Seer, a popular online game in China, has recently stirred controversy after fans noticed hidden messages in the game's new PVP season character, Jiu Qing, launched on September 1st. Observant gamers discovered that Jiu Qing's five skills conceal an acrostic poem that reads, "Qing, Happy Birthday." Additionally, one of the skill's parameters, ranging from 7-25 attacks, spells out "Qing loves me," and a 5% added bonus of 20 extra damage equates to the number 520, a common code for "I love you" in Chinese culture.
The message is hidden in the capital letters of the skills
The hidden messages led many players to criticize the game on forums and social media, particularly targeting the game's designer, Xu Shao Ai Mius. Some even went to the extent of posting a protest notice at the game company's Shanghai office. The controversy didn't stop there. Fans unearthed that Xu Shao's likely love interest, another game content creator at Bilibili (a Chinese YouTube-like video platform) named Yu Qing Zhi San (formerly Xiao He Qing", had also been involved in the game's design for several months.
The protest outside of the office
To further the drama, it was revealed that Xu Shao's online crush, who he thought was female, is actually male. This led Xu Shao to file a police report, though the matter was eventually settled out of court. The incident came to a head on September 4th when "Seer's hidden agenda" became the second most popular topic on social media forums, generating several times the usual traffic and spreading to other major subforums like the Sun Xiao Chuan forum and the Bilibili forum.
"Seer's Hidden Agenda" is trending on Weibo
As for what Xu Shao Ai Mius will face in the future, that remains to be seen, pending an official response from the game's creators.