may be harmful to you, if you feel threatened by it or are uncertain as to whether you should approach it or not, don't approach it. The crates often also come with a crowbar next to them, so that you can pry them open, and often contain a note either stapled onto the box or taped on. Most aren't in English and are in a different human language such as Latin or Tagalog, but most are just random assortments of jumbled letters or chicken scratch with no apparent meaning. at most, they'll just serve to confuse you. Some may be personalized messages, either from apparent family members, friends, or beings they've encountered. One such message was from The Warden whom one wanderer had met previously, in the message, he had stated:

> “
> “Daniel, It was wonderful to meet you.. I hath heard that you had just entered Level 1 and thought it fitting to give you a little, get-me going to aid you on your voyage. I wish you the best and wish you safe travels on your way to Level 4, or beyond. ”
>
>
> — *The Warden*
>
>
>

Whether this quote was actually by The Warden or not is debated, but other such messages have occurred, though they only come from sentient entities, such as partygoers or such. These messages can also appear on walls or in hallways, though seem to have been taken by the person who found them first, with only the tape remaining. Some objects exist on the level other than in a crate, often on shelves found in storage rooms. obviously in the packages and storage items themselves, but also small boxes found in the office areas of the level. Vehicles such as forklifts also exist across the level and packages can be as large as entire shipping containers.

## Lower Floors

As for the lower floors, they have the same amount of floors as the top (40), however instead of improving in quality, like when going up, the quality decreases exponentially as you go downward into the level.

### Grassroom Corridors

On floors 5 - 10 lies the **"Grassrooms"** or **"Grassroom Corridors"**, here, the flooring has been completely overgrown or completely replaced with pelts of grass that have different types of flowers. these flowers often give a positive scent to the floors despite having no smell originating from them when directly smelling them up close. On occasion, other types of flora may grow, such as trees, bushes, berry bushes, vines, moss, twigs, and other small types of grass and flora. Sometimes the flooring can be just coarse dirt, or even sand, though this is generally only around areas with large enough windows.

Windows on this floor exist and reveal a large cloudy landscape outside with a sun. However, sticking one head outside of these large windows will reveal that it is merely an illusion created by the level, even the light emanating from the window will dissipate and will be completely replaced by a dark, cold Void, backing away from the window will eventually return the light to the room. The architecture of the floor often consists mainly of large, open rooms with pillars reaching up to the ceiling, and the hallways that do appear are often winding in a circular pattern, even though it would not make sense considering the large rooms of the floor, and these areas aren't visible through the windows, making it more confusing. The outside area is constantly stuck during the day, and even the sun outside is unmoving even when moving to another room, or lower room in the area. However, the light from outside is the only light on the floor. All fluorescent lights have been completely shut off, leaving some areas shrouded in darkness. while others are lit but with the unusual placement of the light, windows can appear on any wall regardless of if there is another wall behind that window. Windows also have blinds that can be opened and closed from the outside of the window into the void, though it is not recommended to close these blinds as it may attract entities, including Smilers

Areas without windows seem to be more dilapidated and strangely made, with rooms made from broken bricks and crumbling walls, or even the floor being completely missing and revealing the support beams below. areas may even be completely missing or blocked off by solid concrete bricks with a wrong way sign imprinted onto the concrete wall. Hallways in these areas are connected in a grid-like pattern and seem to have more hostile versions of flora, such as giant versions of Venus flytraps, or massive amounts of vines that can easily give way to a small pit of vines that entrap the user. Some reports also mention being attacked by a giant carnivorous plant creature that resembled a man. Though with a lack of evidence of its existence, this so-called "Mandrake", is nowhere to be found. Some entities are carried over from higher floors. Smilers still exist on this floor and appear in the more dilapidated areas of the level; the same goes for Signal Hounds, and even Skin-Stealers. However, outside of these ruined areas, the floor is quite safe and harbors many exits to the level, mainly to Level 1.3 - Rolling Hills, which is a more dangerous level than the Grassrooms and contains various dangerous plant life. despite its name, it is not an outdoor level.

