Subway (2): Lui's Maniac Fans
Lui's fans were all huddled together right under the center car's PA speaker, stretching their recording mics upward like desperate offerings. There were fat ones, skinny ones... but they all shared one thing: a frenzied scramble to get just a little closer to that speaker. It was agonizing to witness this nightmare with my own eyes.
The silver lining was that moving to this quieter car felt worth it compared to the packed center one. There were plenty of people, but since Lui's fans refused to sit and clustered under the speaker instead, seats were plentiful. I settled comfortably into one, lost in thought as I watched them.
"Lui-chan, Lui-chan, Lui-chan...."
"Hahk, hahk, hahk... her voice is so cute, so cute...."
...Terrifying.
Magical girls always had their share of toxic fans, but Lui's were disproportionately rabid. By rights, her skills should place her at the bottom of mid-tier, yet her weird fanbase propped up her support scores, keeping her solidly average. On the Maginsa site, sifting through CCTV clips of Rapid's fights, you'd occasionally spot those lower mid-tier girls battling hard before Rapid arrived.
Lui's mana output and spell power, as logged by the Defense Force—and confirmed by my own video reviews—fell laughably short of her current rank.
> Passengers, please take your seats. Repeat: Infected detected—dangerous. Take your seats.
"What the hell! That's not Lui-chan's voice!"
"Shut up! Don't order us around!"
"Just drive quietly!"
> H-Hic....
During rush hours, two magical girls boarded: Lui and her partner. It seemed the other one had checked the in-car CCTV and made the announcement, but Lui's fans rebelled en masse. The mob-like fury terrified the anonymous girl into a squeak.
> Everyone, don't do that~ At least grab a nearby handrail~ Or Lui hates you, hates you~
"Got it! Lui-chan!"
"If we can't reach the rails, let's grab the hands of people who can!"
"Lui-chan! I love you! You're watching, right?!"
Lui finally stepped in, cooing protectively over her colleague with that cutesy tone. The toxic fans grabbed the rails—but like diehard stans hearing their idol speak directly to them, they bellowed thick, guttural cheers. It wasn't pleasant.
I wanted to yell at the noisemakers to shut up, but I bit my tongue. Everyone around me wore the same uncomfortable grimace, lips sealed. Those guys were broken—something fundamentally human, like impulse control, was shattered in them.
"Ahhh... Lui-chan, working all day must be exhausting... I wanna massage her feet...."
"Huff, huff... massaging with hands might hurt... gotta use my mouth...."
"So cute, so cute...."
Lui attracted more toxics than most. Was it her ageless loli look? Or the 30-something savvy she'd honed dealing with them, turning it into expert fan-handling? I couldn't pinpoint why, but watching this confirmed one thing.
This hypnosis app is dangerous as hell.
Among magical girl fans, there were these impulse-driven wrecks who couldn't rein in their desires. If word got out that some creep had a way to do whatever to their fave... rivals might come gunning for me.
The file name was corrupted, so I just called it the hypnosis app. But it was valuable enough to kill for—especially since it only worked on magical girls, making it a high-risk treasure.
I resolved to be extra cautious: hypnotize in hidden spots, slow and steady. And I needed to dig deeper into the app. Grape would serve as my lab rat for that.
"Hm?"
I paused mid-thought. Wait... why only Grape?
Stupid. More test subjects, the better. Magical girls aren't just Grape, Rapid, and Ash.
Right at the front of this car, in the driver's cab, another magical girl waited. No surveillance cams there—for privacy. Fully soundproofed, with a one-person bathroom and sofa for long shifts. Possible because she wasn't driving; she was backup security.
Solid intel from a Maginsa post by a station worker obsessed with Lui.
I recalled what I knew about subway magical girls. Barriers dropped before trains arrived, blocking tracks from platforms. Shifts happened behind closed barriers to avoid toxics mobbing, derailing service—or worse, shoving girls onto tracks.
From that station worker fan's obsessive research to glimpse Lui more: minimal contact, but he'd agonized over every extra peek. Creepy stuff that stuck with me. It tied for 5th on Maginsa's "Creepiest Obsession Posts" list—right up with my own Rapid hair-condition analyzer.
He mentioned pre-departure track checks: staff sometimes hand-delivered food. Knock on the sealed cab door, pass it through. Fierce competition for that "errand," apparently.
Most infamous fallout: the civilian subway cab raid. Exploit no CCTV on cab positioning. Board front car, hug the forwardmost door exiting blind-spot. Wait for full barrier drop, then knock pretending to deliver food.
Caught, arrested. Sparked special subway laws: post-barrier knocks deemed suspicious. Cab girl cracks door—if civilian confirmed, train rolls out anyway.
Tracks behind? Infected could spawn anytime; only magical girls open barriers. Good luck not dying.
Harsh? Sure. But toxics left unchecked spread like wildfire. No magical girl would share space with that level of psycho, CCTV blind-spot or not. Barriers down, doors lock—except cab. Most would tell 'em to hike to the emergency shelter and slam the door.
Lucky survivor signals for rescue? Defense Force hauls 'em. Give a ride? Still Defense Force after. Either way, game over.
That's when it hit me: I could do it right now.
Normies won't risk their life on a Hail Mary. But I had the app. Follow the playbook, glimpse the cab girl once... then hypnotize.
> Next stop: Station 7, Zone 7. No Infected on tracks. Passengers, stay seated or grip handrails, wait, then exit.
> Barrier descending. Passengers, grab handrails or sit.
Perfect timing—next station. I stood, Vision Phone in hand, leaning against the front door's edge. Doors opened; I shuffled out casually, pretending to check my phone urgently while lingering past the barrier.
Rush hour chaos: folks hustling aboard or out. Morning commute made it easy to slip toward the cab. Barrier fully down, tracks went dark. I rapped the door quick—before too late.
It cracked slightly. A voice from inside:
"...Weird. Didn't order food? Rose, you sure you didn't?"
She hadn't ordered. But I had plenty coming. I held up the hypnosis app through the narrow gap, making sure she saw it clear.