(Hi all! How are you doing? I hope, good. Wanted to let you know that this was the last chapter I wrote in advance. Further chapters will not be released as often, so I hope you don't have any questions. If you have any ideas, you can write to me and I will try to make a new chapter out of them.)

The first timid rays of the sun penetrate through the cracks of thick curtains, pouring Ayanokoji's room with soft light. His face, not yet overshadowed by the worries of the new day, rests serenely on the pillow. A light morning breeze shakes the brown hair that frames his face.

A sudden silence is cut by a sharp alarm bell. Ayanokoji, frowning at the bright light, reluctantly opens his eyes. After reaching out, he presses the disconnect button. After running his hand over his disheveled hair, he lazily sits on the bed, stretching.

Ayanokoji slowly goes to the bathroom to wash up and tidy himself up. Slowly washing, he brushes his teeth and combs his hair.

Stepping on the cool floor of a spacious apartment, Ayanokoji walks down the corridor, heading to the kitchen.

He puts the kettle on the stove, extracts fruits with berries and a couple of eggs from the refrigerator.

While the kettle boils, he deftly cooks scrambled eggs and cuts fruits with berries.

The boiling kettle notifies that the water is ready, and Ayanokoji, without wasting time, brews fragrant coffee and puts the prepared breakfast on the plate.

Leisurely enjoying the taste of coffee, eggs and fresh fruits, he watches the news on his phone.

His eyes lingers on one of the articles.

The article was full of a sensational title, claiming that there is a place called Backrooms. The text was accompanied by several photos allegedly confirming the reality of this terrible maze.

Ayanokoji briefly reviewed the article without lingering on dubious details. The absurdity of the description and the lack of logic in the narrative did not leave him the slightest doubt about the fictitiousness of Backrooms.

"The Internet, as always, is full of garbage," - he chuckled, putting down the phone. "People are ready to believe everything they will be shown without bothering to check the information. Does anyone seriously think that somewhere there is a parallel reality, where mazes of yellow wallpaper and buzzing lamps are the norm? It's ridiculous..."

Skeptically chumming, Ayanokoji pushed the phone away and continued breakfast. After slowly milking, he cleaned the table, washed the dishes and was going to go to school.

But as soon as he took a step to the door, the floor fell under his feet. A moment - and he found himself in the same maze of yellow wallpaper that I just read about. The inexorable hum of the lamps echoed through the endless corridors, Ayanokoji does not immediately realize what happened.

His face remains impenetrable, only surprise slips in his eyes for a moment. He frowns, trying to navigate in space.

Looking around, he notices yellowish, faded wallpaper, buzzing lamps and endless, dull corridors.

Information from the article he read in the morning pops up in his memory.

"Backrooms..." - he says almost in a whisper, with a touch of disbelief.

Suddenly, a quiet but sinister sound is heard in the distance. Ayanokoji is tense, listening. The sound gets closer, and it clearly distinguishes the steps. Someone is coming to him.

Ayanokoji knows that you can't panic right now. Although he didn't really try to read the article, his eyes remembered everything that was written there.

In that article, he learned that there are levels in Backrooms, and that there are different entities at each level, and they have one goal - to kill a person who got into this endless maze. Ayanokoji quickly moves away from the place where he stood, he needs to find a way out of this place.

Very soon the terrible sound subsides, and he hears nothing else but the buzzing of the lamps. Ayanokoji continues to wander through this maze in search of a way out. Suddenly, he turns around, feeling someone's cold look.

For a split second, Ayanokoji notices a strange figure. She flashes in the twilight of the corridor, around the corner, and instantly disappears from sight.

The figure was tall and skinny. The only thing Ayanokoji managed to see was the long, bony fingers.

"So that's the essence of this level," - the guy thought, looking at the wall behind which, according to his guess, the monster was hiding.

Ayanokoji took a deep breath and resolutely continued his journey, trying to ignore the pressing silence that reigned around.

He was overcome by a burning desire to leave this cursed place as soon as possible. He couldn't understand why this monster hadn't hit yet. After all, he had the opportunity, but for some reason he just disappeared.