Other types of flora that grow here are some small berries and fruits that grow off of trees and bushes. One more common plant found here is Glow Berries, they resemble large grapes or even raspberries, they glow a bright bioluminescent yellow and are completely edible, even somewhat good for you, being able to cure small aliments such as normal diseases and even some backrooms related ones, such as Liminality Disease, or Bacteria. However, if glow berries aren't glowing they most likely are infested with small bugs and other critters who either build nests inside of them or eat directly from them. Glow Berries are native to Level 8 and prefer dark areas rather than light ones. How they got to Level 1 is currently a mystery, but it is assumed they were planted here by somebody. Glow berries grow on vines typically, but on Level 1 are seen to be growing out of bushes, often sprouting small vines from the bush.

Overall, entering this area is a risk-reward gamble; the same goes for going deeper into the Level. as entering the floors lower down may be an even more dangerous gamble, though it is said that entering lower floors has a high chance of bringing you to better exits to better levels. Once more, trusting your gut instincts is the best way to go, but if you feel so inclined as to go down, say goodbye to the relative luxury of this floor.

### The Depositary

On floors 11 - 25 lies the **"Depositary"** or simply known as the Deposit; it is a floor that resembles larger rooms on the regular floors of the level that are more dilapidated and worn out, more so than the regular floors. As the name suggests this floor is a deposit for various items, with the floor of the level either being partially or completely covered in garbage or even possibly sewage. rarely does one find anything of use or value within the endless piles and piles of trash and debris scattered across the massive rooms of the floor. The rooms often range from 30 x 35 feet to as large as 220 x 250 feet, with rooms rarely ever smaller. Though have been found, these smaller rooms are often incineration chambers, or rooms with seemingly bottomless pits in which trash falls, where these pits go is unknown, though theorized to be levels further down in the Backrooms. Falling these holes is not recommended; however, due to the unknown exit point, or even if there even is one.

Garbage found on the floor varies depending on the area, which seems to be segmented by red and white caution tape buried underneath all the trash. Though on average the most common type of trash found on the level is simple cardboard and plastic trash bags, the contents of which do not contain regular trash. Other recorded items include food scraps from various food-based items in the Backrooms such as Almond Cake or even Glow fruits ~~(Even people in the Backrooms waste food)~~, medical and chemical waste, liquid and semi-solid matter, and bio-hazardous waste. One type that is somewhat frequently found are orange barrels with a strangle symbol resembling a kind of planet with the label "Memory Dump" or "Null-Matter Waste", these barrels are completely shut off and inaccessible, with the contents contained inside being unknown despite for the few times, small cracks on the side have revealed tiny rays of slightly bluish light. Some other colored barrels exist as well with the same planetary symbol, one notable one being black barrels which seem to contain void energy, these are dark splotches of very dangerous matter that somewhat resemble a night sky in a way, with small dots on the matter that resemble stars from the Void, small cubes seem to emit from the matter like steam from a liquid. Touching this matter isn't completely harmful in small intervals, but touching it for too long may cause death or worse, being transported to the Void.

All garbage cans and dumpsters in the backrooms are theorized to transport trash or anything inside them into the Depositary, through either direct teleportation of the object, or a kind of trash chute that quickly takes the trash to the area. It has never been observed to have happened yet, and all trash seems to disappear when you're not observing it, making it impossible to see where it truly goes. Bringing trash cans from normal reality, and putting the trash inside, shows that only natural trash cans in the Backrooms bring objects to the Depository. Perhaps we've read into this too much for our own good.

