RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME: LEVEL OBSERVED WITHIN THE BACKROOMS, HENCEFORTH REFERENCED TO AS LEVEL 400 N. THE PRESENT ROTWATCHER HAS BEEN OBSERVED WITHIN THIS SPACE FOLLOWING FORCED STASIS DUE TO IT INSTINCTIVELY REACTING TO ITS NOMENCLATURE BROADCASTED IN PREVIOUS LEVEL.
LEVEL STRUCTURE RESEMBLES AN OUTDOOR AREA OF A JAPANESE LEARNING FACILITY FOR BRIGHT CHILDREN. ENTRYPOINTS FOR THE LEARNING FACILITY ARE RENDERED UNUSABLE DUE TO BEING LOCKED WITHOUT EXCEPTION. LEVEL IS TEMPORALLY FIXED NEAR THE END OF BRIGHT CYCLE, AND TEMPERATURE IS MAINTAINED AT LEVELS CONSISTENT WITH HOTTER SEASONS. IT IS ASSUMED TEMPORAL FIXATION IS SPECIFIC FOR THIS LEVEL, AS TEMPORAL READING DEVICES INSTALLED THROUGHOUT THE SPACE ONLY READ SIX-FOURTY-SEVEN. ARTIFICIAL LIGHT SOURCES PRESENT THROUGHOUT THIS SPACE ARE PERMANENTLY SWITCHED OFF, LEAVING A DIM LIGHTING THAT MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO PERCEIVE EVEN THE OUTLINE OF ONE'S FORM. IT IS RECOMMENDED TO BRING A PORTABLE LIGHT SOURCE, THOUGH CARE MUST BE TAKEN WHEN UTILIZING THEM TO NOT ATTRACT ENTITIES DESCRIBED IN A LATER SECTION.
MAIN AREA IS SURROUNDED BY A WHITE MESH FENCE ON TOP OF A SOLID GRAY WALL, WITH RUST-COATED GATES INSTALLED AT FRONT AND BACK ENTRANCES. ALL BARRIERS ARE BUILT TO BE AS TALL AS AN AVERAGE YOUNG BRIGHT CHILD, SO MOST HEALTHY ADULT WANDERERS ARE ABLE TO CIRCUMVENT THEM WITH EASE.
BEYOND IT LIES A SPACE SHROUDED IN DARKNESS, WITH VARIOUS OBJECTS FOUND ON THE BRIGHT STAGE APPEARING FIXED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AIR. PRIMARY EXAMPLES OF OBJECTS INCLUDE DESKS AND CHAIRS, ALONG WITH TRAFFIC LIGHTS AND PAINT UTILIZED FOR PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS. IN PARTICULAR, THE DESKS AND CHAIRS ARE USUALLY OBSERVED GROUPED TOGETHER RATHER THAN APPEARING INDIVIDUALLY. THEY ARE CONNECTED THROUGH BEING STACKED TIGHTLY AGAINST ONE ANOTHER AT EQUAL INTERVALS AND ARE COMMONLY SIGHTED ON A HORIZONTAL PLANE RESEMBLING THE INTERIOR OF AN OFFICE BUILDING.
IN ADDITION, PRESENCE OF ENTITIES RESEMBLING BRIGHT COUSINS CAN BE OBSERVED IN THIS SPACE, SUSPENDED IN A MANNER SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE OBJECTS. UNLIKE SAID OBJECTS, THESE BRIGHT ENTITIES CAN MOVE AT HIGH SPEEDS IN A HORIZONTAL MANNER, AS IF THEY ARE TRAVELING ON THE GROUND. ENTITY'S CLOTHING APPEARANCE IS THAT OF FORMAL BUSINESS WEAR. A WIDE RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES HAS BEEN NOTED FOR EACH ENTITY, WITH SOME TESTIFYING THEM HAVING UNREADABLE FACIAL EXPRESSIONS. BEHAVIORS OF THESE ENTITIES INCLUDE PASSING ONE ANOTHER AT PARALLEL TRAJECTORIES AND SITTING ON CHAIRS, THOUGH THESE ACTIONS ARE BARELY PERCEPTIBLE DUE TO THEIR MOVEMENT SPEED.
ATTEMPTS TO APPROACH ENTITIES OR OBJECTS WITHIN THIS DARK SURROUNDING SPACE HAVE RESULTED IN FAILURE. THEREFORE, NO CONCLUSION OF ANY CONFIDENCE CAN BE MADE BY THE CURRENT ROTWATCHER REGARDING THEIR PHYSICALITY.
OUTDOOR AREA IN LEVEL 400 N CONSISTS OF A WELL-MAINTAINED FIELD, WITH MULTIPLE ENTERTAINMENT STRUCTURES SUCH AS SAND-CONTAINERS AND HORIZONTAL SWINGING LADDERS KNOWN AS 'MONKEY BARS'. A SMALL WOODEN BUILDING IS ALSO PRESENT AND ACCESSIBLE, PROVIDING WANDERERS AN OPTION TO HIDE FROM HOSTILE ENTITIES. FOOTWEAR SHELVES ARE ALSO OBSERVED, BEING FIXED TO THE EXTERIOR WALL OF THE LEARNING FACILITY. FOOTWEAR IS PLACED IN A DISORDERED FASHION, WITH SOME BEING CLOSE TO FALLING OUT OF THEIR RESPECTIVE SHELF. MOST FOOTWEAR HAVE SIZES TOO SMALL FOR MOST ADULT WANDERERS, THOUGH OCCASIONALLY LARGE-ENOUGH LEATHER FOOTWEAR CAN BE FOUND. SEVERAL DRINKING FOUNTAINS HAVE BEEN NOTED THROUGHOUT THIS SPACE, THOUGH A LACK OF SURROUNDING COVER LEADS TO A GREATER CHANCE OF BEING PERCEIVED BY HOSTILE ENTITIES.
