The Red Dragon Lord is OP, but Insists on a Pop Culture Invasion!

"Yu-Gi-Oh!?" Galina looked at the child who had suddenly popped up. She was a bit wary of the word "game" now.

One taste of *Cat Mario*, and you’ll be afraid of games for a decade.

"This isn’t one of Zog’s games, is it?" Galina asked, just to be safe.

"Yes, it’s a brand-new card game designed by Mr. Zog. It’s meant to bring smiles to people through card duels!"

The young boy took out several booster packs from a box hanging around his neck, their paper wrappers illustrated with all sorts of characters.

"You should buy a few packs and try it out. It’s really fun."

"No, thanks. Forget it." Galina waved her hands frantically, a look of fear on her face, and turned to leave.

’Bring smiles to people? Yeah, right! Just as I thought, Uffie must have learned her bad habits from their boss.’

"Are you sure you don’t want to try? You can demo it with a free deck first," the boy said, chasing after Galina to make one last attempt. "Plus, it’s the beta test event right now! If you participate, you might get a chance to duel Mr. Raul!"

Galina-trap successfully activated.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

"Who did you just say?"

"M-Mr. Raul," the boy stammered, startled by the murderous look that suddenly flared in Galina’s eyes.

’This lady with the three giant fireballs... she doesn’t eat kids, does she?’

"How do I get into this event?" Galina demanded, a menacing glint in her eyes.

「A few minutes later.」

「In the inn’s grand lobby.」

Zog provided the contestants of the gaming festival with the most luxurious accommodations in the Northern Domain.

The entire inn had full magical heating coverage. Even when the temperature outside dropped below -20 degrees Celsius, the rooms remained at a comfortable 18 degrees.

In a corner of the lounge, Galina stared at a massive diagram of the rules, feeling her temples begin to throb.

She now recalled having actually read the *Yu-Gi-Oh!* manga in a comic magazine before.

She just hadn’t been very interested back then. She could never get into stories where you had to use your brain to defeat your opponents.

Her only impression of the manga was that the characters had ridiculously exaggerated hairstyles.

"Ugh, forget it!" Galina scratched her head in frustration. "I’ll figure it out as I play."

"Here’s a demo deck for you," the boy said, handing her a stack of cards. "This is a Black Mage deck. It’s great for learning the ropes."

"Hah! Me, the one and only Galina, use a demo deck? I’ll just open my own packs!" Galina declared with a grand wave of her hand. "How many packs did you bring? I’ll buy them all!"

’Besides, you need your own deck to enter the event. I’d have to open packs sooner or later anyway.’

"Really?" The boy’s face lit up. He spread a whole box of booster packs across the table.

Galina chatted with him as she opened the packs. Making friends with strangers was one of her specialties. As her grandfather used to say, "The girl’s got a wonderfully open and confident nature."

"Are you out here earning money for your family at such a young age?" Galina asked.

There were plenty of working children in Twin Tower City, too. She used to help them whenever she could, but she later realized it was impossible to help them all.

"No, I came with my uncle for the gaming festival. I’m just selling cards to earn some extra money for a Yo-Yo. My dad won’t let me have one, so he took away my allowance."

"The gaming festival? Your uncle makes games, too?"

"Not exactly. Our family is here to sell toy merchandise. We’re Ackley’s Toy Store."

"Ackley? The Ackleys from Twin Tower City?" Galina was surprised. ’What a small world.’

She used to frequent that toy store as a child, though she hadn’t been in a while. Nowadays, the toy industry in Twin Tower City was more or less dominated by Zog.

"Yep, the Ackleys from Twin Tower City."

"Then you must be?"

"Ben. Ben Ackley."

"Your family is pretty strict, then." Galina hadn’t expected a child from the Ackley family would have to work just to earn money for a Yo-Yo.

Ben just shrugged, offering no comment.

"Phew! Finally done." After a great deal of effort, the two of them had finally unwrapped a tableful of cards.

"Let me see the rules... A deck can have between forty and sixty cards. Then sixty it is, obviously."

"That’s not necessarily a good thing," Ben said. Though he hadn’t played much himself, he understood that having so many cards probably wasn’t an advantage.