Either way, this area isn't that dangerous and is naturally lit by windows on the ceiling and on the walls (sometimes floors) of the level, very few entities will appear here, and the only recorded entitles have been Radio Crabs and Observers, other entities may exist but have not been recorded on the Level, Radio crabs seem to enjoy playing around in the trash and scavenging for food, they are seemingly more timid than usual in these areas and it is recommended to just leave them alone unless you offering food or a drink to them. Mainly, the danger within this floor is in the environment itself; falling debris and trash are the most common ways to die in this area. However, there are sometimes other ways, like suffocating in a hidden trash pit, or a pipe on the roof cracking, that would contain a deadly poisonous gas inside of it; coincidentally, doors in the area may lock, which is a sign that it is more of a way to flush out any organisms that are in the area. The best way to survive one of these is to simply cover your entire face as best as you can, even better hiding in the trash and using it as a shield, and waiting out the gas. it will naturally dissipate after around one and a half minutes. Inhalation of the gas will kill users in around an hour, and symptoms will make it unbearable for users. Simply put; don't stay in a room too long, as there is a chance that staying in a room will cause one of these intentional gas leaks.

Miscellaneous objects and architectural pieces include the addition of large vehicles such as plow trucks, forklifts, and heavy equipment that is used in dumps. all of these vehicles have the controls and subsequently the wheel removed, with some vehicles filled with concrete in either a solid or semi-liquid state. Large shipping containers that contain compacted trash are stacked on top of each other and fill the entire container, though sometimes they are empty. Catwalks that are similar to ones on the top floors of the level, lead into large incineration chambers filled with pipes that often burst and contain black smoke that is toxic for inhalation. And large pillars that seem to extend beyond the large windows of the level, seemingly into the white void. On the subject of windows, there seems to be a heavy fog beyond the windows that somewhat fogs up or partially obscures the windows due to the humidity, this fog contains a soothing chemical that has symptoms similar to serotonin, though, that's if you can even reach the top windows, as there are no natural ladders inside the level that could reach up that high, there are scissor lifts on the floor, though they are hard to move by ones own. Opening side windows does not produce the same fog effect as top windows, bizarrely.

### Beyond the Depositary

Floors beyond floor 25 are inaccessible due to high amounts of debris and rubble blocking the stairwell leading further down. As of now, there are no further floors on the article; but since floors go up 40 it's just assumed that floors past 25 exist down to 40, though there is no proof and is purely speculation. Efforts are being made to clear out one of these stairwells for exploration, though until then this section will be undocumented.

On a slightly darker note, at the foot of one of the collapsed stairwells was a person who had been unlucky enough to be crushed by debris from the stairwell, suggesting they were once open but for some reason collapsed recently. The body had a note on it that mentioned an area filled with more catwalks and pools of dark red blood, filled with creatures and living organisms that resembled cells or organisms inside the human body. whirlpools of blood, and other horrors in an area now known as the Bloodpool Catwalks. This area has been confirmed to not be a part of the level but rather an aberrant level, as the area is simply too different from the original level to be a floor on the level itself. Exploration of the area was put on top priority for Level 1, and eventually, the full, mutated corpse of the person, referred to here as John Doe, was revealed. In an autopsy report, it had been found that he was heavily injured from a possible entity though it could also be another person, and the contents of his stomach showed the last thing he had eaten were his own shoes, either suggesting scarcity of resources or simply his desperateness. Either way, he didn't live too long after he had written the note, and seeing as the blood was somewhat fresh, it's safe to assume he died around 45 - 75 minutes after seeming to 'leave' the level. A very tragic way to go in the Backrooms, especially from such an unexpected event.

## Communities

### (1) Major Explorer Group - Outpost Archerios

Named after the discoverer of Level 1, Sammy "Archerios" Collins, Base Acherios is also known as the Alpha Base and is the Capital of the Major Explorer Group, it is located around 5 kilometers from the center of the level and 3 floors down. The population of the base varies, but on average there are about ~ 224 wanderers either entering for trading or permanently living in the Base. Originally the base was set up simply as a research outpost for the MEG, but later it flourished with the new number of people entering the Backrooms and directly coming from Level 0. since the base was relatively close to the center of the level and not far down in terms of floors, it was quite populated by the time the base was in full operations. expeditions then soon found the vast resources of the level, and due to this the MEG made the executive decision to move their prime outpost to Level 1.

