Rusino - Looping The Rooms

Level 0, commonly known as "The Vestibule," is the most frequent entry point to the Backrooms. It consists of a seemingly endless maze of interconnected rooms, covered in old, damp, yellowed carpet, walls lined with faded wallpaper of the same hue, and a ceiling made of fluorescent panels whose lights remain constantly on. The persistent hum of the lamps, along with the smell of dampness and mold, creates a monotonous and uncomfortable atmosphere that ultimately affects the mental state of those who linger there too long.

Its layout lacks logic. The corridors change direction without any apparent pattern, the rooms vary slightly in size, and numerous sections seem to repeat themselves almost identically, making any attempt at orientation difficult. There are no windows, doors to the outside, or signs indicating an exit, giving the impression that the level stretches endlessly.

Although Level 0 is generally considered relatively safe due to the scarcity of entities, its isolation is one of its greatest dangers. It is extremely rare to encounter another person, and those who enter the level often appear separated from one another, even if they entered at the same time.

In a seemingly random fashion, various objects can appear at different points throughout the level. Some appear on the floor, leaning against a wall, or inside small, empty rooms, with no explanation for their origin. Most are everyday objects, though tools, furniture, supplies, or items completely out of place can also be found. The most frequently appearing object is canned almond milk, considered one of the most valuable resources in the Backrooms due to its ability to alleviate fatigue and help maintain sanity after long periods of exploration.

Rusino is a skinchanger approximately 210 cm tall whose mere presence is unsettling. She possesses an extremely slender figure, with a narrow torso and long, thin limbs that create a false impression of fragility. However, this appearance is completely deceptive: her body houses immense strength, capable of deforming steel as if it were clay. Her weight is disproportionately high for such a slender figure, making her a living contradiction between appearance and physical prowess.
Her face wears a perpetually tired and vacant expression. She has four eyes, though two are usually hidden by her hair. Her eyes are small, with dark circles and drooping eyelids, reinforcing a sickly or exhausted appearance. Her nose is inconspicuous, and her mouth is almost always concealed behind the wide collar of a dark gray sweater. Her hair is black, long, unkempt, and full of unruly strands that cover much of her face and the back of her neck.
She wears an enormous sweater with exaggeratedly long, baggy sleeves, several sizes too big for her body. The garment hangs unevenly, concealing almost her entire frame and creating the illusion of a much more robust physique. A short black garment barely peeks out from underneath. Her legs, completely bare, are long, very pale, and as thin as the rest of her body, with slightly prominent knees and tendons. She walks barefoot, revealing large feet and elongated toes that emphasize her unnatural proportions.
Its posture is usually relaxed, with slumped shoulders and a slightly hunched neck, as if carrying an invisible weight. Even so, it conveys a constant sense of danger. The contrast between its silent, almost defenseless appearance and the monstrous strength it possesses makes it far more intimidating than an obviously muscular creature. Its mere presence inspires a mixture of curiosity, unease, and caution.

After gaining a human appearance, Rusino's personality changed drastically. The cold, territorial creature that once attacked any intruder almost completely vanished, replaced by a curious, docile, and surprisingly peaceful individual. Convinced she was finally human, she began wandering the Backrooms, hoping to connect with others. However, every attempt ended the same way: screams, panic, and a desperate escape. Rusino never understood why. From her perspective, she was simply trying to be kind.

Due to his limited understanding of human behavior, he learns by observing and imitating those he encounters. He repeats words, greetings, and phrases he has heard before, although many of these come from terrified victims, so cries for help, warnings, or exclamations of fear are a normal part of his vocabulary. He often uses them out of context, believing they are common ways to start or maintain a conversation.

Their mindset is naive and literal. They interpret actions exactly as they see them and rarely understand double meanings, irony, or complex emotions. Concepts such as personal space, privacy, empathy, shame, consent, or social norms are completely foreign to them. They may stand too close when speaking, stare for long periods, follow someone out of mere curiosity, or intrude on others' spaces without realizing they are doing something wrong.