However, operating on the principle that "more is better and bigger is stronger," Galina assembled a sixty-card deck.

She maxed it out with Monster Cards. If High-Level monsters didn’t require tributing Low-Level ones, she wouldn’t have included a single one.

Compared to her, even Seto Kaiba seemed moderate.

"Alright, let’s duel! I feel like my deck is invincible!" Galina declared, brimming with confidence.

Ben used the Black Mage deck.

「A moment later.」

Galina stared at her hand, full of High-Level monsters, and her Life Points at zero. She sank into contemplation.

’My strategy... might have a slight flaw.’

She had lost in just three turns. What was even harder to accept was that she hadn’t managed to summon a single monster. Her hand was completely bricked.

"Um... I also offer deck-tuning services," Ben said meekly, terrified that the first big spender he’d found would be scared off after just one game.

"Fine!" If there was one thing to be said for Galina, it was that she knew when to take advice.

Luckily, she had bought more than enough cards. After some tinkering, they managed to put together a decent-looking Blue-Eyes White Dragon deck.

As for why she chose Blue-Eyes White Dragon? Because it was the monster with the highest Attack Power, of course.

The second duel began immediately.

Ben’s adjustments had an immediate effect. The deck ran much more smoothly—which wasn’t hard, considering her previous one was completely unplayable.

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack the opposing player directly!"

With Galina’s triumphant attack declaration, she won the game.

Ben glanced at her cautiously. ’She didn’t realize I threw the match, did she?’

"Ahahaha! I knew I was a genius! Quick, take me to the event registration desk! Raul... hehehe... I’m coming to play a game with you, Raul..."

’Yep, she didn’t notice.’

Ben breathed a sigh of relief.

「Beheading Plaza, Event Registration Desk.」

Long lines snaked from every window. The event was clearly a huge draw.

The ultimate winner would not only get to participate in a live-broadcasted celebrity exhibition match, but would also receive a hefty cash prize, commemorative rare cards, and a verified celebrity profile.

After filling out the registration form, Galina received her event participation gear.

A Dueling Disc, meant to be worn on her arm, and two golden stars.

The rules were designed to be exactly like the Duelist Kingdom arc from the manga.

All participants could duel one another, wagering the stars they held. Those who collected ten stars would advance to the finals.

To make the event more interesting, there were also NPCs—non-player characters—stationed randomly throughout Winter City. You could also win stars by defeating them in a duel.

Of course, you would also lose a star if you were defeated.

Galina strapped the Dueling Disc to her arm and considered who her first opponent should be.

’Dueling another person right away is too risky. Compared to everyone else, I haven’t even read the original manga carefully. I’d be at a clear disadvantage.’

’But since this is an event, they wouldn’t make it too hard. The NPCs must be there for people to farm for stars. They can’t be that strong.’

’My best strategy right now is to camp an NPC spawn point. I’ll have a better chance of winning, and I can get more familiar with the rules.’

Her mind made up, she headed straight for Winterfort.

As someone who had often planned school events, she figured the NPC spawn points would be located at landmarks with high foot traffic. ’That’s how I’d design it, anyway.’

Outside Winterfort, Galina squatted by the side of the road like a street loiterer, warming her hands by rubbing a large fireball between them. She politely turned down a stream of vendors trying to sell her a *Princess*-themed photoshoot and waited patiently for an NPC to appear.

Her patience paid off. After about an hour, a portly, chestnut-ball-shaped mascot came wobbling out of the castle gate.

’That has to be an NPC. It can’t just be some person in a mascot costume trying to stay warm.’

When her target appeared, Galina shot to her feet, but her legs had gone numb from squatting for so long, and she nearly face-planted right there on the street.

Limping, she rushed up to the mascot and bellowed, "I challenge you to a duel!"

"Are you sure?" a muffled voice asked from inside the costume.

"Positive! Your stars are mine!" Galina activated her Dueling Disc.

The mascot clumsily activated its own Dueling Disc, looking like a total beginner.

’My decision was brilliant,’ Galina thought.

Meanwhile, hidden inside the mascot costume...

Zog, disguised as the chestnut-ball mascot, almost lost his composure. ’I didn’t think,’ he mused, ’that the first victim of my Handscroll Destruction Deck would show up so soon.’