Secrets of the Tomb Main Story 4-3: Seeking Truth
Overview
- Stage Cost: None
- First Clear Rewards:
Astral Memory x10
Guide
- Hover to view spoiler content.
Script
Hessu Ruins
Go to Hessu Ruins and track down Ralph's whereabouts.
You: And here we are again.
You: I didn't expect this many secrets to be hidden inside a relic exhibition like this. Not when it's open to everyone.
Luke: Can we really find Ralph?
Marius: It's hard to say... Yehya also mentioned that this was just one of the possibilities.
Marius: Who knows where exactly Ralph is hiding.
You: Let's first assume that Ralph is still in the underground ruin. But, how do we... start?
Artem: The structure of the ruins is complicated. I think he's most likely hiding in one of the secret passages or rooms, if he's still here.
Vyn: With enough patience and care, we can definitely find him.
Ruin Underground
Go deeper into the underground of Hessu Ruins and investigate Ralph's whereabouts in more detail.
You: The place seems to be the same as it was at the last time we came.
Marius: Yes, the surrounding setup looks to be unchanged also.
Luke: No...the coffin here seems to have been moved.
You: Huh!? Really?
Luke: Yeah, there are very light lines on the coffin, which probably marks left behind from forceful prying.
Artem: I believe that the police wouldn't move these ancient artifacts for no reason, so there is only one possibility...
You: Ralph? He might still be in the ruins!
Vyn: Let's take a closer look around the stone room, maybe we can find something.
Split up and investigate each room in the ruin underground. Perhaps you'll find new clues.
Luke: Lab coat, fake Pharaoh's clothes ... Well, there doesn't seem to be anything special in this box.
You: Wait a minute, Luke...there seems to be something under the lab coat.
Luke searches at the bottom of the box and finds a small metal object.
Luke: Isn't this the ... Amulet of Life?
Luke: I remember that this amulet represents life and power, and is also sometimes recognized as a symbol of reincarnation in Khaimit.
You: But this one looks ... quite different from the ordinary Amulet of Life!
You: There's a tiny notch in the metal stick under the Amulet of Life... It almost looks like a key?
Luke: A key?
You: Ralph is a man who highly admires the culture of the ancient Khaimit kingdom.
You: So, when designing his security mechanisms, he probably liked using symbols that represent the culture of ancient Khaimit.
You: Thinking back on things, didn't we open a secret door leading to the underground level of the ruins using the Seth's Bone before?
You: Maybe the Amulet of Life is also an important clue!
Luke: Sounds reasonable. People tend to design the things they enjoy... Now that you mention it, it's looking more and more like a key.
Luke: Let's take it with us first. Might turn out to be useful.
Obtain evidence: Amulet of Life
Artem: "I would give my love to my beloved, but my life can only be tied to the kingdom."
Artem: "My love... please understand my choice."
Artem: "From this night on, every blue lotus flower that blooms in the pool is my love for you."
You: Huh, this is...
Artem: The message from Hepharet. The same one that we didn't finish reading the last time we were here.
You: Hepharet is truly a woman worthy of respect.
You: Maybe compared to dwelling on the past and remembering lost lovers...
You: Pharaoh Hepharet's most sincere response to this, is pulling herself together to guard her kingdom.
Vyn: I see. Has Ralph been working on these?
You: Dr. Richter, what are you looking at?
Vyn: I found a new manuscript that had not been discovered previously.
Vyn: In the manuscript... Ralph wrote his plan about resurrecting Hepharet with genetic repair technology.
You: Genetic repair technology!?
Vyn: In fact, the human body possesses the function to repair its own damaged cells. And with the development of modern medicine...
Vyn: It can repair a part of a person's DNA that the body can not otherwise do, restoring it to it's original state.
Vyn: But, to extract the DNA from a thousand-year-old mummy and bring the ancient cells back to life through repair techniques...
Vyn: I think it is almost delusional, if anything.
