My Hero Academia
Tales of the Wanderers
Backrooms Level Zero
Manila Room
"Okay, so let's go over what we've learned so far from being here," Claudia said as she had pieces of paper with writing on them scattered around herself. "As we made our way back to this area, we noticed more writing on the walls and arrows leading to here and to somewhere else in this place. With the assistance of our phones and the zooming options to get a better look at the letters, I had put together some notes that could help us understand the situation we're in."
"Oh, look at you getting all serious and stuff~," Rebecca said before looking over the notes scattered around them. "And you were able to get word for word from what they were saying?"
"Well, the ones that were in English. The others were in different languages ranging from Indian, Chinese, and German. Sadly I don't have much knowledge of those three, but the English one did give me some insight. For starters, I was right about us not being in school. This place is called the backrooms."
"The backrooms? What are they? Rooms inside of a building or something?"
"You would think that, but that's not the case." She said before pulling up another piece of paper. "From the writing left behind by a person named Jack, It would appear we're in a different dimension with endless upon endless liminal spaces."
"Y-You're joking, right?" Rebecca asked with a slight twitch in her right eye. "This has to be some kind of joke…right?"
"I wish I was joking, but given what we just encountered and with the writings that I've been looking over while exploring this place. I would have to say that we're no longer on Earth or the dimension that we're from."
"...Okay….so I'm in a mix of both panic and excitement."
"...Is there a reason behind that?"
"Panicking because we're no longer on Earth, but in a different dimension that isn't your pocket dimension. The exciting part would be that we're far away from my family and the school…so yeah, kind of mixed feeling in my case."
"Right…keep forgetting about your trainwreck of a family…No offense."
"None taken, it's pretty much a trainwreck. So do the notes say anything about how to get out of this place?"
"Hard to say, a lot of the writing involves their encounter with the creature that we killed or them dying from starvation due to being down here for so long."
"How long have they been down here?"
"Well, they ranged from hours to weeks. Mainly due to starvation or the creature. But they did leave a hint of where to go that could give us a lead."
"What kind of hint did they leave?"
"They say to follow the arrows to get to the Manila Room…That's pretty much it."
"...The hell is the Manila Room?"
"I don't know, but if it helps get us the hell out of here, then I'll take the writing's advice," Claudia said before standing up and cracking her neck due to how stiff it felt. "Let's leave the notes behind just in case someone needs help in getting to where we're going."
"Good idea, but where do we leave them so that they'll see it?" Rebecca asked before noticing her friend reaching into her pocket and tossing a thick black marker over to her.
"We'll write it on the walls in this room. You take one half of the room, and I'll take the other along with half of the notes I've written down." She said as Rebecca nodded and began writing on her side of the wall in the area they were in.
Roughly an hour and a half had passed since they finished writing the notes for the other wanderers to find as they backtracked to where the arrows that led to a different area of level zero were located. The duo continued to follow the arrows that led them surprisingly down a straight path without any turns or corners off to the side of them. About thirty minutes had passed as the two soon came across the end of the hallway they were walking through. Upon making it to the end, they would see a wooden door in front of them. The pair blinked at each other for a moment before looking at the door with mixed expressions on their faces.
"Does this door lead to the Manila room?" Rebecca asked.
"It should be, given what the notes I wrote down said," Claudia answered before noticing Rebecca reaching for the doorknob as she stopped her by grabbing her wrist. "Let's not open the door so casually. The last thing we need is for another black monster impaling you in the chest from behind that door."
"Right, sorry," Rebecca said before feeling Claudia release her hold on her wrist. "So how do you suppose we go in?"
"We have quirks, remember? I'll just warp space around it and just crush it like before." She said before reaching for the doorknob and began to open the door carefully. The moment there was a crack in the door, Rebecca moved over towards it to get a better view inside. Upon getting a good view of the inside, there was a small wooden table, a chair made out of wood, and documents placed on the table. "See anything?"
"All I see is a table, a chair, and some documents on the table." She answered as Claudia opened the door to the room for them to enter. The fox girl blinked in surprise as she made her way over to the table. Upon making her way to the table she noticed the document folders would have the insignia of a black colored bird with a box above its head and the word M.E.G on the front.
"What's that?" Rebecca asked before picking up a folder of her own.
"Major Explorer Group," Claudia answered as she opened up the folder and began reading the content that was inside. "They're a group of people that aid wanderers within the liminal space called the Backrooms. They're a collective workforce of researchers and security personnel that study the levels of the backrooms. They have scattered outposts on the safe levels and levels that aren't that dangerous to explore or set an outpost on. They're able to communicate with people from the frontrooms, which they call reality."
