Level 5.1



Level 5.1 is the 1st sub-level of Level 5.

Description
Level 5.1, better known and referred to by staff as the Terror Hotel Casino is found within The Beverly Room of Level 5. The entrance takes the appearance of a door into a large, Vegas-style casino, having an estimated maximum occupancy of around 5000 people. On the front, the initials “TH” (presumably standing for Terror Hotel) are displayed in large red letters. The casino is open for a period of 16 hours, and closed for a period of 8 before repeating the cycle. Upon entering the casino, wanderers will be greeted by a vast number of roulettes, cards, dice, slots, and games found within a typical casino. Due to the lack of any sort of standard currency across the Backrooms, the games have been documented to run off of coin-like objects that heavily resemble poker chips. These chips can be acquired by bartering with the current on-duty staff member at the front desk. Your sanity will not be affected in this level.

The chips have multiple values depending on their color. Similar to casinos in the Frontrooms, each of the chips appear to be worth a certain amount of “money” depending on their color. So far, 4 chip colors and their value have been confirmed: red chips, worth $1’s worth of gameplay, blue chips worth $5, yellow chips worth $10, and green chips worth $20. Each game functions on a certain amount of money. For example, regular slot machines will usually require only $1, or 1 red chip, while advanced roulettes will cost a few more. Other games are only playable through higher value chips, which are also mainly used for card games.

It has been rumored that chips worth $50 exist, but no concrete proof has been brought up to suggest their existence as of the writing of this document. The only evidence towards its existence is a story told about a man who received a purple chip upon bartering, and noticed it was different than the rest. The story talks about the chip having a number in the middle which went up or down depending on if he won or lost a game. The story then describes the man going on a losing streak, which caused the chip to eventually hit zero. What happened next varies with each storyteller, but in all tellings of it, the man never came back.

The chips also act as the reward for winning the games. For example, if you play a game that costs 1 blue chip, and win $6, 6 red chips will be dispensed from the machine, giving you a net gain of 1 red chip. When a person wishes to leave the casino, they can trade their chips in for various objects, both native and foreign to the Backrooms. Wanderers have described being able to win anything from Almond Water, to what the staff refer to as a “mystery egg” which looks like an egg that’s ready to hatch some horrifying, demonic creature. The B.N.T.G. plans to make use of the system in the future to gain rare resources, which the casino seems to have an abundance of.

The casino itself appears to look relatively average: the lights are dim and flash periodically, the games constantly emit obnoxious sounds, and blaring music constantly plays in the background.3 While playing the games, the inescapable cacophony of cheering and jeering as guests win and lose surrounds you, further adding to the temptation a wanderer experiences inside of the casino. Plastic chips can be heard clinking as they’re inserted into the machines, slot machines whir and buzz as they dispense jackpots for the lucky winners, the cool breeze of the air conditioner surrounds your body as you walk across the classy new carpet, and the aroma of fine alcohol is always present.

What really makes the casino stand out, however, is the strange nature of the games themselves. Wanderers who have visited the casino have alleged that the games are rigged to choose when you win or lose, perfectly engineered to maintain the precise balance of letting gamblers win just enough to keep them hooked, while making them lose enough to turn a handsome profit.

Many patrons have noticed that the machines will malfunction in apparently deliberate ways to make you win or lose. One wanderer reports watching a roulette suddenly spin faster for a second before winning the jackpot. Another reported the opposite happening, with the roulette randomly moving itself away from the jackpot as if someone invisible was intervening. Some even go as far as to say that the cards are alive, and can choose whether to give someone a royal flush or a junk hand. These claims cannot yet be proven, and have been dismissed at present as pure speculation. Further study into these machines is ongoing, in order to determine whether these rumors might actually turn out to be true.

Regardless of whether or not these curious rumors are true, wanderers who have visited the casino almost always agree that the games it offers feel extraordinarily addictive. The M.E.G. urges people to avoid the casino and its games if possible. If wanderers must enter, they are advised to be cautious when playing the games, to avoid succumbing to the temptation to squander away all their valuable resources.

Aside from the games, the casino also features a bar with a large menu of food and drinks. The bar appears to be primarily run by The Barkeep. The brands of the drinks are also not any known brands from the Frontrooms. Despite this, the drinks have been described as very strong and pleasant. The food menu is also immense, ranging from simple macaroni and cheese, all the way to filet mignon. The food and drinks can be bought through more bartering or by spending chips.

Entities
The Staff of the casino are also not what you would typically expect from an average casino. They appear to be partly human, or at least vaguely humanoid. Sketches of a few staff members have been provided to the right for reference.

The staff member of utmost interest to The M.E.G. is the manager of the casino. The manager claims to be the former Junior Field Researcher Louie Sulphur, who witnessed the opening of the casino itself. The entity in question heavily resembles Louie, despite his clearly inhuman features. His arms appear to have been replaced with pool sticks, and one of his eyes with a billiard ball. It is currently unknown, apparently even to Louie himself, how this change occurred. Louie seems to have absolutely no recollection of any memory before his first day on the job, apart from his name.

There have been several attempts to interview Louie, but all have ended in either Louie becoming extremely confused, and/or the agent becoming sucked into the games. Louie is most often seen roaming the floors to offer food and drink to wanderers, as well as making sure the guests are all having a good time.

The other staff are styled in a similar fashion, being vaguely human, but with body parts changed to thematically match various parts of the casino. They all hold various jobs, including but not limited to food servicing, game maintenance, guest welcomers, barterers, upkeeping security, and other jobs you would expect from a casino. The staff are generally passive, but a sense of caution should always be upheld around them, and provoking them should be avoided at all costs. These entities are still incredibly undocumented, and no risky behavior should occur around them, as possibility of violent retaliation is unpredictable.

Audio Log
''Following this encounter, Louie's uniform was found neatly folded at the doorstep of Level 5. The audio was turned over to the M.E.G. for archival purposes. Louie Sulphur is currently working as staff for the casino, but seems to have no recollection of any event prior to when he was hired.''

Entrances and Exits
The only way to enter and exit is through the front doors of the casino in Level 5 (see attached image).