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

"Bartender! Another barrel of that... uh, you know, the drink you can light on fire!"

"Are you sure you want a whole barrel? That stuff is pretty strong..."

"Of course, a whole barrel! We came here for the strong stuff! What, you lookin’ down on Dwarves?!"

Inside the Ice Castle Bar, Bane Furnace’s face was flushed red as he slurred his words.

"I’m nowhere near drunk yet!"

Typically, anyone who says that is already well on their way.

Still, the bartender hauled out a large barrel.

When these Dwarves drank too much, they just passed out and slept peacefully. But if you refused them a drink they asked for, all hell would break loose.

In the few days the group of touring Dwarves had been in the Northern Domain, they had already drunk three times the amount of alcohol the bar had sold in the past several weeks combined.

A bar in this frozen land was mostly for customers to have a novelty drink. No one drank too much; if you passed out drunk in the snow and no one found you, you’d freeze solid in a couple of hours.

Alcohol doesn’t actually keep you warm. It just makes you *feel* hot, which paradoxically makes it easier to freeze to death.

But the Dwarves were different. This wasn’t a vacation for them; it was just an excuse to drink somewhere new.

The bartender had never made a cocktail like this before. He didn’t even bother with a jigger, just grabbed several bottles and poured them straight into the barrel. With no stirring rod big enough, he had to shake the entire barrel just to mix the drinks evenly.

"Your drink." The bartender grunted, struggling to carry the heavy barrel over to Bane’s table.

Bane was already slumped over the table, his face buried in his thick beard, and the faint sound of snoring could be heard.

But the moment the barrel arrived, his head shot up. He had rebooted at light speed.

"1 Gold Coin! Who dares challenge the greatest drinker of the Furnace Clan, the magnificent Bane Furnace!"

he roared, standing on his stool.

At first, he hadn’t been too keen on visiting the Northern Domain. The place was freezing, and he remembered from his youth that there was nothing interesting to do there.

But then, a bunch of his clansmen saw some kind of... Shadow of Evil, and they all went wild, insisting they had to visit the Northern Domain.

While Bane wasn’t big on tourism, he loved being part of the action. It was rare for the clan to have a group trip this far, and not coming along would have been downright antisocial.

After arriving, he realized the trip wasn’t a waste after all. At the very least, these concoctions called "cocktails" were right up his alley.

Not the ones mixed with fruit juices, but the ones that were just strong liquor mixed with more strong liquor.

Since they were served in cups made of ice, they didn’t taste too strong going down, but they had a serious kick. Perfect for a drinking contest.

"I’ll take you on!" A young Dwarf from his clan leaped onto the ice stool across from him.

It was the traditional Dwarven drinking contest: two stools, one barrel. The contestants would stand on their stools, scoop drinks from the barrel, and the first one to fall off would lose.

One might reasonably suspect this method was invented simply because a Dwarf standing on the floor couldn’t reach into a large barrel.

Seeing Bane challenged, the other Dwarves quickly crowded around. Joining the fun and watching the fun were two essential parts of any Dwarf’s life; there was no room for introverts in the clan.

"RAH! RAH! RAH!"

The onlooking Dwarves let out a synchronized battle cry, and the atmosphere in the bar grew electric.

Bane and his opponent scooped drinks from the barrel, keeping pace with the ever-quickening chant.

There was no rule forcing them to drink faster and faster, but a Dwarf’s competitive spirit would never allow an opponent to quicken their pace without matching it—and then some.

Five minutes later, the large barrel was nearly empty.

Finally, Bane’s short, stout body swayed once, then twice, before toppling off the stool.

"OOH!" The Dwarves erupted in a cheer that threatened to bring the roof down.

The victorious young Dwarf cheered along with them.

"OOH!"

"BLEAARGH—" A mouthful of liquor came back up, splattering on the floor.

It didn’t slow him down, though. He took a moment to recover, then went right back to cheering.

"Haha! I almost had him! If only I hadn’t drunk so much beforehand."

