Turning the time back to four days ago.
November 23th, 1834.
As the timer for the next horror creature approached zero, I was in Skely's cave together with my regular members, plus Chloe and Nova.
''So, what are you going to summon this time?''
Ariel said, floating around with Nova. The sight of a ghost and an orca swimming in the air was... Bizarre, to say the least.
''I'm still going for Leviathan or Godzilla, and probably Cloverfield as well.''
''Are they really that strong...?''
''Strong enough to blow a country away in one go.''
''...Wow.''
''But it's not going to happen, isn't it?'' Chloe chimed in. ''I doubt whoever threw us here would allow such broken summons.''
''Mhm. So we need a suitable choice.''
''In the first place, isn't your skill's description too vague? 'Summon horror the way you like' or whatever. What exactly counts as horror? Grotesqueness? Scariness?''
''I have no idea.'' I shrugged. ''Hm... Let's start with identifying what we need right now. Any idea?''
''I do think we are in need of a base.'' Skely raised his hand.
''Agreed. This cave is too cramped already.''
Well, we were in the boss's room instead of Skely's room because of Nova's size, so I guess that's true.
''So what, are you going to summon the Backrooms? Would that even work?'' Chloe raised an eyebrow.
'''' The Backrooms? ''''
''Ah, it's one of the rarer ones that I know. Rather popular to the general culture back on Earth.'' Chloe pulled out a pair of glasses. ''It's a concept about a series of empty rooms spanning millions of kilometers. You can enter it by 'clipping out of reality.'''
''Hoh... If it's in another dimension, then won't it be exceptionally safe as a base of operation?'' Skely marveled.
''I want it!'' Ariel raised her hand. ''I want to move to a bigger house!''
Hm... The Backrooms, you said...
It was true that the space we had wasn't going to cut it anymore, especially with our rapidly growing rate. I personally wanted something more... Aggressive, but in fan media, there were other creatures in the Backrooms as well, so that could be something to consider.
''Sure, we'll try the Backrooms. I doubt it would work, though.''
''Why?'' Chloe tilted her head.
''Hm... I'm not too sure. It just seems too outrageous.''
With that decided, we patiently waited until it was midnight, which was when the timer reached zero.
At that moment, my heart was rather calm. I was so sure this wouldn't work, and I kept thinking about what else to summon, but when I called the Backrooms in my mind—
'''' !!! ''''
The space itself is distorted. Unlike with Smiley or Mister Slen, when the atmosphere came to the 'spaghettification' stage, videogame glitches-like effects began to appear all over the place. Those quickly multiplied and multiplied until everything was covered in them. Pitch-black.
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Everything went silent before—
PZZZT—!
The scene suddenly changed, accompanied by a loud static sound. Light entered my eyes.
The Backrooms - Wikipedia [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Backrooms_model.jpg/1200px-Backrooms_model.jpg]
'''' ... ''''
Against the yellow background filled with continuous buzzing and light flickering noises, a few panels appeared.
[Entity: The Backrooms successfully summoned]
[Alternative dimension detected]
[Automatically assimilate dimension: The Backrooms]
''...!''
In the blink of an eye, a mountain of information regarding The Backrooms flooded into my head. How to move in and out of it, how large it was, and what resided there.
Opening the [Monarch] tab, I saw a new category appeared.
----------------------------------------------------------
Territories: West Zircon, North Zircon.
Alternative Dimension: The Backrooms.
Followers: 81.
Allies: 14.
Progression: 10%.
----------------------------------------------------------
Interesting... So, it counted as a territory of sorts.
''Um... I didn't think it would actually work.'' Chloe spoke up first while others were poking around.
''I'm happy with it.'' I replied.
Especially now that I knew what I could do with it. Not only would this be an excellent base, but I could trap lots of things inside here as well.
This... Is similar to my blizzard aura.
''Is that so?''
Nova seemed quite impressed,
''Woohoo— Ack!''
Ariel tried to fly into the wall, but it just denied her entirely. Another interesting part.
I never thought I would be summoning The Backrooms in another world...
After that, I explored the space with my crew and successfully traversed a tiny portion of it. From what I can feel, this was not the full-sized version of The Backrooms, but still vast enough to put a common country to shame. Because the scenery was always the same, it got boring quite quickly, though. But right then, we met the creatures of The Backrooms.
''Woah...!''
There were all kinds of grotesque ones that I loved. From a moving statue, a giant spider-like creature, to weirdly humanoid and creepy creatures. They were all there, all were my friends!
Hah...
BOOM—!!
Suddenly, a noise from the arena awakens me of my flashback.
...Ahem. I might have gotten too excited there.
Now, back to the present.
The duel between Chloe and Luxia has come to a conclusion. Chloe's explosive fire magic, combined with her refined swordplay, was able to offset Luxia's wind magic, resulting in the situation now with the blonde cornering the other.
Luxia fights back fiercely but ultimately isn't able to make a comeback.
''Hah... I forfeit.''
Luxia says with a pout, while Chloe immediately turns to me and waves her hand, making virtually everybody else look at me as well. Ignoring that, I wave back lightly.
She almost fainted when she saw the ones in The Backrooms, and yet this is also her... Humans are weird creatures.
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''Phew...''
Chloe and I sit on the sofa after we each take a bath. Here under Lady Amelia's wings, even maids can have a hot bath!—is what I would put as an advertisement for Chloe. Though technically, I'm not her maid anymore; this is my main body, after all. Peln is still right there.
''So. What's next?'' I ask.
''Cult. It's those damn cultists again.'' Chloe replies.
''Academy again?''
''Nope. In the capital. And that also means... You can move more freely.''
''Mhm.''
''I'm debating whether to let Claire join us... Probably yes. She needs experience. Not that experience, experience.''
''I'm fine with that. Just make sure Luxia won't interrupt us.''
''That... I can't guarantee.''
'''' ... ''''
''Well, I'm going back now.'' I stand up and stretch out a bit. ''Still have a lot to explore.''
There are lots of interesting things inside it. I only know a bit of everything vaguely, not the details, so this is like an adventure for me.
''Sure. See you later.''
''Mhm.''
''Please have a pleasant trip, master.''
''Rest well, Peln.''
[Teleportation].
My vision changes abruptly, and I now stand in Skely's room. Now, here is what I found out about how to use The Backrooms after a few days.
Firstly, only the main body of mine can have control over any of its available features. One such feature is creating an entrance. I can link the entrance to the real world outside, allowing my followers to enter. Just one for now, though. It comes in the shape of a simple door, which I installed behind one of the bookshelves inside Skely's room. I can make the door invisible as well.
Secondly, I can only teleport myself together with something or someone else directly into The Backrooms once a day. I'm not surprised because otherwise, this would be an infinite teleportation glitch or something.
Thirdly, regular teleportation skills don't work inside it. Mister Slen's skill somehow works. This could be a useful detail.
And finally, just like my regular territories, I can somewhat sense the positions of things inside it, so no one would be lost.
Well, enough of that. Let's go meet my babies!