Ever since Acherios has been a hub for various activities on Level 1. Various expeditions and trade outposts have been set up in the base, as well as many MEG set-up departments, such as police brigades, fire brigades, medical divisions, postal services, and even tourist attractions and departments set up exclusively to harbor new citizens. It was also the first place where citizenship was implemented. The base is also well-defended with available weaponry, including automatic weaponry, making the base even more well-defended than MEG Outpost Kochni on Level 0.

### (2) Toms Diner

Run by an enigmatic man named "Ivory Thompson" or I.T as he's nicknamed; His diner is located in the dead center of Base Acherios and he is the main source of food for the base, other than shipments that directly come from the MEG themselves. For this, he is a very respected individual, even by the MEG. Tom is a clean-shaven man in his mid-30s and seems to be a very kind and respectful individual who serves food completely free to anyone. With his menu consisting of fast food such as burgers, pizza, and fried chicken, though if requested he can seemingly make anything that the user requests; though if too specific he may be overwhelmed and incapable. It is currently unknown where his food supply comes from. Many of his ingredients are not native to the Backrooms, or even in the Backrooms at all, with bread made by him made from wheat rather than almond grain. in which all bread is made from, including most other foods made from flour. Many speculate it's some kind of anomalous effect given to him, though Tom himself seems to deny this accusation, and several investigations have proved fruitless to find any evidence of anomalous activities. So, until proper evidence is presented to show that Tom is indeed anomalous, he's not considered such. And even if he was anomalous, the Base partially relies on Tom for their supply of food and rations, meaning he is a necessity and won't be going any time soon, besides, Tom has also had a positive impact on the people around him and hasn't shown any violence towards anyone.

Toms's Diner wasn't in the original discovery report of the Outpost and only seemed to appear once the base became large enough to need such a large supply of food and rations. His diner just seemed to appear out of thin air with no explanation of how it came into existence. Tom's explanation is that he set up his diner when the base was first starting. But nobody could set up a diner, let alone a building, in such a short amount of time, and not even including the size of it. It contains several seats with additional tables, a freezer section, a pantry section, and a large counter area, with cooking equipment behind it. Many theories state that Tom is a kind of supernatural entity set up by, possibly, one of the Drighten, most likely The Warden with whom the MEG has good relations. But the likelihood of this is close to none, as no Drighten, let alone the Warden has ever interfered directly with the operations of the MEG or any organization for that matter, ever.

### **(3) Jade Razor Clan - Outpost Takashiri**

The Jade Razor Clan is a subsidiary of the MEG located around 550 meters away from Outpost Acherios. The community was originally nomadic and moved from place to place across Level 0, and soon into Level 1. However, when it became mandated by the MEG that all subsidiary groups/communities had to have a base at their respective level, it forced the JRC to form outpost Takashiri. The naming of the base is unclear, as no member of the group was named Takashiri; however, the meaning may be derived through family names, which, the Takashiri family name means to have passed through time, nobility, or to be noble. This may just be a conjecture, however, as no evidence points toward the former. The Base is rarely used by the JRC themselves, and only ever used by the MEG for a quick stop before major expeditions into the level or transit to other levels. However, the base at all times still keeps one prominent member of the JRC at all times.

The Clan joined the MEG in the first place due to their nomadic nature, as many members of the group became desperate as they were running low on supplies. Eventually, some high members of the group struck a deal with the MEG. The JRC would become a subsidiary of the group, and in exchange, the MEG would supply the group with rations and other equipment. Many members of the group thought this went against everything the group was meant to be; a nomadic group of survivors with no hierarchical structure, and free from restrictions and laws. Because of this agreement, the majority of the groups, former members, either went their separate ways or joined the Mauraders. Those that did remain didn't find much out of the MEG and the group mostly collapsed after the agreement took place.

