It’s been eight days since I was sent here to the Backrooms. So far I’ve been surviving on what I can only assume is almond water, and either crackers or stale beef jerky that the crates have been spawning for me. I’ve pretty much worked out how they function. Though there are limits as I’ve discovered.

For one, I can’t really hoard supplies until I’m satisfied. The limit, as far as I can tell, is two eight-ounce bottles of almond water, one pack of crackers, and a single stick of very old, very stale beef jerky. If I try to collect any more than that, the stockpile in my bag diminishes by one for every additional item I pick up. It’s the same with flashlights, batteries, my trusty billy club, and (thanks to careful wording on my part), a nice sharp, (but rusty) machete.

Also, the crates seem to “punish” me if I get too greedy. I went two whole days without seeing a single one after I tried to get them to spawn bigger meals or better items. I’m not eager to go through that again, so I’ve stopped trying to test their limits. For now, I’ll just take what I can get and hope for the best.

I haven’t seen any more, anomalies since my encounter with that smiling thing in the shadows. I don’t know what happened back there but it doesn’t seem to be a very common occurrence. If I had to guess, I’d say that it was just bad luck on my part. Looking back, I’ve never been very lucky.

For a long time, I’ve felt like I was blessed, or rather, cursed, with bad luck… Ugh, “Blessed”… Can anything in this universe really be called that given its nature? Seems to me like a simulated universe would be devoid of a god to hand out blessings. Of course, I guess that also means there’s no devil either so this can’t be hell.

It seems to me like everything is just left up to random chance. I mean, just look at where I am. The odds of ending up in this place have got to be extremely low, and I seriously wouldn’t call getting stuck here “good luck” in the loosest definition of the term. But, there are rules to this place so does bad luck apply to my situation here?

Sorry, I’m rambling. There isn’t much to do while you’re walking through these endless hallways and rooms. I’ve been having lots of old memories push their way up to the surface of my mind during the last few days. Luckily… Heh, (pardon the term) I’ve had a lot of time to think here and I’ve begun to remember more and more about these Backrooms.

Like I said at the outset, I wasn’t ever very interested in that whole thing. Still, the few videos I did watch are actually going to help in the long run. If I’m remembering correctly, this place I’m in now is called level 0. There shouldn’t be any entities in here and finding another person shouldn’t be possible either.

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That said, every system has its flaws, but well-made systems have ways to correct those flaws. If I had to wager a guess, I’d say that when that other person spawned into the Backrooms right near me, (a fellow wanderer) it took… “measures” to ensure that we didn’t cooperate or even interact with one another by spawning in that monst- Smiler? I think that’s what they’re called; Smilers.

Anyways, yeah, I think this place has some kind of will of its own. It probably isn’t something conscious. It’s likely just a random program running in the background while the universe does its thing. Whatever that might be. I’ve been thinking of it sorta like a failsafe. I mean, if you were an alien species running a vast simulation of a whole universe you wouldn’t want outside, or inside interference messing with the results.

I gotta figure that this place is a sort of “catch-all” for people like me who slipped through the overworld. No computer program is perfect, (even an alien one), and simulating an entire universe has got to leave behind a few bugs here and there. This place has to be the result of that.

I know I keep bombarding you with my guesses and assumptions. For that, I apologize. But honestly, I don’t have a whole lot to go on here. I can’t exactly access the internet to do proper research from here. Though that would be extremely helpful for navigating my way out of this place. If there even is an exit.

I’m wondering if I should continue onwards. From what I can remember there are some pretty godawful levels beyond this place, and most of them contain dangerous entities that I’d rather not have to deal with. Level 0 is boring and seemingly endless, but at least here I won’t be killed by some creature or the level itself.

Then again, I’m not sure how long my sanity can hold out in these yellow halls. I can’t seem to sleep for more than a handful of hours at a time. Each time I try I’m always woken up by a loud noise or the sense that something is watching me from afar. It’s got me… Well, it’s got me a little paranoid if I’m being honest.

I also don’t seem to need to use the bathroom here. Despite drinking all this water and eating at least twice a day I still haven’t had the urge to squat down somewhere and relieve myself. It also feels like these meager meals are only just enough to keep me going. I’m also not nearly as smelly as I thought I’d be at this point. Between all the running and walking and sleeping on the damp carpet, you’d think that I’d smell like the armpit of an asshole; but nope. I’m just a little musky and I feel like I stopped getting dirtier right after I got here.

All the rules and parameters of the overworld don’t seem to be fully intact here. I suppose it makes sense. After all, this place is far from ordinary. All I can do for now is keep moving forward. I remember something about looking for a wall of a different color? Or something? But I’m understandably cautious about trusting the remnants of memory about something I didn’t really pay much attention to.

Also, laying down and just… dying isn’t my style. At the very least I can sort out my thoughts and maybe leave something behind for anyone who might find their way into this desolate place. My only wish right now is to go home, take a long hot shower, kick up my feet, and try and forget this place ever existed.

For now, I’ll try to get some sleep. I’ve been walking for an entire day now according to my slowly dying phone and I need a break.

Hopefully, we’ll talk again soon.