Only Taiwanese Understand! Japanese Hotel Review Hides Supernatural Warning

A recent Google review for a Japanese hotel has sparked heated discussion online in Taiwan. Travel blogger 'Traveler Lao K Loves Japan' shared a three-star review left by a Taiwanese traveler after staying at a hotel in Hakodate, Hokkaido. The Chinese portion read, 'Breakfast was delicious, and the location was great, right next to the station,' while simultaneously complaining about poor soundproofing and a power outage in the middle of the night. What truly sent chills down netizens' spines, however, was a string of Zhuyin symbols hidden in the first line of the review, understandable only to Taiwanese people: 'ㄨㄛˇㄓㄨˋㄉㄜ˙ㄈㄤˊㄐㄧㄢˉㄩˋㄉㄠˋㄍㄨㄟˇ，ㄨˇㄧˉㄑㄧˉㄈㄤˊ'. Reading it character by character spells out, 'The room I stayed in encountered a ghost, room 517.' The blogger jokingly remarked that the impact of this Zhuyin code was 'more unforgettable than giving one star,' as only Taiwan uses Zhuyin symbols worldwide, unexpectedly becoming a 'exclusive encrypted code' for travelers to tip each other off. After the post went viral, netizens flooded the comments section with remarks like, 'Only Taiwanese understand Zhuyin text,' 'I told you there were ghosts, and you still want to stay in 517?', and 'I'd actually like to try staying there; I've never seen a ghost in my life.' However, some pointed out that AI can already recognize Zhuyin, so this encryption method might soon become ineffective, and perhaps in the future, one might need to mix in Taiwanese Hokkien or other dialects to continue 'avoiding traps.' Interestingly, the hotel management's response to the review only apologized for the power outage and soundproofing issues, seemingly completely unaware of the supernatural warning hidden within the Zhuyin. AI can indeed recognize it. I fed it to Gemini and it was deciphered, while ChatGPT didn't understand 517 🤣🤣