"So basically this meg group has been here for a long time and knows the ins and outs of this place we're in?" She asked before noticing a nod from the fox girl.
"Seems like it. They left these documents here for wanderers to look over. Specifically, how to no-clip to other levels." Claudia answered as she continued reading through the documents.
"How many floors are there?"
"Levels to be more accurate. As for how many…they have written down some of the rooms that they've documented, but they're not entirely sure if there's a limit to how many levels the backrooms have."
"Swell, so there might be an unlimited number of levels. Does it at least tell us how to get out of this place?" She asked before noticing Claudia making a copy of the document she read. "Wait, why are you making a copy of that document?"
"Not just that one, but all of them. We need some kind of guide on making it through the levels, right? So why not make a small booklet on how to maneuver through the levels?" She said before doing the same with the other documents on the table.
"Oh, that's not a bad idea. Even better is that you can leave something behind and we can teleport to said level if we need to make a stop or have to get something."
"...I never really thought about that." She said before reaching into her pocket to pull out a black rock that was about the size of a golf ball. She grips the ball as a magenta color glow appears for a moment before vanishing. Once she was finished, she placed the ball onto the floor and returned to organizing the documents she copied.
"So is there a way for us to get out of this level?"
"Through the art of no-clipping," Claudia answered as Rebecca tilted her head in confusion. "It's like teleporting, but you're glitching through reality just to get to the next level. Kind of what happened to us back in the girl's bathroom."
"Right…and how do we no-clip? Because in case you're not aware, I don't have teleportation powers as you do."
"We simply just run into a wall or object fast enough without breaking it and it'll happen…The instructions aren't very good on the specifics on how to no-clip."
"Clearly, what would happen if someone fails to no-clip?"
"Bodily injuries, death, and you could end up in the lifeless place called the void or worse," Claudia answered as she noticed the color of Rebecca's skin turning a slight pale color. "Yeah, I figured that would be your reaction."
"There has to be a better way to get out of here than that. Can't you just…I don't know. Find the source of energy that would lead us to where you can teleport us out of here?"
"Other than my source of energy, I can't sense any other types of energy."
"Well, have you tried?" She asked as Claudia deadpanned at Rebecca. She was about to say something with a witty remark, only to pause upon pondering the question. She soon took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began searching the area for some kind of anomalous energy within the area. To her surprise, she picked up the faint hint of said energy in the room they were in as she began to make her way over to it. Once she was close, she opened her eyes and pulled out a marker to mark the area where they would be able to no-clip through.
"Before you say anything, fuck you." She said as the cat girl gave Claudia a Cheshire grin. "I'm more surprised that I can pick on stuff like this given how I've been slacking on stuff like that."
"You're welcome~," She said before noticing Claudia placing a hand on the area. "Will you be able to teleport us to the next level?"
Before the fox girl could reply, the area she marked where she sensed the energy lit up. The anomalous energy that she was sensing shot into her arm and flowed throughout her body. A small scream of pain escaped her lips as she started to spasm on the floor as if she was being tased by a taser. Rebecca's eyes widened upon seeing this as she quickly rushed over to her friend. The moment she placed a hand on Claudia, she was soon sent flying backward into the wall behind her from the force of the strange energy flowing wildly in and around Claudia's body. Within a matter of seconds, the energy that was sparking out of control started to shimmer down before vanishing. A small cough escaped from the cat girl as she slowly pulled herself and staggered over to Claudia.
"H-Hey, you're okay?" Rebecca asked as before seeing Claudia let out a small coughing fit before speaking.
"Y-Yeah…fuck I was not expecting something like that to happen. W-What about you? I saw that you were sent flying back into that wall behind you."
"Forget about me, I'm more worried about what happened to you." She asked while kneeling to help Claudia to stand up. "One minute you're okay, and the next you're being tased or something."
"Yeah, whatever that energy was, it ended up going inside me. Feels like my head is on fire." Claudia said before standing up and leaning on Rebecca for support. She soon raised her hand to rub her head from the pain she felt, but soon felt her quirk activating. Upon activation, she noticed the magenta color glow it gave off was now a dark shade of purple as a portal appeared in front of them. Their eyes widened upon seeing this they looked at each other for a moment before looking back at the portal leading to a concrete-like area.
"...Okay what just happened?" Rebecca asked as she felt Claudia pull herself off of her as she walked over to the portal.
"D…Did I do that?" Claudia asked before inserting her hand through the portal.
"Well who else can make a portal like this? You think that the energy you touch boosts your quirk's power?"
"If it did, then this will come in handy for making our way through the levels." She said before walking through the portal. "You coming or what?"
"Of course I am." She said before walking into the portal after her friend. The moment they entered through, the portal that went through instantly vanished.