And then a thought suddenly came to his mind:

"So he wants to break me mentally, make me give in to fear and panic," - he was in his mind.

Ayanokoji noticed a high passage on the wall and a staircase leading to it. Without hesitation, he got up and found himself in a room with access to another room.

Theoretically, he could have stayed here, but the lack of supplies and the oppressive atmosphere of the place left no choice.

Going down to another room, he headed to the only exit from this room.

A long, sinister corridor was waiting for him, illuminated only by a lonely dim lamp. After walking through this corridor, Ayanokoji again found himself in the maze of rooms.

                                        ***

It is not known how long it took before Ayanokoji came across strange arrows scratched on a dilapidated wall. These arrows, like an invisible hand, took him somewhere.

Soon these curved arrows led him to a shabby wall, on which there was a strange graffiti. It was made in a chaotic, careless style, as if someone was drawing in a hurry, not caring about the details.

Several elements could be distinguished on it:

Face: Fuzzy, with empty eye sockets and a sinister smile.

Meaningless lines: Intertwined, as if reflecting the entanglement of this place.

Window drawing: With the rays of the sun breaking through it. It was a ray of hope in this gloomy maze.

Inscription: Crookedly written words that read: "Don't move."

Suddenly, he heard a chilling scream that pierced the silence. Turning towards the sound, he saw a terrible creature rushing at him with a growl.

Ayanokoji, instinctively rushed to run. His whole body trembled, and his heart pounded furriedly. He has never experienced such fear.

Ayanokoji ran without dismanting the road, his heart pounding in his chest like a mad thing. He didn't know where he was running, but he knew he had to get away from this monster as far as possible. Suddenly he remembered the inscription written on the wall.

If he had stopped in place now, maybe that monster would have stopped chasing him. But there was also a possibility that it wouldn't work, and this monster would catch him, he couldn't take such a risk.

Suddenly, Ayanokoji sees that a banana peel has materialized in front of his feet from nowhere. Ayanokoji stepped on her and... ran on.

__________

In an unknown place...

"What the hell?! I thought it would work," - error 404 said, seeing that it didn't work out the way he expected.

"Alo! What the fuck is an unplanned hacking of the fourth wall is happening here!" - the author shouted.

"It's not me, it's Godverse messing around as usual. Damn, I thought he would slip on the banana peel."

"Have you reviewed the cartoons?"

"Well, there is such a case. It doesn't matter now, I have a better idea," - said error 404 with a snide smile.

__________

Suddenly, ice chains bound his legs, and he collapsed to the floor.

"What's going on here? Where did these damn chains come from," - Ayanokoji's head.

But then he realized that the monster was already very close. Ayanokoji surrendered, preparing for the inevitable.

But nothing happened.

He saw the monster standing in front of him, but it wasn't moving.

Ayanokoji couldn't understand what was going on. The monster, frozen in place, looked at him piercingly with his empty eye sockets.

Suddenly, a strange sound that looked like a wheezing broke out of his throat.

And he remembered the inscription written on the wall, so his first theory was correct. With bated breath, Ayanokoji froze without moving a millimeter.

The monster continued to look at him motionless, but then, to Ayanokoji's surprise, he slowly turned and moved away.

He couldn't believe his eyes. He was saved.

With difficulty breathing, Ayanokoji tried to recover. The thought of graffiti on the wall flashed through his head. It depicted a picture of a window illuminated by the rays of the sun.

Was it a way out of this maze?

Having risen from the floor, he moved on to find the same window.

He wandered through endless corridors until he noticed the light in the distance.

After speeding up his step, he finally got to the wall.

There really was a window on it.

But it wasn't an ordinary window.

It was a window to his own room.

Stretching out his hand, he touched the cold, smooth glass.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.

When he opened them, he was already in his room.

Suddenly, he fell to the floor, grabbing his head. The pain subsided after a few seconds, and he rose to his feet.

He was confused.

What was he doing in the middle of his apartment? What time is it now?

Looking at his watch, he saw that it was 7:30 in the morning. Exactly, he was going to go to school.

After slowly leaving the dormitory, Ayanokoji headed to school.