Hello!
Thank you for playing, and I apologize for the late reply. I saw the response, and life got in the way :(
I'll go ahead and spill the beans for that specific word. Unfortunately, I had to cut the game a little short due to my and the game jam's time frame. The original ending is what I have tied into before you [spoiler] see that word you're mentioning.. I wanted to add a little more after the original ending, and that was my attempt to do so. I had a few really interesting ideas to add, but again, I just had to cut it short. The reference, however, is a nod to a short game I had worked on and posted on Steam, 'Riley in the Abyss.' It's a passion project of mine that I want to go back to and fix up properly eventually, but as of right now, I've just got my hands full with other projects!
Sorry if you were expecting a continuation/ answer to the game. I may continue it in the very near future and add some of those extra puzzles. I really feel like I can play around with this concept I thought of. So yeah, thank you for playing regardless! Hopefully, you can circle back to a fuller game in the near future. :)