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Level A4 - "The Shady Gray"

"Stagnant. Lifeless. Penumbral. Gray. All the color has been swept away…"

The forest.

Description

Level A4 is a vast and unending forest arranged in a disquieting manner. The entire level is coated in baleful air and atmosphere, especially in the sense that feelings of paranoia and anxiety are heighted to a much larger degree in this level. Temperatures are an uncomfortable cold and the air is stiff.

The most obvious quirk to Level A4 is the very distinct lack of any color within the level. Everything is a shade of gray. The trees, the ground, the dirt, the grass, the foliage, the sky, everything. All a dark and dull shade of gray.

When walking in Level A4, the ground makes a horrible crickling sound if walking on any foliage and an awful, dry sound if walking on the pale gray mud.

If exposed to Level A4 for prolonged periods of time, one can lose all touch with reality and be stuck in a sense of total paranoia and even the slightest of touches can cause extreme agony. This effect will not wear off on its own and requires the waters of Level 12 to calm it down temporarily, but it will always spike back up after a while even if the person affected never enters Level A4 again.

Entrances

All entrances to Level A4 are usually some kind of trap or the level itself creeping up on you. The most common entrances are listed below.
When in the more grassy areas of Level 9 (such as the area just before Level 10) whenever you turn around there's a chance that you will subconsciously jump back and end up in Level A4.
In the fields of Level 10, if you follow the smell of something burning within the wheat fields you will quickly find yourself inside the gray forest.
When opening a wooden door in Level 13, just before the door actually opens it might turn gray a half second before you enter. Stopping immediately and turning around will avoid ending up in the forest.
Entering the cabin in Level 15 will cause a sudden boost of adrenaline for a split second. Upon exiting the cabin you will find that all the snow has vanished, the trees have completely changed and everything is a monotone shade of gray. The cabin will disappear as soon as you look away from it.
Sleeping in the bed of Level 17 while thinking of Level A4 will lead you here while you sleep.
The Hub if you have its key.

Exits

Exits are quite hard to come by in Level A4. The two exits are rare and are listed below.
Pathways with nothing on either side of it but the gray grass will lead to Level 10 after hours of walking down it.
The even rarer exit leads to Level 18. Staying in the level for a long period of time will cause pumpkins to sprout within a few miles of each other. Following these pumpkins for roughly a week will lead you to the pumpkin patch. Interestingly the pumpkins will start off gray, but as you get deeper into following them they start to gain their color, slowly but surely.