This is a story based on the "Backrooms" world view, originally published on February 24th on the Backrooms Chinese Wiki, as part of the Archipelago Event.
I boarded this ship last night.
I was originally picking fruits on the beach of Level 48, but accidentally fell into the water from a tree. Unexpectedly, I sank deeper and deeper in the shallow water, unable to float up or touch the bottom. Before losing consciousness, I saw an oversaturated blue color in front of me, and a yellow memory rushed towards me. When I finally woke up, I found myself lying in another place, and a man in naval uniform was lightly tapping my chest with a cane-like object.
The man took me onto his ship - a large wooden cargo ship that was astonishingly similar to those left behind from the Age of Discovery. With his back to me, the man walked on the old deck at a steady pace, making worrying creaking sounds. The man obviously didn't wait for my consent, so I had to tiptoe and follow him through a long corridor into a room.
He said this would be where I live from now on, but he ignored all my questions. The man left the room without saying a word, and I realized that this narrow space only had a dusty incandescent lamp, a bed board hanging on the wall, and an empty drawer cabinet, like a prison cell.
I originally wanted to go out and find the man to clarify the situation, but a girl knocked on my door. She looked to be in her twenties, dressed in a punk style, with heavy eye makeup and colorful dyed pigtails. After scanning me from top to bottom, she turned her gaze to the side, crossed her arms, leaned against the door frame, and started talking to herself.
"It's not easy to have a living person here, but..."
I could tell that the girl didn't welcome me, and coincidentally, I didn't want to stay either, so I asked if this ship could take me back to Level 48. But she raised her hand to her forehead, giving me a look as if I were a fool. It was then that I understood the meaning of the man's "this is where you live from now on" - it was probably a one-way trip.
The girl said her name was Angel, and from her, I learned that besides me, her, and the "boring old relic," there were other crew members on this ship. However, she didn't want to waste time on me and told me it was getting late, sending me back to rest without even looking back. I wanted to find the man or the other crew members she mentioned to figure out the situation, but I heard a somewhat frightening snoring sound from the other end of the corridor. I realized that it was indeed late, so I returned to my room and lay on the bed board without any bedding, waiting until the sound of a bell rang outside.
I went to the deck and saw Angel leaning against the mast, while the man stood at the bow ringing the bell. An old woman sitting at the staircase stared at me as I walked up from below. Her hair was short, only reaching her ears, and it was a dark red color, except for a tuft of gray at the roots. She also wore copper earrings, with her eyebrows and wrinkles squeezed together, squinting at me.
There was only eerie blue light outside, no day or night. Matt rang the bell every day, and we followed the bell's sound for our daily routines. The old woman told me this. The man was the captain, named Matt, and no one knew his last name.
I stood by the ship's side and couldn't see the sea below, only constantly changing scenery around me. I couldn't quite tell what they were, and under the rendering of the blue light, I couldn't even see their original colors. The ship seemed to be moving because the sails were always raised, even though I couldn't feel any wind. I watched as the fragments of buildings and geometric shapes on the ship's side swayed and distorted in the windless environment, occasionally discerning one or two tangible objects. The people on the ship didn't greet me, and I stood there looking at the sea for a long time.
I felt a slight chill on my cheeks, and when I touched them with my hand, I realized that my tears had dried on my face.
The red-haired woman came over and handed me a cigarette, already lit. I quickly declined, but she didn't hesitate and put the cigarette in her own mouth. She looked at me with vacant eyes and exhaled a puff of smoke. Monica, she told me to call her that. She quickly walked away as if she had never seen me before, running to another place to smoke.
I looked around, and all four people on the ship were on the deck, not speaking. These people seemed to detest language and refused to say a word. Unable to bear it, I went to find Monica, the most talkative one. She said we were on the edge of the Blue Passage and couldn't go back to the hell that had become our home. Matt was just being self-righteous, he had no sense of direction in the blue sea, which was never meant for navigation.
I didn't understand the man's intentions, and Monica said she didn't dare to speculate either. I knew I couldn't go back, probably because of my previous experience of falling from the front hall into the backrooms. I seemed to be unable to feel my own sadness.
