Novel & Cerita Level 0 Backrooms

"And I am currently in the process of a hostile takeover of my own company. Step in." We dropped. There was no cable, just the gut-wrenching lurch of a magnetic-levitation platform plummeting into the lightless belly of the estate. The air grew dense, pressurized by the depth. When the doors finally slid open, I wasn't in a lab. This was a tomb of glass and dark water. It was a circular room, fifty feet below the lowest bunker level. The walls were massive tanks of pressurized salt water, the only light provided by the glowing terminals of an air-gapped server farm.

The obsidian doors hissed open, retreating into the walls like a dying breath. Inside, the Server Core was a forest of black pillars, each one glowing with the blue light of the pack's collective memory. The temperature dropped further, hitting the freezing point. My breath came out in silver plumes. I sprinted toward the central terminal, my fingers hovering over the haptic interface.

NEW TARGET: Designation [ADMIN]. TRIGGER: Manual Input Code [0-0-0]. Ren’s fingers flew across the mechanical keyboard, the click-clack sound filling the room like gunfire. He was building a backdoor. If the Admin ever tried to lock them in—if the "Game Over" screen ever appeared in real life—Ren would type the code. And every drone, every robot, every soldier in the game would stop hunting the players... and start hunting the Game Master. "If you try to burn me," Ren whispered to the scrolling code, "I'm going to turn your own dogs against you."

My gaze coldly fell onto their bodies that had fallen onto the ground before they could figure out what had happened. I calmly wiped my hands altogether, stepping on them as I looked at Claude who gave me a thumbs up. I beckoned him forward. “Let’s go.” Both of us moved to the iron-barred basement where it had been few meters away from the three guards earlier. I couldn't help but frown when the more we get closer, the more the air grew damp and I could scent metallic—blood was thick. However, when we got closer, my gaze fell onto the wolves inside the basement.

I don’t wait for a reply. The forest ahead looms like a wall—dark, vast, and humming with unseen life. I shake my head and tap my wristband. A holographic map flickers to life, casting a pale blue glow on my hands. Icons mark the nearest Level 1 and Level 2 monsters. A horde of Level 1s is already moving toward the shore, just a few minutes to my right. ‘Warm up with the goblins on your way in. You’ll need it.’

How far are we from the Forza Pack? “If you’re trying to figure out where we are, you won’t. I have some powerful people working for me to ensure this place cannot be found. We have complete privacy,” he boasts as if he knows he’s outsmarted the entire world. I roll my eyes as we descend to the lower levels of the mansion. ‘The game isn’t over yet,’ I remind myself. We finally reach the lowest floor, where the walls and floors are made of brick and stone. The air is a bit musty, and there are Edison bulbs hanging from the ceiling, lighting our path. I wrap my arms around myself, feeling a slight chill in the air.

Bag after bag of plasma was pumped into my veins. One raw, guttural scream tore out of me, and then the sound of a baby crying filled the room. On my phone, the screen was still frozen on one last image. Jasper and Fiona were locked in a kiss beneath the Aurelian Tower. I held my crying son and let the tears fall without stopping.

"The server room is at the end of this sublevel. Move." They sprinted down the remaining length of the corridor, reaching a massive, reinforced glass door that sealed off the main server core. Beyond the glass, bathed in a sterile, pulsing blue light, was a single, freestanding server pillar. It was completely isolated. Air-gapped from the rest of the facility. "There it is," Maya whispered, her breath fogging the heavy glass. "The Genesis Backup." Julian examined the door's control panel. It wasn't a digital keypad or a hydraulic lock. It was a smooth, black obsidian plate with a single, glowing red indentation in the center.

You just need one Variable. The physical room in Level Sub-Zero began to ice over. Frost crawled up the liquid-nitrogen pipes, snapping the steel brackets. My breath plumed white in the air. I couldn't feel my legs. I couldn't feel the glass bridge beneath me. The AI was drawing so much thermal and bio-electrical energy from my body that my physical form was beginning to flicker, caught between meat and data. Through the glass ceiling, the holographic feed of the sky showed the first wave making planetfall.

"I am making this mountain a tomb for anyone who isn't you. Do you understand?" ​He tapped a final command. Deep in the bowels of the house, I heard the sound of heavy hydraulic locks engaging. ​Level 1: The windows were covered by reinforced titanium shutters. ​Level 2: The ventilation shafts were flooded with a non-lethal sedative gas, sealed off from the sub-level. ​Level 3: The internal "kill zones" were activated. Automated turrets I didn't even know existed hissed into position in the hallways above.