Level 0.0: out of bounds · Underwanderer Archive

Testimony

“If the window looks out on nothing, you’ve already crossed, man. You don’t go back from this seam the way you came in.”

Level 0.0, “out of bounds,” is a layer of Level 0 and not a separate level. Here the world shows its seams, because the chunk Displacement leaves a crack and the wanderer passes through it without knowing.

There is no door. One day you walk down the same corridor as always and stop stepping on Level 0.

How to recognize it

It reveals itself through a series of features, from subtle to obvious.

Windows to nowhere. An office doesn’t put in windows of that size or at that height. Something that loads the terrain badly does. The glass is black and you can’t see the next room through it; you see nothing. See Mismatched Window.
Floor note. A paper with the words “Location: Out of Bounds.” It is the only text in the place. See Out of Bounds note.
Strip of gaps and archway. Repeated galleries with doorless openings, at heights that don’t match. See Window Strip and Archway Row.
Exit room. A room with a computer, dry carpet and white concrete. See Computer room.

Entrances and exits

The entrance is the chunk Displacement seam. The exit is the computer room, which is said to lead to Level 4.

What to expect

There are no creatures here. What there is, is errors of the terrain itself, such as geometry that doesn’t close, missing floor and unloaded chunks you can’t see until you’re on top of them. It is the same family of faults as the Generation Error Vestibule.

How to survive

Don’t run. Test the floor with your foot before putting your weight down, and keep your back against the walls. If the fluorescent hum weakens, you are at the edge, so turn around.

What people say

For some, a wall niche with an exit sign and no door behind it is one of the signs that you’re on the right track.

Feature entries

Window Strip, Archway Row, Computer room, Unloaded void.

Sub-entries

S-024 · SublevelsMismatched WindowThe window to nowhere in five different cuts. An office doesn’t put in windows like this, and it is the first sign that you have crossed.S-013 · Sublevels“Location: Out of Bounds”A paper with a single typed line in English. It is the only voice in 0.0 that comes from the place itself and not from an explorer.S-003 · SublevelsWindow StripThree to six identical windows in a row on a long wall, all with black glass and the same sill height.S-001 · SublevelsArchway RowA row of openings between pilasters on a half wall that organizes the room without dividing it. You see through it and you can’t hop over it.S-021 · SublevelsExit Room with a ComputerA white concrete room with a desk, a monitor and a tower. Wanderers call it “the exit.”S-023 · Sublevels“Unloaded Chunks” VoidA gap at least forty-eight meters on a side, with no railing, that looks cut with a ruler. The unfinished world.

Mentioned in

P-004 · PhenomenaChunk DisplacementEvery chunk has its own countdown and, when it runs out, the place is rewritten. Anyone who doesn't anchor their shelter loses everything with it.L-001 · LevelsLevel 0: yellow officesEndless offices of damp carpet and humming fluorescents. Every wanderer wakes here, and nobody leaves by the way they came in.L-004 · LevelsLevel 4A fourth level that everyone talks about and nobody describes the same way twice. They say you can only enter through doors and that its rooms change on their own.O-017 · ObjectsFloor NotesPapers on the carpet, sometimes pinned. A sentence from someone who had time to write before disappearing.S-005 · SublevelsSlits in the WallThree to six black slits in a row on a solid wall, evenly spaced. Order without function.P-009 · PhenomenaHow It All Fits TogetherThree levels joined by pits, stairs and doors to nowhere, and sublevels that have no door and are reached by mistake.