Days went by like this. They provided me with food, water, and a bed, but they remained silent. After Monica explained to me the island landing we would be doing this week, she never spoke to me again. The three people on the ship were vastly different in age, appearance, and even the class that had lost its meaning in this place, but their faces seemed to be covered by something, making it impossible to read their emotions, like corpses with powdered faces in coffins.
Matt said we would be able to land on the island tomorrow and go to replenish supplies, but we suddenly encountered a sea fog. Matt gathered the three of us in a room, but he went elsewhere himself. Angel had been biting her nails from the beginning, while Monica closed her eyes and meditated. I could tell that everyone was uneasy.
My shoulders were a bit sore, and I wanted to stand up and stretch. Angel immediately grabbed me and made me fall to the ground. She glared at me with gritted teeth, asking if I had gone crazy. Monica calmly said that when the sea fog comes, we shouldn't make any noise.
Naturally, I didn't understand, and Monica didn't continue speaking either. Angel lay down on her side. After a long silence, there was finally no sound outside, and Matt opened the door. As soon as the door opened, I smelled a strange odor. It was like the smell of rust in the hot steam, making me feel uncomfortable all over. Matt handed us a few bottles of almond water, and only then did I realize that there seemed to be traces of cashew water outside the door.
Monica told me to stay away from those water stains and not touch the marks left by the [[Entity C-132|Crowned Fish]]. I seemed to understand what had just happened - a group of entities called the Crowned Lords attacked our ship. Angel said they come at least twice a month, and in the beginning, many people died. We only cared about the anomalies that slipped into the backrooms, but we never read in any database about them wreaking havoc in the Blue Passage like this.
I didn't know how Matt dealt with such a troublesome pest, and I don't think he would say it out loud.
We landed on the island - I sensed it before even stepping on the deck. The blue light disappeared, and the clouds on the island seemed clear. It was a rainforest, and although I could only see trees, I had a feeling that there were people living deep inside.
Angel stretched as soon as she got off the ship, and it was the first time I saw her so energetic. Monica and Matt walked towards the rainforest, and Angel told me to stay on the shore with her, saying that it wouldn't make a difference if we young people went. Angel remained silent, but I could tell that she was in a much better state than on the ship. She stared at the wildflowers next to the forest for a long time.
I felt a sense of contentment and a tinge of heartache. I suddenly forgot that I was still in the backrooms and became even more aware of being in hell in the real world. I descended another layer in the layers of the world, being exiled for the second time.
I didn't know how Angel ended up here, as I never heard anyone on the ship talk about their past. I also didn't understand how I ended up in the blue sea, just like I didn't know how I entered the backrooms. Once in the backrooms, I had to abandon my life in the front hall. At first, I often mentioned my past stories to my companions, but as time went on, I found those experiences to be like a dream - when I woke up, I found myself in the backrooms, and talking about the stories from the dream with my friends seemed novel at first, but later, they were no longer brought up. Now, it's the same. The more I think about the backrooms, the more unreal it feels, and the front hall seems more like a vague dream.
In the blue sea, I didn't get lost in long periods of reminiscing like when I first entered the backrooms. I think it's because everyone here doesn't want to think about the past. It's not just because it feels unreal, but because of the loneliness. At the beginning, there was probably only Matt on the ship, who was already accustomed to loneliness, maybe for several years or even decades, and naturally, he wouldn't change because of the appearance of a newcomer - he was already not used to socializing. Later, Monica came on board, and Matt treated her with loneliness. When Angel came on board, neither of the two people on the ship wanted to speak more. I didn't know how many years they had spent on the ship, and in the long time they had experienced together, there were probably many people they were willing to be close to, but they all died in the sea fog. Permanent separation sealed their hearts.
I couldn't help but wonder if there was another layer of the world beneath this blue sea sieve. Perhaps only those who truly fell down would know. If such a thing really happened, they could only struggle alone in a strange space, and they might even die in the sea fog there.
Matt and Monica came back, and Angel immediately got up and walked towards the ship, seemingly without any sentimentality. The two people who returned from the forest were dragging swollen, tattered sacks and staring straight ahead. I stood still and watched, not knowing why I didn't move. They walked past me with the same pace, and I followed behind them, looking through the holes in the bags and seeing the canned food inside.
There must be someone in that forest, as for why he didn't walk back with Matt, I think I have the answer.