THOUGH THE LEARNING FACILITY REMAINS INACCESSIBLE, WINDOWS ALLOW FOR LIMITED OBSERVATION OF THE INTERIOR. ROOMS FACING THE OUTDOORS APPEAR TO BE BRIGHT CHILDREN'S ROOMS, EACH DIVIDED INTO SIX GROUPS. NOMENCLATURE FOR EACH IS AS FOLLOWS, WRITTEN IN A COMBINATION OF TRANSLATED ENGLISH AND JAPANESE ROMANIZATION: CHIKYŪ-GROUP, TSUKI-GROUP, KASEI-GROUP, MOKUSEKI-GROUP, HOSHI-GROUP, AND MEIOU-GROUP. ARTWORKS ARE DISPLAYED ON GLASS DOORS FACING THE ENTRANCE, SEEMINGLY CREATED BY CHILDREN BELONGING TO EACH GROUP.
SOUNDS SIMILAR TO THAT OF POSITIVE VOCALIZATIONS AND RUNNING FOOTSTEPS BELONGING TO BRIGHT-CHILDREN HAVE BEEN OBSERVED NEAR THE BACK OF THE FACILITY. UNOCCUPIED CLOTHING CAN ALSO BE OBSERVED INSIDE CERTAIN ROOMS IN THE BACK EXTERIOR, WITH SOME BEING IDENTIFIED AS BELONGING TO CURRENTLY MISSING WANDERERS. IT REMAINS UNKNOWN IF THERE IS ANY RELATION BETWEEN THE POSSIBLE PRESENCE OF CHILDREN ENTITIES WITHIN THIS SPACE AND THE PILE OF CLOTHING.
PRESENCE OF ENTITIES NATIVE TO THIS LEVEL HAVE BEEN OBSERVED, HENCEFORTH REFERENCED TO AS TEACHERS. ENTITY APPEARANCE RESEMBLES THAT OF A MALE OR FEMALE ADULT BRIGHT COUSIN WEARING AN APRON AROUND THEIR NECK AND OFTEN HAVING WORRIED FACIAL EXPRESSIONS. BEHAVIOR CONSISTS OF WANDERING THROUGHOUT THE LEVEL AND CALLING OUT DESIGNATIONS FOR WANDERERS PRESENT WITHIN. THESE CALLS SEEM TO HAVE A MENTAL EFFECT ON THE PRESENT WANDERER, REDUCING THEIR SENSE OF DANGER.
WHEN SIGHTING A WANDERER, A TEACHER WILL BEGIN APPROACHING THEM AT AN ABOVE-AVERAGE WALK SPEED, AND AT A CLOSE ENOUGH DISTANCE THEY WILL EITHER SCOLD THE WANDERER OR PICK THEM UP. FOLLOWING THIS, THEY WILL DRAG THE WANDERER TO THE LEARNING FACILITY, POSSESSING AN ABNORMALLY-STRONG GRIP THAT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO BREAK OUT OF. AT THIS POINT, THE PREVIOUSLY UNACCESSIBLE FACILITY'S DOOR IS UNLOCKED, BEING THE ONLY WAY FOR A WANDERER TO ENTER THE BUILDING. HOWEVER, NO INSTANCES OF WANDERER RESPONSE FOLLOWING THIS HAS BEEN OBSERVED, AND IT IS ASSUMED WANDERERS WILL DISAPPEAR IF FORCED INTO THE LEARNING FACILITY.
THE PRESENT ROTWATCHER IS OBSERVED TO DIRECTLY WITNESS A WANDERER BEING CAPTURED BY A TEACHER. BOTH THE WANDERER'S FACIAL EXPRESSIONS AND BODY LANGUAGE EXPRESSES EMOTIONS RELATED TO FEAR AND DESPAIR, WITH STRUGGLING ATTEMPTS ALL RESULTING IN FAILURE.
THE ROTWATCHER IS THEN OBSERVED TO DISREGARD PREVIOUS SELF-IMPOSED GUIDELINES OF NO INTERFERENCE AND IS OBSERVED TO LASH AT THE ENTITY. DESPITE THE ROTWATCHER'S LOW ATTACK CAPABILITIES, ITS ATTACK IS ENOUGH TO BRIEFLY DISORIENTATE THE TEACHER, LOOSENING ITS GRIP AND ALLOWING THE WANDERER TO PRY THEMSELF OUT. IT IS ASSUMED THE FREED WANDERER LACKS THE ABILITY TO PROPERLY PERCEIVE THE ROTWATCHER, SINCE THEIR EYES DID NOT FOCUS ON THE ROTWATCHER WHEN LOOKING BACK AS THEY FLED. THE ROTWATCHER IS UNABLE TO OBSERVE WHAT FOLLOWS, HOWEVER, AS IT SUDDENLY EXPERIENCED LOCATIONAL EXCHANGE AND FOUND ITSELF IN A NEW LEVEL.