### (4) Cult of the Golden Sword - Outpost Kolby

The Cult of the Golden Sword is a relatively unorganized community that mainly consists of item-hunting hopefuls -- with rumors of an endless cache of items and supplies lying at the very center of the level, the CGS made it their mission to find the center before anyone else. However, upon exploration of the center of the level, no such cache was found. CGS higher-ups remain confident, however, that it lies on either lower or higher floors, and to attempt to accomplish this goal. The group sided with the Mauraders, for funding from the group, and the need to make it to higher floors, promising to share the cache with the group. Outpost Kolby resides far south of Outpost Acherios and is generally hostile to outsiders not wishing to trade or join, especially ones from other groups like the MEG.

Outside of their lust for finding items, they use those items and supplies they find to trade with other groups. Many members of the group state that they have an almost endless supply of rations and other assortments of items, however, this has not been confirmed and is very unlikely due to how small the group is, and how unorganized their efforts are, even when being a subsidiary of the Marauders, which are a very organized group. Regardless, they are very friendly when trading with, and various groups stop by Kolby to simply get enough supplies for a small journey.

### (5) Unbound Explorer Coalition - FOB Dinamo

The Unbound Explorer Coalition (UEC) is a splinter group of the MEG that usually operates isolated from other groups and pursues its own research with no jurisdiction or rules to hinder it and various small experiments and expeditions that can get highly unethical. UEC-Dinamo is only theorized to exist on Level 1 near the Grassrooms; many still believe it exists because of the various small skirmishes carried out by the group, supposedly. However, the group was destroyed on Level 1 by the MEG and pushed back into Level 2 and most likely Level 3, where they are confirmed to be. However, it is likely the group operates in other sub-levels and somehow moves throughout them to move back to level 1 and interrupt the functions of the MEG.

Many expeditions have been undertaken by the MEG and subsidiaries to find the base; on one expedition a letter was found describing the base, named Dinamo, named after the founder. However, the letter may be simply used to throw the MEG off in finding the base. In the letter it describes the base to a recruit, saying it is on the lower floors of the Level and is a military training outpost for recruits, such as the member mentioned in the letter. And states at least around 50 people are operating permanently in the base.

## Survival Guide

**Level 1 Survival Guide.**
Survival Guides act as a general synopsis and bullet list of things you should and shouldn't do within the level.

The number one thing you should do before entering Level 1 from 0, or frankly from any other level, is bring a flashlight or any source of light that can last for a long time. Blackout events happen randomly and on every floor of the level and can last for a long time; you might be shrouded in darkness for possibly hours to even whole weeks at worst. As well, during these blackout periods, you should find areas with light in them already, not every part of the level will be completely blacked out, so use these areas as safe zones. entities on the level will try to avoid light areas during blackouts. Your saving grace may be the random appearance of crates out of thin air, that give you various items of varying uses. but relying on the levels of random events for your survival will get you nowhere. Going to get items yourself is a viable option for survival. Level 1 has a practically endless supply of resources due to the level's status as a warehouse. Large supply areas are viable for scavenging as they contain lots of supply crates filled with useful to useless items. Raiding these, getting what you need, and then returning to Floor A will be a good method of surviving the level. Going lower into the level will reduce the likelihood for a blackout event to take place, surprisingly.

On Level 1, you should look around each room or area before entering, as entities may be the least of your problems when it comes to the environment of the level itself. Due to the unfinished nature of the level, Level 1 is riddled with very dilapidated structures and ones in the process of competition or construction. Some rooms may be unstably built, lack a floor revealing the floor below, or even above if the ceiling is missing, broken seals causing gas leaks, or liquid leaking from the pipes. Either Mariner Fluid: a boiling hot, tar-like liquid that is used for construction purposes, is transported through black pipes; and Carpet Fluid: an oily red and acidic liquid, is transported through red pipes. Glitched rooms, collapsing floors due to rot, falling objects and debris, and other such phenomena in Level 1. Check these rooms for signs of decay or rot as they may be signs of danger, though this rule seems to be mitigated slightly inside massive rooms. Generally, the further up you go inside the level, the more finished the level will be, and the opposite when you go further down, with rooms becoming more and more ruined and unfinished to the point the level completely transitions into something different from the level above.

