Level 5.1, Terror Casino.
The interior decoration is nearing completion, and its internal environment is exactly like the Terror Hotel.
It is no exaggeration to describe it as luxurious; music is even playing continuously in the hall, with a strong European and American style from the 70s and 80s.
Yang Tao sat on a magnificent chair, with a slot machine in front of him, the kind where you pull a Lever and 777 appears.
"Partner, the official opening is the day after tomorrow..."
The Beast was still in a suit and tie, looking very much like a successful person; in fact, in the Backrooms, he was already successful enough.
He owned his own hotel, casino, and had a large number of Faceling laborers.
"Some levels in the Backrooms have undergone some changes, and I came to see if you were alright."
"Oh? Recently, I've been focusing on the renovations and haven't kept up with the outside situation."
The Beast looked at Yang Tao and asked, "What interesting changes have occurred?"
"The Party Host went crazy, I killed it, Level Fun completely disappeared and became a void, Level 28 almost merged, and the number of Entities in some levels surged and they became stronger."
The Beast, who was originally only slightly curious, listened to what Yang Tao said and seriously replied, "That's incredible! Do you have any clues?"
Yang Tao gently pulled the Lever on the slot machine, and with a special ringing sound, he said, "There's an outsider. Do you know an octopus named Squidward?"
"It was only affected because it sensed the other party's existence... I suspect the Party Host was the same, but its strength was not as good as that octopus, causing it to completely lose its self-awareness."
Hearing the name Squidward, the Beast's small, dark eyes flickered slightly, and a Faceling in a waiter's uniform came to his side with some drinks.
He reached out, picked up a glass of wine, and handed it to Yang Tao.
"Squidward? It seems this outsider is very strong, but he hasn't come here, so he won't be able to come here in the future either."
There was no hint of worry in the Beast's words.
This made Yang Tao a little curious.
He took the glass of wine offered to him, took a small sip, and asked, "Aren't you worried about the level being swallowed by the void?"
The Beast's face kept wriggling; a normal person would indeed find his appearance hard to accept.
"Swallowed by the void?"
"Mr. Yang Tao, you've been here for too short a time. Even I, who have lived in the Backrooms for hundreds of years, haven't figured out how many levels there truly are."
"New levels appear all the time, and old levels disappear..."
"I've personally witnessed levels disappear due to various reasons more than ten times... For example, the world where I was born."
"As for invaders... the beings in the Pantheon will welcome him. Either the invader becomes a new member of them, or he is eliminated in every sense of the word."
"As for the Party Host..."
At this point, the Beast suddenly retorted, "Do you really care about the lives of your Villagers?"
"Yes!"
Yang Tao downed the wine in his glass in one gulp, not looking at the slot machine's display stuck at 777 and the chips continuously dropping from the coin dispenser.
He placed the glass back on the waiter's tray, then stood up and looked at the Beast, saying, "I'm a bit protective of my own. My people can be dealt with by me, but if others want to do something..."
"They'll have to see if their teeth are good. However, I understand what you mean..."
"The Party Host died, and that's that. It can only be considered unlucky... The invader might die, but it has nothing to do with it."
The Beast nodded slightly and said, "Do you remember the notebook you gave me before? In fact, owning it allows one to create new Level Hosts at any time, and the notebook is merely something those beings in the Pantheon wrote down casually."
"The entire Backrooms, in their eyes, is like a computer program, and the outsider is a virus. Files that are swallowed become worthless..."
Yang Tao nodded slightly.
He also had some understanding of the Pantheon's information, but the information he knew was very limited.
An endless, eternal, constant, primordial conceptual range that is past, present, and future.
All concepts always exist, but not all concepts are immediately "active." All concepts have the same "scale..." but some concepts have greater importance and earlier activity due to being more fundamental.
The emergence of perception allowed certain concepts to gradually form pillars and emerge from the great sea.
Avatars emerged from the pillars, spreading their influence throughout reality.
Several Avatars, and various other types of deities, gathered in the void.
Avatars and other god-like beings created this instance of the "Backrooms..." with each contributing to the creation within their sphere of influence.
They are the creators of the Backrooms and members of the so-called Pantheon.
Yang Tao adheres to the principle of keeping a respectful distance from the Pantheon.
A group of perverts who casually create, control, and change rules; just listen to their stories like fairy tales.
Those guys rarely show themselves, and he is just a harmless Entity; the possibility of seeing them is simply too low.
"Beast, since you're alright, I'm relieved. I'm leaving. Oh, and I won't come to the opening ceremony. These next few days, I plan to visit other levels to check things out."
The Beast nodded slightly; Yang Tao not coming wasn't a big deal. After all, his inexplicable attraction to Entities might turn a perfectly good opening ceremony into a mass brawl.
Yang Tao summoned a wooden door and returned to the Overworld. The Beast was quite active, so the Entities in Level 5 and Level 5.1 had no reference value.
Looking at the wooden door on the Mist Wall, Yang Tao pondered where it would be best to observe Entities.
'Level! If you don't want to die, run quickly. That probably won't work... unless I can find other corridors.'
'Oh, right, Level 8, the Cave System...'
The Cave System is famous for having many Entities, and he had personally experienced it. He no longer hesitated and walked directly to the wooden door leading to Level 8.
He opened the wooden door.
The originally dark cave was now brightly lit, with many Villagers wandering inside.
Some glowstone blocks suspended in mid-air provided illumination.
Some Mutated Iron Golems patrolled aimlessly, occasionally sitting on a protruding rock to rest for a moment.
"I said, we're not hiring!!"
"Don't waste our time."
The Villagers' unique voices came from not far away. Yang Tao looked over and saw several Wanderers chasing a Villager, asking him questions.
"I'm very capable, I can mine too!"
"Yeah, give us a chance."
Yang Tao looked at the faces of these guys, a smile appearing as he shook his head slightly.
'Some people still want to take advantage of me. Is there still justice? Is there still law?'
Their idea of working for him was false; their true intention was to gain the ability to break blocks.
However, this ability, based on rules and data, cannot be learned casually, otherwise, Yang Tao wouldn't have just made Eric a mascot in the first place.
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