Thanks. I would definitely make some changes like what you suggested if I planned to expand the game further, but I'm happy enough with what it is. I think it's fine for game jam games to have some rough edges, after all, one of the main reasons to enter a jam is to experiment with different ideas! I also didn't have time for any real playtesting during the jam, and I didn't feel like making significant gameplay changes after the fact.
The chest that portion would have given you access to was just a note showing the more obvious use of (rot13) YVTUGRA. I'm guessing you found the second note about it first and deduced the other use on your own.