With this rule, the further up you go, the more entities you will encounter, and the lower you go the more environmental dangers you will encounter, until you reach a point where environmental dangers surpass entities in number of deaths and times of occurrence. Entities are encountered, on average in a level, around once every 100,000 rooms or so] reaching this area will increase the likelihood to around 1/1,000,000 rooms; this wouldn't be so remarkable if it weren't so common on the lower floors, you'll encounter one every 1/100 rooms you enter, and that is very significant compared to entities. You are very likely to die on the lower floors due to environmental dangers.

When encountering a Blackout anywhere on the level, lower floors or, god forbid -- higher floors; the best thing to do is hide and wait the Blackout, out. You'll know a blackout is about to start when the lights begin to flicker on and off rapidly and for a long period. Take this period as a countdown for you to go and find a safe place to hunker down, and hunker down for a while. Blackouts can last from anywhere between 2 hours to 2 weeks at worst, so it's recommended to bring a lot of supplies with you. The flickering can last as long as 1 hour to as short as 1 - 5 minutes. Entities will emerge from various points in the level, such as dimly lit rooms, ventilation shafts, or even emerging from the walls (depending on the entity). Entities during this period are also always hostile, even the ones that are generally friendly or even domesticated, though this is lost once they reenter the light. Weapons will also not work during this period due to the number of entities encountered per room during a blackout, -- instead of seeing an entity around every 1/100 rooms, and in small packs of around 3 - 4. If you absolutely must leave your room, you must always bring a flashlight or light source outside, and preferably some kind of weapon, like a kitchen knife or cleaver (if you can even find one). You should only leave if you need to get food or want to head down to a lower floor. (You shouldn't head to higher floors due to the risk of the floors also being in a blackout, stairs only go up or down, and never both. There are no stairwells on Level 1). Elevators and other electrical equipment also obviously do not work, however, emergency lights do seem to exist in some hallways, activatable by a switch labeled emergency light, these lights seem to also fend off the entities and act as a kind of barrier to them, similar to how Smilers behave around light sources. These lights do, however, switch themselves off after around 3 minutes, -- either because of the light sources burning out, becoming inoperable, or losing power; the switches do not work again after flicking them.

Storage areas on the level are quite rare on the lower floors due to their unfinished state, however, areas on higher floors have many more storage rooms. These areas can often be massive, with crates reaching as high as 20 feet high, though on average only being around 10 feet. It is only recommended to take crates from the top, as crates on the bottom can make the structure unstable, and may cause a cascade of falling crates on top of you. Higher crates are accessible through tall ladders on the sides of the crates, or scissor elevators. These crates are practically no different than ones you'd find around the level, coming in and out of reality, but these often contain more things than an average crate and have a greater chance of containing better items. Items found in these crates include but are not limited to (only counting new items) Better medical supplies, (rubbing alcohol, sowing kit, more bandages (up to 7 pieces) et cetera.) small weaponry, such as kitchen knives, cleavers, scissors, and pencils, which don't seem useful  ~~but if John Wick can do it, so can you.~~  Rope, glowsticks, aluminum foil, key chains, assorted keys, rubber bands, and empty water bottles.

Other items contained are plain dog tags, Geiger counters, pouches, bundles, balaclava masks, empty gallon jugs, empty cans, pieces of paper, yellow containers, five-minute epoxy, glue, and red and white caution tape.

