Line 1 Villain
“HERA, what’d you say?”
Lee Jung-woo suddenly had some business come up, so she asked me to let you know she’s heading back first.
“No way, she bought all this stuff and just left me here?”
My hands were stuffed full of shopping bags. If she’d just taken me to a department store in Seoul, going back wouldn’t have been a big deal, but Lee Jung-woo had dragged me to this place called Galleria Department Store in Suwon because she was VVIP there or whatever.
“Haa… Guess I have to take the subway?”
Even trying to take the subway came with issues. All the other lines had been upgraded to hyper-speed, cutting-edge tech to fit this cyberpunk world, but Line 1 stayed the same as the original capital area rail line—retro vibe and all. And its speed was pretty much the same as the one I remembered.
‘What can you do? Taking a taxi would be too expensive.’
Lee Jung-woo had lent me a decent amount, and Christine had given me a little too, but a taxi from Suwon to Seoul? That’d be a real waste.
‘Man, Line 1 was molester heaven back then too.’
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of whether this world had its own subway villains—pushers, flashers in their 80s, economic creeps, that kinda thing.
The subway entrance looked just like the one I remembered.
“Why are they so obsessed with this retro crap?”
Back home, the turnstiles had sliding doors, but here they’d gone even further back to the old rotating gates. No idea why.
“HERA, got a transit card function or something?”
Downloaded. Place your palm on it to pass through the turnstile.
“Okay.”
I pressed my palm to the transit tag spot, heard that familiar beep, and passed through.
“Hmm…”
Since Line 1 was an above-ground train, I climbed the stairs. And once I got up there, I could really feel how stubbornly retro it was.
“HERA, why no platform screen doors?”
News search results say someone kept smashing them, so they removed them entirely.
“What? That guy’s insane!”
Why smash platform screen doors installed for safety? Total psycho.
“What if someone gets pushed and falls? That’s why they got rid of them altogether?”
“Kyaaack!”
“Huh?”
A scream came from somewhere, and I whipped my head toward it.
“Someone fell on the tracks!”
“S-s-someone save them!”
I’d figured something like this could happen without screen doors, but not right now. I bolted toward the crowd panicking helplessly. Then I saw who’d fallen and froze.
“Ra Mi-yeon?!”
The woman on the tracks was none other than Ra Mi-yeon. Her panicked, lost expression suggested someone had shoved her.
“HERA!”
Calculating the time and angle of Mi-yeon’s fall to track the culprit.
“Got it. How long till the train?”
Expected to arrive 3 minutes earlier than scheduled. Train incoming soon.
“No time. HERA, do it.”
Executing H.E.R.A System 007.
007: Ultra-high-tensile wire shot system. A wire launched from my prosthetic arm, wrapping around Ra Mi-yeon.
“Hah?!”
She jolted in surprise as the wire coiled around her, but when she spotted my face in the direction it came from, relief washed over her. I reeled her in, and just then, the train roared in. In this day and age, a person on the tracks should trigger an emergency stop, but thanks to this retro throwback, it didn’t. Without me, it could’ve been disastrous.
“You okay?”
I caught the pulled-in Ra Mi-yeon, set her down, and released the wire.
“Th-thank you for the help.”
“Save the thanks. What happened?”
“I was waiting for the train when someone suddenly shoved me…”
Just as I’d thought. Random push? Or targeted grudge? Whatever it was, shoving someone was dead wrong.
Ae-ri, found them.
“Where?”
Right nearby. Hiding in the crowd, probably watching to see what happened.
“Total scumbag.”
I followed the nav HERA projected and locked eyes with a guy trying to bolt.
“Where you going!”
I fired a wire, snagged the fleeing bastard, and bound him tight.
“What’s going on?!”
Late to the party, the cops showed up. I explained everything, they cuffed the guy I caught, and Ra Mi-yeon went with them for a witness statement.
“So it was a grudge. Figures.”
As the cops dragged him away, the guy glared at Ra Mi-yeon and spat, “I-I heard it all! Y-you were gonna take sponsorships! D-deceiving your fans like that!”
Long story short, he was her fan. Somehow knew about the Bohemia Church mess and held a grudge. Classic.
“Line 1’s always been a villain magnet, past or present.”
On the train, I felt just how hellish rush hour was, even in this era.
‘This time of day and it’s this packed?’
Ae-ri, it’s rush hour right now.
‘Ah…’
Come to think of it, it was 6 PM. No job meant I’d thought it was the weekend. But this was even worse than the Line 1 I remembered.
“Huh?”
Maybe the crowd? But someone was pressing right up against me. ‘This is way too close, right?’
Something felt off.
“Hah?!”
Someone groped my ass. No way this was an accident in the crowd—it was deliberate.
“What the— Ngh?!”
Something hard pressed between my cheeks. Fuck, this was no accident!
“Stop— Hnngh♥”
The guy behind me slipped his hand into my pants, rubbing over my panties. A moan escaped before I could stop it.
Ae-ri, execute electric shock?
‘No! Too dangerous.’
HERA’s shock wasn’t some taser—it was an omnidirectional electronic blast. In this packed, enclosed space, catching one molester could cause chaos.
‘Line 1 really is a villain den.’
Creeps like this proved it, even now.
“Haaahngh♥”
Now his fingers slipped past my panties, invading inside, mercilessly probing my pussy.
“Stooop— Hnngh♥”
My body was going limp. Thought I’d never deal with this after Night Bunny, but a woman’s body was weird.
“Gaaah!”
“Huh?”
A scream from the guy behind me. Finally free, I turned to see Duk-cheol gripping the molester’s head with one hand.
“D-Duk-cheol?”
“Are you alright, Miss Ae-ri?”
Duk-cheol was always stone-faced, but now he looked genuinely pissed.
“Hard to believe molesters still exist these days.”
“Why are you here, Duk-cheol?”
“Boss asked me to watch over you, Miss Ae-ri. Spotted this mess and stepped in.”
“Ah…”
So Lee Jung-woo hadn’t just ditched me without backup. Duk-cheol handed the groper over to the cops at the next stop after we reported it. That bastard was getting sued for sexual harassment, no question.
“I’d have been in real trouble without you, Duk-cheol. Thank you.”
“No need for thanks. Protecting you is my duty.”
“Still grateful… Hey, Duk-cheol, you hungry by any chance?”
“I am, yes. May I ask why?”
I scratched my cheek, then said to him,
“Not much repayment, but I wanna buy dinner.”
“Dinner?”
“Yeah.”
Duk-cheol paused like he was thinking, then made a call. After hanging up, he looked at me.
“Boss says it’s fine to clock out today. I’ll gratefully accept your dinner, Miss Ae-ri.”
“Great! Then…”
I’ve already scouted a hot spot nearby. Shall I guide you?
‘Yeah, please.’
And so, Duk-cheol and I headed to the restaurant HERA recommended for dinner.