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

Of course, the Eight-Tailed Crow wasn’t going to hold back just because Galina yelled for it to stay away.

With a single peck, she lost her last shred of resistance, becoming a lamb to the slaughter.

Out of some semblance of compassion, Zog decided against the most sadistic play: switching Leader Zarug to defense position and slowly whittling her down to zero with the Eight-Tailed Crow’s meager 200 Attack Power.

Instead, he "mercifully" ended Galina’s agonizing duel in just two turns.

That’s right. The poor girl didn’t even know you could surrender in Yu-Gi-Oh!. She was forced to endure another two turns of torment before her life points were finally wiped out.

’What a thoroughly satisfying duel.’

Zog felt a genuine sense of joy, and a twisted grin spread across his face. ’Dueling really is the best way to make a Dragon smile.’

’Seeing someone have a genuine meltdown like this is so much more entertaining.’

When he’d tested the decks internally with his staff, all the employees—human and Zor Goblin alike—had learned to humor their boss.

They used all sorts of ways to hand Zog the win, from letting his combo deck overwhelm them in one go, to fighting a tense battle only for him to win by a hair, to making a "critical error" that led to a stunning comeback.

Too bad their acting wasn’t good enough to fool Zog’s high Perception. He saw through their charades instantly.

The Beastmen, on the other hand, didn’t understand such social subtleties. But they were just too bad at the game; beating them offered no sense of accomplishment, and they never got tilted no matter how much he tormented them.

But this girl right here? Her meltdown was the real deal. She was already starting to pull out her hair.

"Star," Zog said, extending a paw toward Galina to demand the price for her loss.

Galina’s eyes were red-rimmed, as if she had suffered a grave humiliation.

’Growing up, when had she *ever* been treated like this?’

’It wasn’t that she’d never been crushed before—she had when she’d test-played with Ben—but this felt completely different.’

’This was just frustrating, humiliating, and soul-crushing.’

She clutched her stars tightly, a voice repeating over and over in her mind.

’Don’t give him the star, don’t give him the star...’

’Normal Summon your ’Great Fireball’ in Attack Position, and then... hurl it at him...’

It was as if a Dark Galina was about to be born within her.

In the end, however, reason triumphed over impulse. Her trembling hand offered up one of her only two stars.

Zog, moving awkwardly in his mascot costume, waddled over to confiscate the star. The moment he had it, he turned and ran.

He looked like a thief with a guilty conscience.

’The main reason was that he could see the girl was about to snap. He figured she was a moment away from raising a hand and blasting him with a fireball.’

He wasn’t afraid of a fireball, but his fluffy mascot costume was.

’It’s an age-old rule: fur is weak to fire.’

’If it got burned, he’d have to find a new disguise. That would waste time he could be using to find new victims and spread the joy of dueling throughout Winter City.’

"Wait!" Galina suddenly called out to Zog.

"What is it?" Zog asked, keeping his distance.

"That deck of yours, is it for sale?" Galina asked, sniffling.

After a fierce internal struggle, she’d arrived at a simple conclusion.

’If you can’t beat them, join them.’

"Technically, no."

"I’ll pay 1 Gold Coin per card," Galina said through gritted teeth.

"Well, that’s not out of the question," Zog quickly amended.

"But we’ll make the trade tonight," he added. "And you have to return it after the event. It’s only a rental."

’He’d gone to the trouble of creating this deck—and had only printed a single copy. He deserved to have at least one full day of fun with it.’

’Besides, he was heading to the game festival for the next two days and wouldn’t have time to duel anyway.’

"Deal," Galina agreed instantly.

’She’d already done the math. Assuming the deck had 40 cards, that would be 40 Gold Coins—a few months’ worth of her allowance.’

’Ever since Raul had stopped holding his seminars, there had been no way to get a private audience with him.’

’A noblewoman had once offered several hundred Gold Coins just to have a private dinner with Raul, and she’d been refused.’

