He bent down to pick up the promotional brochure that had been placed on the fallen leaves and weeds. Just as Yang Tao had expected, by the time he stood up, his surroundings had completely changed.
This was a spacious reception hall, very similar to the reception hall of a real-world museum. Warm sunlight streamed through the glass skylight, falling on Yang Tao.
Through the massive atrium, it was clear that the museum had three floors. Around his current location, there were some sofas and coffee tables, as well as bookshelves filled with magazines for visitors to use.
Everything looked perfectly normal, so normal that it seemed like an ordinary museum.
Yang Tao walked to the lounge area and casually picked up a magazine. The text on it was composed of unfamiliar symbols, but this didn't prevent Yang Tao from reading. He sat on the sofa and glanced at the magazine cover:
'The Breeding and Habits of Hounds'
He turned to the first page.
'Currently, three breeding methods for Hounds have been identified: sexual reproduction, infection reproduction, and 'Hive' cultivation.'
The sub-page of the first page also featured exquisite illustrations, with some parts labeled.
"Why does this thing feel so much like 'Postpartum Care for Sows'?"
At this moment, a voice came from not far away: "Postpartum Care for Sows? It sounds like a very interesting book."
It was a strange way of speaking, sounding a bit unsettling, but only that.
"Welcome to my museum..."
Roughly humanoid, this was the most fitting description Yang Tao felt. The speaker's body was translucent, a pale green, looking somewhat like jelly.
The other party was completely naked, without any clothing, but at most, they were just a large Slime-man, so wearing clothes or not seemed to make no difference.
There was no mouth on the face, but there were several eyes. A sudden glance would cause one's SAN value to drop drastically, making one wonder if it was some kind of Cthulhu-esque creature.
HP 175,000 / 175,000
Based on the other party's words and this HP, Yang Tao confirmed the other party's identity.
Level Master.
"Hello, my name is Yang Tao."
The health bar above the other party's head was white, so Yang Tao didn't feel right directly exploding and shouting something like, 'This place has a fated connection with me.'
After all, he wasn't interested in museums.
"Rio Castros, a member of the Lost Clan, and currently the manager and decision-maker of this small museum."
Lost Clan?
Yang Tao didn't hesitate at all. He took out Item No. 14, the 'Scaraback,' from his backpack. As soon as the dark blue Scaraback appeared, it emitted a faint blue light, automatically activating and flying towards Rio Castros.
However, halfway there, this Scaraback clearly encountered some problems and slowly flew back into Yang Tao's hand.
"The sacred object of our clan, the Scaraback. It is very important to us, but it is also an extremely precious item for humans. I didn't expect you to carry it with you. It seems you have a great connection with it."
Bah!
What kind of fated connection? Does your Lost Clan talk about fate?
This guy was difficult to deal with, not giving him any excuse to get angry. The Scaraback was a sacred object of the Lost Clan. For a non-Lost Clan member to use this item as an amulet was considered a severe offense to the organization.
"Don't you want to take it back? It already sensed you were about to go back."
"No, no. We have been lost for too long. It is now ownerless. Since you obtained it, it is yours."
Yang Tao looked at the 'Slime-man' in front of him with a complicated expression, putting the Scaraback back into his backpack.
"Friend, you have rejected my friendship..."
Rio Castros seemed to sense Yang Tao's thoughts and said, "Mr. Yang, your name has resonated throughout the Backrooms. To be honest, I truly welcome your arrival."
"Please allow me to introduce this place to you."
"The first floor is used to display all the specimens I have collected and information about Entities. The second floor is used to store all the knowledge I have learned in this reality. The third floor, as my living quarters, is closed."
"You can find information on most Entities here. I have basically stored information on all Entities in the information center. You are free to browse the information I have written about Entities."
"But please do not plunder my collection. This is my home and my entire life's work. You are welcome to visit or consult materials here at any time..."
Upon hearing this, Yang Tao suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. He really didn't expect that even though he didn't frequent the Backrooms, legends about him were still circulating there.
"Did you just say that the first floor is where you collect specimens of different Entities?"
Rio Castros nodded and extended his jelly-like hand, pointing to the hallway leading deeper inside, and introduced, "This was originally an art gallery, but I have now transformed it into its current appearance."
"Each floor consists of a central area and four adjacent areas forming an 'X' shape."
"The number of Entity specimens I have here is not many, mainly because I cannot find them, or they are too dangerous, or too large. However, I will try to create replicas, even though I cannot sculpt."
"But I will also record their appearance and characteristics."
Yang Tao nodded slightly upon hearing this. Given the other party's attitude, he really couldn't bring himself to act. After carefully observing the Lost Clan member in front of him for a moment, he said, "I will arrange for someone to come here to consult the materials. I hope you can make it convenient."
This place was simply heaven for Eric.
"That's absolutely no problem."
Rio Castros agreed readily. He was organizing all sorts of information precisely for sharing; otherwise, he wouldn't have converted the gallery into a museum and library.
Wouldn't it be better to just turn it into a collection room?
The white border above the other party's head proved that he truly bore no ill will towards him.
These Lost Clan members were mysterious; they were scattered across many levels of the Backrooms and did not wish to have too much interaction with humans.
However, some information about them was also recorded in the database.
Yang Tao extended his hand and summoned the wooden door. The moment the wooden door appeared, it meant that no matter what, he could freely enter and exit this level.
Unless it was like the unscrupulous Level 176, which directly isolated a sub-level.
Bringing the wooden door, Eric had already been waiting behind it for a while. Seeing Yang Tao unharmed, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "This time it took much longer than before. I thought you were in danger."
Rio Castros, standing nearby, heard Eric's words and thought, 'You're worried about the wrong person. It seems I'm the one who was in danger...'
Yang Tao smiled and said, "Don't worry, if I encounter danger, I'll be back even faster."
"Eric, I guarantee you'll love it here. Come, let me introduce you. Rio Castros is the administrator of the Castros Museum."
He told Eric some information about this level.
Eric visibly grew excited: "My goodness, Rio Castros, thank you so much for your generosity! This is very important to me."