Level 480

## Level 480: "The Inconvenience Store"

### Description:

**Level 480** is a large system of rooms which consists of several different storefronts and doorways, which all resemble the entrances to convenience, food, tool and appliance stores. They each lead to different stores which vary greatly in size, some being as small as a gas station convenience store, whilst others are large, with some being reported to be as large as an aircraft hangar.

Most store layouts are neat and orderly. Each store contains rows of aligned store shelves which extend for great distances on end, and in some of the larger shops, occasional clearings with goods and materials neatly stacked on pallets can be found scattered throughout each store. Both of these have varying heights corresponding to the overall size of the room. They are restocked periodically when products are taken out of their shelves. The method by which this takes place is presently unknown.

At first glance, these stores seem clean and well-kept: The floors are scrubbed clean, the shelves are stocked and sorted neatly, and several air-conditioners blast cool air across the stores. However, upon further exploration, Wanderers will discover that some of the stores are in worse conditions than some of the other ones which can be found inside the level. Lights in some areas have been found broken or damaged, and the freezers in many frozen food aisles have malfunctioned, not working properly. Some aisles may also be found in total chaos, their products scattered across the ground in total disarray. The cause of these damages is currently unknown, but they are suspected to be the work of the entities which reside in Level 480. Even so, the consistency in the scale and type of damage found may also suggest that the destruction originates mainly from a yet undocumnted entity that the M.E.G has yet to encounter.

Traversing the level is not a simple task. The level contains dirty, lengthy corridors of sotrefronts, which are often packed tightly together. These stores may be much larger than their entrances would suggest. Upon entry into a store, one may find that the interior space of a store may overlap with regions which from the outside appear to be occupied by adjacent stores. Duplicate entrances into the same store entrance can also be found close to each other, despite the fact that in the interior itself they are spaced far apart, and Wanderers may leave a store through the same entrance they entered it from, only to find that it now leads to a different segment of the level. Because of this, the geometry of Level 480 has been deemed Non-Euclidean, and is impossible to traverse logically and securely due to its nature.

### Off-brand Products and Booby-traps:

The products on the shelves and displays appear to be off-brand varieties of products found in convenience and grocery stores. These include canned and boxed food, bottled drinks, cosmetics, and household appliances. Contrary to what their off-brand appearance may suggest, these products are actually of higher quality than their regular counterparts. Food and drinks have been described as tasting better, and in some cases have even accelerated the healing of minor wounds and injuries. Similarly, the available household tools and appliances are often more efficient, durable, and powerful than their ordinary counterparts.

Despite this, Wanderers are advised not to take any of the products found in Level 480 as there is a risk that they will be booby-trapped. There is never ant indication a product may be booby-trapped until it is picked up. When it is, it will proceed to spring one of the varying traps listed below, and one some occasions, it will produce a soft, child-like giggle which only the victim could hear.

Some of the booby-traps observed are as follows:

* Th product becoming extremely hot or cold when contact is made.
* The product detonating with the force of a firecracker (Roughly 600J) and causing a moderately loud noise, which could attract any entities potentially nearby.
* The product becoming stuck to whatever surface makes contact with it for a short amount of time (10-15 minutes), temporarily incapacitating those who touch it.
* The product lifting off from the hands of the victim and ramming into them at high speeds of up to 40km/h. This can prove particularly deadly if the product happens to be something such as a shovel or a bowling ball.
* The product levitating above the victim's head and playing a disruptive noise. This includes television static, commercials, and in some cases, the music that the victim dislikes the most.

In more serious cases, booby-trapped products have also been reported to:

* Cause an unseen force to apply a significant amount of pressure to one of the victim's bones, breaking and crushing them, which often times results in permanent damage.
* Cause a temporary or permanent loss of sensory abilities (Blindness, deafness, and rarely, a total loss of the sense of touch)
* Skin section of their victim's epidermis.
* Cause all the hair on the victim to spontaneously fall off.
* In one reported case, transport the victim to another, more dangerous level. (Like Level !-!)

### Entities:

The level contains a moderately high population of hostile entities, including Skin-Stealers and Smilers (During blackout periods).

Apart from booby-trapped products, another threat lies in the store aisles: The entities known as Xeroxes. These shape-shifting creatures spend their days sleeping in between products in store aisles, and as suggested by their name, they can shapeshift into the form of different products to fool their prey into thinking they are harmless.

The primary cause for concern when dealing with Xeroxes is their ear-splitting screech. When they are picked out, they pull themselves away from the person/entity that may have disrupted their dormancy and let out a loud noise, which serves as both a distraction to the prey, and a lure for nearby entities. This has been observed to reach dangerously high volumes of up to 180Db. In cases where extreme volumes such as this one are reached, instant ear-rupturing, unconciousness, and spontaneous death have been observed. Strangely, despite what would usually occur in such a situation, things like glass and lightbulbs are not damaged by this scream. After the Xerox lets out its screech, it will observe the surrounding area and wait for entities to investigate the scene and finish off the prey. Should none arrive to do so, the Xerox will take matters into its own hands and attack the victim itself, extending a set of razor-sharp fangs, and lunging or flying at the victim's chest cavity. The fangs themselves are extremely sharp, and are powerful enough to easily rip and tear through human flesh. However, they lack mobility, and one can easily evade a Xerox by simply sprinting away.

Xeroxes themselves are not difficult to deal with besides their screech. They are made of a very fragile cartilage-like substance which can be smashed on surrounding surfaces very easily, but the threat of other entities and their deadly screech makes them a formidable threat to those traversing through Level 480. Worst of all, unlike booby-traps, Xeroxes have even been known to attack their prey entirely unprovoked. While this phenomenon is not common, Wanderers should still be cautious when travelling through the aisles of Level 480.

Due to the high entity count and the length one may need to travel through a single aisle, visitors are undoubtedly going to encounter hostile entities at some point durin their travels through Level 480. Wanderers are advised to bring adequate equipment and make appropriate preparations to engage entities in combat, run large distances, and climb over aisles to escape if necessary.

### Blackout Periods:

The most dangerous aspect of Level 480 is what are known as 'Blackout Periods'. During these periods, all lights in Level 480 switch off, and all windows are barred by unknown means. This leaves all Wanderers within the level stranded in pitch-black darknes, which is highly dangerous, given the aforementioned dangers in this level. During such periods, it is important to have a source of artificial light to spot entities that may be close by, -preferably a disposable one, such as a glowstick, in case of Smiler attacks. One should maintain silence as best as they can to conceal their location from any entities that may be lurking nearby. Thankfully, Blackout Periods do not tnd to last long, usually only lasting approximately (5) to (20) twenty minutes.

Because of the risk involved in getting the products from Level 480, they have a high trade value in the rest of The Backrooms. Should travelers seek to obtain the enhanced products of Level 480 in spite of said risks, they should prepare themselves adequetly for the dangers they are most definitely bound to encounter.

### Entrances and Exits:

#### Entrances:

* Finding aconvenience store in Level 11 will lead to Level 480.

#### Exits:

* The corridors which the stores are connected to sometimes lead to Level 2. This becomes apparent when the doors of Level 480 stop appearing, and are instead replaced by the geometry of Level 2.
* Certain aisles of Level 480 may sometimes lead to Level 120.