Eiden slowly opened his eyes. He had slept more than he thought inside the Manila Room, but his body felt light, refreshed. The air in that silent space had given him the peace he so desperately needed. He sat down and stretched out his arms, noticing the feeling of security that the shelter gave him.
[With this ability... I'm not so helpless anymore. Even if I can't defeat the entity, I can always put up a wall between us. That gives me an advantage.]
He took a deep breath and left the Manila Room, piercing the manila wallpaper as if it were an invisible curtain. The yellow hallway greeted him with its usual oppression and the hum of fluorescent lights. However, this time his heart was beating not with fear but with anticipation.
He walked several meters and decided to test his new skill. He extended his hand towards the wall, clenching his fist. The surface trembled slightly, as if responding to his will. He took a step back, curious.
[The radius... about five meters. Beyond that, I don't feel any connection. Well, I have to learn to control it precisely.]
He tried again, this time moving his entire body, lowering his posture and pushing with both palms. The floor cracked and a small solid wall emerged blocking part of the hallway. Eiden smiled.
—It works much better if I do full movements... as if it were... —paused and then remembered immediately—. Like a master earth!
He couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
—If anyone in my world saw this... I'd say I'm Toph's apprentice.
He took his time to experiment. He trampled the ground, raised walls, shaped surfaces. Martial arts moves helped him better guide the energy of the Backrooms. Although he knew he was still clumsy and slow, the potential was there.
Meanwhile, hundreds of messages were written in the Blue Star chat. Players from different countries commented in amazement on the way Eiden used his skill. Some said he was a genius, others claimed he had discovered a secret technique to master the system. But he, oblivious to those comments, remained focused on his goal: finding the entity... or the way out.
Several hours passed before he heard that familiar guttural sound. A slimy, wet growl that echoes through the endless hallways. Eiden tense.
[There you are... damn shadow. This time it will be different.]
He moved forward with firm steps until the entity appeared at the end of the hallway. He moved with long strides, waving his deformed arms, leaving a trail of corrosive substance on the ground.
—You never get tired, right? —Eiden murmured, without taking a step back.
The creature accelerated and charged at him with that clumsy ferocity that cooled the blood. But instead of running away, Eiden smiled and stomped his heel on the ground, bending his body and swinging his left arm.
Immediately, the wall to his right warped like clay. With a violent push, a new wall burst into the hallway and crashed into the side of the entity. The impact echoed like thunder, throwing the monster against the opposite wall.
—Yes! —Eiden gritted his teeth, surprised by the power—. This is amazing!
The entity, however, roared louder and pounced again, raising a wave of its slimy substance. Eiden reacted immediately: he raised both hands and, with an upward movement, a wall appeared between them. Corrosive liquid splashed across the surface, sizzling, but could not break through.
Sweat began to run down Eiden's forehead. Every move required energy, concentration, and although he was excited, he knew he couldn't prolong the fight too long.
[I need to finish this quickly.]
He took a firmer stance. He clenched his fists against his chest and then extended them to his sides. Simultaneously, two walls emerged, one to the left and one to the right of the entity. Little by little, they began to close like stone jaws.
The creature screeched, waving its deformed arms, trapped between the narrowing walls. Eiden kept the pressure on, gasping.
—It's over for you!
The walls moaned, pressing hard. Victory was within reach when, suddenly, a sound thundered in his mind. A global notification.
[Player Kiyotaka Ayanokouji has managed to enter Level 1.]
The entire Backrooms seemed to vibrate with the news. The global chat exploded instantly: messages of joy, surprise, hope. Thousands of voices celebrating that, finally, someone had confirmed the existence of a way out.
But Eiden was paralyzed.
[Kiyotaka... Ayanokouji? You have to be kidding me. That... that is the protagonist of an anime from my past life.]
His concentration faltered for a moment and was enough. The entity let out a deafening scream and, with brutal force, broke free of the walls before crushing it. He ran into a side hallway and disappeared into the darkness.
Eiden stood there, panting, his heart burning with frustration.
—Damn! The first death achievement was mine!
He hit the wall, letting the surface vibrate under his wrath. However, little by little the memory of the announcement returned to his mind.
[Kiyotaka Ayanokouji... If he is here, then this world is not what it seems. What the hell is going on?]
The hallway fell silent again, illuminated only by the flickering lights. And Eiden, amid the confusion and heat of battle, realized that the back rooms were much more complex than he had imagined.