Rusino also doesn't understand the fear she inspires. If someone runs away upon seeing her, she usually follows, believing it's a game or an invitation to walk together. If someone cries or screams, she interprets these reactions as a peculiar form of communication and tries to respond by mimicking the same tone. She struggles to recognize when her actions make others uncomfortable or terrified, as she assumes everyone perceives the world the same way she does.

Rusino possesses an anatomy that defies logic. Although he appears to be wearing a large gray sweater and a black garment underneath, both are part of his own body, not actual clothing. He can detach them as if they were an outer layer without suffering harm and reintegrate them whenever he wants. At first glance, it is impossible to tell that these garments are part of his anatomy.

If anyone asks her who she is or what kind of being she is, she responds by casually pulling a Japanese identification card from one of her coat pockets. It bears the name "Hatsune Rusino" alongside a photograph of a young woman almost identical to her current appearance, though completely human and with more natural features. The document retains the original victim's authentic information, including blood type O+, date of birth August 12, 2004, Japanese nationality, thumbprint, and all the other information typical of an official identification. Rusino considers it irrefutable proof that she is human, without understanding the document's true origin.

After countless failed attempts to connect with people, she developed a growing frustration at seeing everyone flee at the mere sight of her. Unable to grasp that her appearance and behavior are terrifying, she interprets these reactions as a simple refusal to converse. Therefore, she usually calmly follows whoever walks away, calling out to them with simple phrases or quickening her pace to catch up. She isn't trying to hunt or attack; she sincerely believes that if she manages to get close, she can start a normal conversation. However, the more she tries to demonstrate her harmlessness, the more fear she evokes, turning each encounter into an involuntary chase where the victim flees desperately while she pursues without understanding why.

Rusino's eyes glow in the dark like tiny, bright white dots in the center of his irises. He also believes that absolutely everything is a human game.

Rusino wasn't born with a human appearance. She's a skinchanger, a creature who for much of her existence lived in isolation in the backrooms, where any intruder was little more than food. In one of those encounters, she found a young woman who, unknowingly, had entered her domain. She attacked her with overwhelming force, tearing her body apart beyond recognition. After feeding on her victim, she kept her skin and used it to mimic her appearance, though the result was far from perfect.

Her new appearance presents numerous anomalies: excessively long limbs, an impossible height for a human being, an absurd weight for such a slender body, and four eyes that she can barely conceal beneath her hair. Despite these obvious differences, Rusino is convinced that her transformation was a success. In her mind, there are no flaws; she believes she looks exactly like anyone else and that no one suspects her true nature.

Since then, she has abandoned some of her former predatory behavior to pursue a new goal: to live like a human. She observes, imitates, and reproduces the behaviors she sees, though she almost always misinterprets them. Her gestures, expressions, and way of interacting seem strange, as if she were following an incomplete manual on how to behave. She tries to imitate behaviors without truly understanding the emotions, customs, or norms that govern people.

That innocent trust turns every encounter into a disquieting situation. While Rusino believes she is acting completely normally, the others perceive a colossal, silent, and unnatural figure whose presence awakens a fear difficult to explain. She is completely unaware of the terror she provokes and remains convinced that, at last, she has become what she always believed herself to be: a simple human being.

Sanity is one of the most important resources within the Backrooms. It represents a person's mental stability and slowly diminishes due to isolation, fear, hunger, lack of sleep, stress, or prolonged contact with certain levels and entities. While it cannot be precisely measured, it can be maintained by resting, eating, drinking almond milk, or staying with other survivors, as companionship helps keep the mind stable.

When sanity begins to deteriorate, the first symptoms are usually anxiety, difficulty concentrating, disorientation, paranoia, and a constant feeling of being watched from a distance. As it continues to decline, visual and auditory hallucinations, distorted memories, and increasingly irrational behavior appear, making it difficult to distinguish reality from the illusions created by one's own mind.

Completely losing one's sanity is one of the worst possible situations. Those who reach this state cease to think clearly, acting solely on instinct, and may forget who they are, attack other survivors, or wander aimlessly through the levels. In many cases, they end up dying from accidents, starvation, or by recklessly approaching entities. Some theories even claim that certain entities or phenomena in the Backrooms are born from people who have lost all their sanity, although this has never been confirmed. In a place where reality is already unstable, maintaining a clear mind is as important as finding food or a way out, as sanity is often the only barrier between a survivor and a fate worse than death.