Vyn: Perhaps it may come true in future generations to come, but it is definitely not possible in the short term.
You: (And why is Ralph so dedicated to this research?)
You: (It is obviously impossible, but to try obsessively like this? What exactly is Ralph's purpose...?)
Marius: Miss, take a quick look at these test tubes on the table. I've discovered something interesting.
You: The test tubes? Well ... the liquid seems to be different from what we saw last time?
Marius: Indeed! I took pictures last time. See?
You: ...
Marius: The liquid in the test tube on the left side is darker than before, and the amount has increased.
You: Yeah, the liquid in the middle tube also seems to have increased...
Marius: Then, who added more reagents to it?
You: Ralph!
Marius: Clever! I think this is the evidence that goes to show that this mouse of ours must still be hiding somewhere.
You: Yeah, as long as he is still around, we can definitely locate him!
Continue investigating the ruin underground, and search where Ralph may be hiding.
With various assumptions about Ralph, you search the underground ruin for a long time...
You double-check all the possible locations as carefully and as thoroughly as you can.
However, the expected hidden door or secret room never once appeared.
You even begin to doubt your initial judgement. Ralph might have already left this underground ruin.
Until...
Luke: Found it! There must be a secret passage behind this wall.
Artem: Are you sure?
Luke: Definitely.
Luke's decisive answer flushed away the hesitancy that has been eating at everyone for quite some time now.
Marius: But we've checked this wall full of murals before. I don't think we found anything unusual?
You: Could it be... that there's also a mechanism similar to the one we encountered before, built into this wall?
Luke: Not quite. It's not as troublesome this time.
Luke directly reaches his hand to grab a relief on the wall and then twist it by force.
*Click* You hear a crisp sound. And it fell right off.
You: Luke, you...
Luke: Don't worry, I didn't damage it. It was already loose to begin with.
Luke raises his hand to show us the piece that he twisted off.
The color of that relief looks slightly lighter than the mural on the wall, and the texture is closer to a plaster-like material.
You: Well, the texture of this piece of relief... is a little different from the rest. It's as if someone deliberately stuck it to the wall.
Luke: The keyhole is right below it.
Luke points to the groove that emerges on the wall after the relief is removed.
Luke: [Player], looks like you were right! The thing just found found in the box might actually be the key.
You: Are we going to try inserting it in?
Artem: Just give it a shot. A few more attempts won't hurt anyone.
Vyn: I have an inkling that this key is more like an invitation that Ralph left for us.
Vyn: He seems to keep directing our attention to him, to the things that he wants us to see.
Marius: *Sigh* I can't really understand what he's thinking... It may be the so-called generation gap.
While everyone is talking, Luke has already inserted the end of the Amulet of Life into the small hole in the wall.
With a resounding click, the tip of the Amulet of Life fits perfectly.
You no longer feel the same sense of unease you felt before...
You've seemingly grown accustomed to all the strange happenings down here in the ruins due to everything you've already experienced.
*Click, click*
Luke cautiously twists it two more times. Then, you hear a muted sound.
You: It's open!
Having experienced the same thing before, you accurately pin-point the sound that signals it being unlocked.
What appears before you is yet another downward staircase.
It looks exactly the same as what awaited you after you saw the lower level of the ruins for the first time. Everything past the stairs was engulfed in darkness, with there being no way of telling where it would lead you.
You: Should we head down inside?
You know that your question doesn't need to be answered, because the answer is no doubt, a resounding "yes."
Your palms are sweating slightly, and you subconsciously clench your fist to ease some of the tension.
Despite this, you allow your instinctive curiosity to steer your body, and head into the unknown with everyone else...
Summary
Character(s)
Evidence
Amulet of Life (3D)
A golden item from the box Ralph left. The outside is shaped after the ancient Khaimit Amulet of Life, which represents life and power. It's also sometimes seen as a symbol of reincarnation.