’If she could clear the event and meet Raul by spending only 40 Gold Coins on this deck... it would be an absolute steal!’

"By the way," Zog added, "be careful when you’re dueling with that deck."

"What?" Galina asked. She didn’t understand the logic behind needing to be careful while playing Yu-Gi-Oh!.

’It wasn’t like she felt any pain when her life points were attacked.’

"Watch out for your opponents hitting you for real."

"Er, okay. I’ll be careful," Galina said, admitting that was a genuine risk.

’Things like that were actually pretty common in Feilin. She’d read plenty of newspaper stories about players who got into flame wars, doxxed each other’s addresses, and then opened a Teleportation Array to show up on someone’s doorstep for a real-life beatdown.’

’Still, she was pretty confident in herself. Her theoretical knowledge might not rank high at Repin, but her practical combat skills were more than decent.’

With their Contract formed, Zog hurried off to the area with the highest concentration of duelists.

He had already noticed someone on the forums posting an open challenge. They claimed to be on a huge winning streak with over a dozen stars and welcomed any and all challengers.

A large crowd had even gathered to watch, eager to see just how long the player’s streak would last.

This player had clearly done their homework on the beta version of Yu-Gi-Oh!, discovering an exploit in the power balance.

Because of Zog’s personal fondness for Dragons, he had given all the Dragon-type decks a slight buff.

For example, Galina’s Blue-Eyes White Dragon deck included Dragon Dictator, a card that was obviously a bit more modern.

’After seeing it in action, Zog decided that kind of card shouldn’t make it out of the beta. When the game officially launched, he’d lock it away on the forbidden list for a few years.’

And the player currently taking on all comers was using another one of the buffed Dragon decks: True Red-Eyed Black Dragon.

For someone who studied the game so diligently, a winning streak was a well-deserved reward.

Unfortunately for him, he had run into Zog.

"I challenge you!"

The True Red-Eyed Black Dragon player glanced disdainfully at the mascot costume.

’These NPCs sent by the event organizers usually just use the original decks from the manga. They’re incredibly weak and no fun to duel against.’

’He wouldn’t have even accepted if another player hadn’t shown up to challenge him for a while.’

"You can go first," the True Red-Eyed Black Dragon player said casually. "No need to flip a coin. Consider it a handicap."

’Time to show these onlookers what real dueling skill looks like.’

Just as he was envisioning the flashy way he’d secure his victory...

Zog drew his opening five cards, plus one for his first turn.

Looking at the cards in his hand, Zog already felt a pang of pity.

’He didn’t want the duel to be this cruel, but what could he do? He’d drawn the perfect opening hand.’

Six cards in total. He had assembled the unholy trinity from his Handscroll Destruction Deck: Mischievous Twin Demons, Detention, and Strongly Attracted Foreign Soldiers. On top of that, he had Drop Off, Trap Hole, and a Leader Zarug.

’There truly is a bond between a duelist and their deck.’

Zog immediately launched into his silky-smooth combo.

"I activate the effect of Mischievous Twin Demons! By paying 1000 life points, you have to discard one random card from your hand, then you choose and discard another."

"Next, I use Detention! I’ll pay another 1000 life points, and you discard one more card."

"And now, Strongly Attracted Foreign Soldiers! I look at your hand and return one card to your deck."

Then he set two cards face-down and summoned Zarug.

The True Red-Eyed Black Dragon player, still in a daze, hadn’t even processed what happened as he drew his next card.

"Drop Off!"

He summoned the only Monster Card he had left in his hand.

"Trap Hole!"

The scene was brutal.

...

Just a few minutes later, the True Red-Eyed Black Dragon player was being hauled away by Beastman security, screaming and cursing the entire time.

Zog hadn’t even had a chance to deplete his opponent’s life points. The guy had completely lost control, charging forward with his fists swinging.

’Frankly, the guy should be thanking security. Otherwise, he was about to find out what it really meant to court death.’