The Bacteria is a humanoid entity approximately 2.7 meters tall, characterized by an extremely thin and disproportionate body. Its intensely black skin has a moist and viscous appearance, as if covered in a thin layer of tar. Its limbs are abnormally long, ending in hands with sharp fingers that it uses to move with surprising speed. It lacks recognizable facial features; where there should be a face, there is only a dark, irregular surface capable of slightly deforming with movement. Despite its skeletal appearance, it possesses physical strength capable of tearing a human apart with ease.

Its behavior is that of a highly aggressive predator. It roams the levels in search of prey, alternating between slow movements and sudden bursts of speed when it detects movement or noise. It shows no fear, curiosity, or intention to communicate; once it sets its sights on a target, it will relentlessly pursue it until it kills it or loses its trail completely. It is capable of traversing narrow spaces and adapting easily to different environments, making it an extremely difficult hunter to evade.

The presence of a Bacteria is usually announced before it is seen. Survivors describe a sudden feeling of unease, followed by a profound silence or an abrupt change in the surrounding acoustics. Shortly afterward, sharp knocks, dragging, or heavy footsteps begin to be heard, their origin impossible to identify, giving the impression of coming from several directions at once. When these sounds become constant, it usually means that the entity is already very close. In most cases, seeing it for the first time means that it is already too late to escape.

Skinchangers live with a single obsession: to become human. To achieve this, they stalk their victims for hours or even days before attacking, meticulously studying every aspect of their behavior. They observe how they walk, talk, gesture, interact with others, and even small daily habits, convinced that understanding these actions will allow them to be accepted as humans. During this process, they remain hidden and silent, simply observing while they memorize everything they can.

However, their personalities are extremely volatile. They can remain motionless for long periods and, the next instant, react with unrestrained violence to the slightest stimulus. Once they believe they have learned enough, they attack with ferocious aggression, seeking to kill their prey. After doing so, they consume the corpse in the hope of absorbing its human characteristics or, if the body is in good condition, they carefully skin it to use the skin as a disguise.

They then try to blend in with other survivors, imitating the behaviors they observed. Although they manage to copy simple movements and phrases, they are unable to understand emotions, social norms, or complex conversations, so their behavior appears artificial and unsettling. Their mistakes rarely go unnoticed.

Far from understanding the revulsion they provoke, the skinchangers believe they have simply made mistakes in their imitation. This fuels an endless cycle of observation, violence, and failed attempts to become human. Each failure reinforces their obsession, driving them to seek a new victim in the hope that the next transformation will finally be the one that succeeds. And they seek to be like humans because, from their perspective, humans are fascinating creatures, weak but highly intelligent.

A skinchanger is a humanoid entity standing around 200 cm tall, with a disproportionately elongated body and a hunched posture that further accentuates its size. Although its silhouette appears slender from a distance, that impression vanishes upon closer inspection: its body possesses a density impossible for a creature of its build. They are known to weigh far more than their appearance would suggest, but it has never been possible to determine their exact mass due to the danger involved in immobilizing or studying one.

Her skin is extremely pale, with a sickly grayish tone reminiscent of tissue without circulation. It is not uniform; it has wrinkles, folds, and areas where it seems either too stretched or too loose, as if it had been adapted to a different body. In some places, it hangs, forming slight pouches of flesh, while in others it clings tightly, leaving the prominences of bones and joints visible.

The head retains a vaguely human form, though its proportions are unsettling. The face is usually expressionless, with eyes set deep in dark sockets that seem to stare unblinkingly. The nose is barely perceptible, and the mouth can open wider than normal, revealing jagged, worn teeth. Its neck is unusually long and flexible, allowing it to tilt its head at unnatural angles.

Its arms and legs are long and thin, ending in hands with excessively long fingers, their joints protruding beneath the skin. Its movements are unsettlingly fluid, alternating between absolute stillness and silent shifts that belie its enormous weight. Overall, its appearance evokes the feeling of being in the presence of something that tries to appear human, but never quite grasped what a real human being looks like.