Part 20: ???? - Pure Zone 2
Welcome back to OFF.
Music - Not Safe
Zone2 has been destroyed.
There's no point in trying to read any of the signs in the city of Bismark, they've all been ruined.
The direction signs on the library are also gone.
The library is much the same, but empty now. The books on the second floor are still readable, but that might be the only thing of note on the lower floors.
The climb up the library steps is rather eerie now.
The room where we met Japhet for the first time and found Omega is empty.
I'm going to be honest with you here. I'm going to the top of the library now, first, because what awaits us at the top is one of the worst things in this game.
I just want it to be over with.
It should be no surprise that we find more Secretaries here. These are the only enemy we'll find in any purified zone, though they look a little different between areas.
This attack is an amped up version of the last zone's Logical Value. It steals 60 hp and can inflict a very powerful poison.
Derivation is the next level of Natural Logarithm. It hits for a straight 200 damage. When you first enter this zone they're a fairly tough fight.
However, just like the previous Secretaries, these guys drop insane experience.
With the speed at which we level due to the experience, the Secretaries will become easy to beat in no time flat.
If you were wondering, these bookshelves still work. If we're so inclined, we can re-read the story of Japhet's fall into madness. I'm not interested.
I miss the whales terribly. They added so much personality to this long climb.
The blocks from the puzzle are gone. They've left their shadows behind and nothing more.
Right here, you can hear a sound, but it's probably nothing. There's a Zacharie chest to examine.
This is a nice equipment upgrade for one of our add-ons. But there's that sound again. What is it?
We've found the Judge. The sound is him crying, endlessly, out into the void.
: I am meowing at my lung's fullest. I would even argue that the echo that reverberates back to me is the voice of someone I know...
: Have you seen my dear brother?
This is where the Judge has been, and will remain, for the rest of the game. He paces the roof and calls for his lost brother Valerie. I didn't make a mistake with the portraits, there. In his grief he makes no sound when he speaks.
I'm so sorry, Judge.
He's gone now. Everyone's gone.
Once we're back on the ground, it's time to explore just a bit more.
This is East Bismark. The path to the north here has disappeared.
The residential area is a ghost town.
The entrance to the housing area proper is gone completely.
West Bismark holds the entrance to the park. You'll notice the path to the left that would loop us around into North Bismark again is missing on this side as well.
The Elsen are gone, the pedalo is gone, but a path has opened up.
We can reach the park by foot now.
Not that it matters. The entire park is gone.
With that, it appears there's nothing left in zone2 for us. Unless...
Unless we can find a back entrance into the northern area.
And inside the library we find just that.
The shopping district is still here.
It's also one of the rare places Zacharie hasn't left us a chest.
This is the room where we spoke to the Judge. The advertisement with the cat is missing his face, and if we try to examine it the Batter doesn't react.
The path into the maze to the right is missing, so we have to head back out.
Every single poster and advertising board has been wiped clean.
Do you remember this maze and how very much I hated it?
It's gotten much, much worse now. This is a new maze layout, with almost no landmarks whatsoever.
There's two sets of chests, though I'm only able to reach this one.
We get all these battle items but I almost never need them.
Though, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of battles happening between the screenshots here.
Oh! A door! Did I solve the maze?
FUCKING FUCK NO
Arghhhh this maze. This was designed by someone as a personal hell for me and me alone, I'm sure.
For everyone's sanity I've removed about 20 minutes of me wandering in the same halls and sobbing.
Finally.
This is a completely new hallway.
Where has it taken us? There's an empty chest and a very familiar number on the wall.
The hallway actually led up into one of the emergency bunkers in the residential district. The code on the wall was the code we used originally to open that door the first time we were here.
The Elsen are long gone here.
But not the Secretaries. They're god damn everywhere.
At least it's worth it for the experience.
A hidden chest waits ontop of this building if we take the time to look around.
Back on the west side, however, is this little building. There was an Elsen hiding here original, I think the first one we found that went burnt during the timed segment.
This number is new. Of the three bunkers in this zone, we received codes for two. This wasn't one of them. That means...
This bunker was blocked off before, do you remember? It feels like forever.
A survivor. The Survivor.
: The color is gone... Everything's gone... I'm now forever safe...
He has nothing else to say to us, and never will. Let's go downstairs.
The treasure room. We've found it.
The Grand Diagonal is our bizarre object that associates with metal. It's unusable and unequippable, like the Grand Finale.
A Thursday is another special day item. This one increases physical attack power.
But wait, before we go, there's one last room.
Maybe, just maybe, he's still here. We can ask about the OFF sequel, and he'll get confused, and we'll laugh-
Nevermind. He's dead. Just like everyone else.
It's time to leave.
We're never coming back.
I hope you'll join me next time.