Bane taunted the young Dwarf from his spot on the floor. He’d lost fair and square, but that wouldn’t stop him from being a sore loser.

He pulled out a Gold Coin and tossed it over. He’d never welch on a bet.

The young Dwarf took the Gold Coin and immediately went to buy several boxes of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game was now sold in every type of shop in Winter City, a clear case of market saturation.

Seeing that he was about to open the packs, the large crowd of Dwarves immediately shifted their attention.

Luck was a contestable skill like any other, and Dwarves would compete over anything that could be measured.

With every card the young Dwarf flipped over, the crowd would erupt in groans of disappointment or shouts of excitement. The vicarious thrill was palpable.

For Dwarves, opening the packs was more exciting than actually playing the game.

But his luck clearly wasn’t great today. After opening nearly 50 packs, there were only three minor stirs in the crowd for cards that weren’t worth much.

Bane watched and shook his head. ’He didn’t quite get what was so exciting for these young Dwarves.’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

’In his opinion, Yu-Gi-Oh! didn’t even have a Dwarf deck, so what was the point of playing it?’

"Whoa! It’s a Ghost-Rare Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

Someone’s sudden shout was like a bomb dropped into a quiet pond, sending everyone into a frenzy.

"Quick, go get it graded!"

"Yeah, yeah, hold it carefully! Don’t you dare scuff it!"

Bane watched as the young Dwarf, surrounded by an escort of his companions, carefully cradled the Ghost-Rare Blue-Eyes White Dragon as if it were a priceless treasure and walked out of the bar.

"Ridiculous," Bane muttered with a sneer. "Get it graded? What’s there to grade on a card? It’s not like it’s a Magic Scroll."

"That card is worth a lot more than your average Magic Scroll right now," the bartender replied casually, seizing the opportunity of the Dwarves’ departure to start mopping the floor.

He had no doubt that when the Dwarves returned from getting the card graded, they’d start another round of celebrations.

"Worth more than a Magic Scroll? That one card?" Bane’s voice went shrill with surprise.

"Yep," the bartender said with a hint of envy. "Right now on the forums, someone’s offering a Hundred Gold Coins for a Ghost-Rare Blue-Eyes White Dragon with a grade of 8 or higher."

"This ’Ghost-Rare’ thing... does it make the card more powerful?" Bane asked.

"Nope."

"Then why?"

"Because it’s rare," another voice answered.

Bane turned to look and his expression immediately shifted into a fawning smile. "Ah, Master Toto! You’re here."

Bane rarely called anyone "Master" in his life, but when it came to Toto, he was completely won over.

Except for that one time Toto went easy on him, Bane’s current win rate against him in auto-chess was zero. The kind of zero that not even the luckiest draws in the world could overcome.

"You’re the guy who leveled his Warrior’s Order up thousands of levels just to get the Supreme Furnace Castle game board," Toto said. "You should have no problem understanding why one card is worth a Hundred Gold Coins."

"That’s different! That’s Furnace Castle! The *Supreme* Furnace Castle!" Bane immediately retorted.

"Alright, whatever. Did you bring the money? I’m on a tight schedule."

"Of course." Bane immediately produced a money pouch, stuffed to the brim with Gold Coins.

Toto took it without opening it to check, a show of complete trust in Bane’s character.

"Alright, log in. I have to stream tonight."

Bane immediately pulled a gaming device from his bag and logged into the auto-chess game.

He had paid a hefty sum to hire Toto for an auto-chess event.

The new season’s beta test had added a doubles mode and launched a special rank-climbing event for it.

The top-ranked team each day, as well as the overall event champions, would receive special rewards.

Bane wasn’t greedy; he just wanted to take first place for a single day to get the custom attack-effect reward.

The Dwarf and Half-Elf duo quickly found a match.

"Just do whatever. I’ll carry," Toto said, his words radiating confidence.

「Half an hour later.」

"Second place."

Toto stared at the grayed-out screen, lost in thought.

"That’s not right. It’s just a game of luck. Again."