Generally, your best bet for leaving Level 1 quickly is by going through the lower floors and into the Grassroom corridors, which have their problems. In this area there are large windows that look like they lead outside, however, do not stick your head through these windows. The reasons being that sticking your head through the window will, one: reveal the void to you, which is extremely cold, at around -80 Celsius (112 Fahrenheit), which is cold enough to freeze the liquid in your eye and cause cold burns if you stay too long out in the cold, not to mention frostbite. Secondly, revealing the void causes the window to completely block out the light in the window, or if you're stupid enough to look out multiple, the entire room. You can tell why this would be a bad thing, Shadow People and Smilers spawn within extremely dark areas, so it's not a good idea to block the light out. Entering areas without windows however poses another problem, in that they are one; extremely dark and a bit colder than the other rooms, and two; they are filled with a lot more entities than the regular grassy rooms. However, entities in this area are more flora-based and are often hostile. Many of them resemble Venus Fly traps. Because of this, these areas that have no windows are very unexplored, and not much is known about the area, other than its hostile entities. As such, you should stay out of these areas unless you want to see entities.

The Grassroom Corridors are a lot more forgiving to newcomers than many other levels would be, as the floor has a variety of different kinds of qualities of life, most prominently being its apparent lack of hostile entities. This doesn't mean they don't appear, but it will be by your own volition, rather than at random. The only entities that are encounterable here besides the ones you've caused to be here are Signal Hounds, and possibly Skin-Stealers, though, due to the entities' illusive nature it's hard to say if they are here. Other qualities of life include the addition of Glow Berries, which are completely safe to eat bioluminescent berries that can cure 'some' ailments, such as Liminality Disease, or from Bacteria. However be careful when eating them, as they may be homes for some insectoid species of entities, such as Reality Ticks, which believe us, you do not want to eat. You can tell they are festering with insects if they have clear holes in them, or glow less of a yellow and more of a green color. Other than that, The Grassrooms is a fairly safe area to be in. Exits in the area are usually located in the form of small pitfalls (These go to Level 1.3 - Rolling Hills, which is a fairly safe level) or doors labeled "Below Ground Floor" which lead into Level 2.

Going further down into Level 1 is not recommended, due to the guarantee of safety that the floor provides, as well as more environmental dangers on lower floors. But the Depository does lead into Level 1.5 - Storage Units, which is a very sought-after level, so it is a risk-reward deal entering the Area. The Deposit acts as the landing ground for all garbage in the Backrooms and likewise is filled with such garbage from all different levels in the Backrooms. If falling garbage doesn't kill you, the smell of the floor will, walking through the garbage halls has a greater chance of giving you salmonella, which causes typhoid fever, food poisoning, enteric fever, gastroenteritis, and other major illnesses. While it isn't life-threatening, certain people, especially ones with weakened immune systems, have a greater chance of dying from illnesses.

## Entrances and Exits

### Entrances

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**Level 0**

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(1) No-clipping in any way from Level 0 will always bring you here, regardless of method. Be it pitfalls, a fire exit, or some other abnormal way. Generally, people just fall into level 1 after some amount of time, either by luck or just wandering onto a no-clipped floor or wall. Either way, it'll lead here.

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### Exits

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**Level 2**

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(1) Wandering throughout Level 1, you may come across a door labeled either with a down arrow, or a sign saying "below ground floor". This door, will lead into the only stairwell in the entire level, and take you down into Level 2: Pipe Dreams. These doors can be found more commonly on floors lower than the ground floor, so it is recommended to look there if you wish to continue further down.

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(2) Through a complicated set of directions, users can enter The Hub (Enigmatic Level) from Level 1. After following the directions that are listed on the actual level page itself, you'll come across a large freight elevator that seems to be in disrepair. However interacting with the elevator shows it indeed works, if not being a little loud. You will automatically end up in the Lobby area of the Hub upon entry.

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All other exits are to Level 1's sub-levels.

Return to the Level List, or descend further into the Next Level.