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

Customer Service 9527 leisurely ate his potato chips. As a former scam artist, he absolutely loved this job.

Even though he was off the clock, he’d come home and continue playing auto chess while actively keeping people company through the Chatting Spell.

Although the customer service center’s main function had shifted to answering user questions, the companion chat accounts were still retained.

Back when he was running scams, he had to do everything in person. If he got exposed, he’d be lucky to just get beaten up on the spot. If he ran into someone truly tough, his career would’ve been over.

This social network was a different world.

Hidden behind a Magical Device, his safety was maxed out. Fabricating an identity was far more convenient, too; unlike the traditional methods that required acting skills, costumes, and a full set of props.

Here, you could fill out your personal profile however you wanted. Post a couple of photos, and someone would believe it.

He’d dub the Chatting Spell the Steam Engine of the scamming world, as it had brought about a complete industrial revolution.

It almost made him want to quit and return to his old profession. Fortunately, his reason won out in the end, and he didn’t do anything to lose his meal ticket.

The main reason, actually, was that he’d learned the Zog Group could trace the user of any account; it was just a matter of time.

A sufficiently high risk is an effective way to encourage criminals to mend their ways.

Still, it wasn’t like there were no perks to be had.

Although the companion chat accounts used by customer service were under strict supervision to prevent illicit profiteering, they were allowed to accept in-game assets gifted by others.

And most in-game assets were tradable—for example, Yu-Gi-Oh! card packs, various cosmetics from auto chess and fighting games, and even the accounts themselves.

The Zog Group provided a dedicated trading platform and, of course, collected a percentage-based transaction fee.

Merchants specializing in flipping game assets even started to appear, hyping up one skin today and hoarding another cosmetic tomorrow.

You could also trade outside the platform, but if you ended up losing both your money and your items, no one would help you get them back.

Customer Service 9527 skillfully switched between the dozens of chat windows open in front of him.

As a top performer in the world of companion chatting, he earned tens of Silver Coins in in-game gifts each month just by sweet-talking various big shots, an amount several times his monthly salary.

And today was shaping up to be a new peak in his gift-receiving career.

Someone who followed the account "Little Girl Who Dreams of Getting into Repin" was carrying him hard in auto chess, boosting his rank like crazy. They had already secured the top spot on the ladder.

The custom special effect—the reward for the rank-climbing event—was almost in his grasp.

It could sell for at least eight or ten Gold Coins. Discontinued special effects were all going for that price these days.

If he wasn’t in a hurry to sell it and waited a while, the price might go even higher.

He couldn’t understand why anyone would willingly shell out so much money for a purely cosmetic effect, but he was sincerely grateful to these people who had more money than they knew what to do with.

KNOCK KNOCK. A knock sounded at the door.

"Who is it?" Customer Service 9527 asked impatiently. This was interrupting his rank climb.

Even though he was already nearly a thousand points ahead of second place, he didn’t feel secure. ’Nothing’s secure until the reward is in my hands.’

This was a big score, worth several Gold Coins. Back in the day, a haul like this would’ve been enough for a whole den of scammers to mobilize.

"It’s your neighbor," a faint female voice came from outside the door. "My kerosene lamp broke, and it’s too dark inside. I’m a little scared... I can’t go out to buy a new one right now, so I was hoping I could borrow a lamp from you."

Perhaps because he’d been out of the business for so many years, 9527 didn’t immediately sense that something was off.

He remembered his neighbor was a pretty young wife, currently separated from her husband.

’I’m at that age now, and I have a proper job. It’s about time I considered settling down.’

’She may be a married woman, but isn’t that even better?’

’This is the perfect chance to get closer to her.’

Feeling smug, he sauntered over to open the door.

"A lamp is no problem. Come on in, have a seat..."

The moment he opened the door, he saw that besides his neighbor, there was also a tall Beastman.

The Beastman grabbed him at once, stooping to carry him into the room.

Behind them was a red Dragon, who tossed a coin to the neighbor 9527 had been fantasizing about.

’Wait a minute, I recognize that Dragon. Isn’t that the boss of the Group?’

’What’s the boss doing here?’

’Did I do something wrong?’ 9527 racked his brain. ’No, it can’t be... Just for using a companion account to score some cosmetics? Would the boss really come in person for something like that?’

Zog picked a relatively clean spot to stand amidst the snack wrappers littering the room.

"Okay, okay. Put him down."

He had already determined there was no danger in the room.

Normally, catching a cheater wasn’t something Zog needed to handle himself. However, he was concerned that the cheater might also be the cheat’s creator.

According to the Magic team’s analysis, while the exact principle was unknown, the skill level of the person who created the hack to achieve the effects in the recording was definitely high.

To be safe, Zog had come himself—he treasured any and all opportunities for overtime.

As long as the cheat’s creator wasn’t the Magic Goddess herself, he was confident he could take them down, no matter who they were.

’And if it really is the Goddess...’

Hmph!

’I, Zog, am no pushover.’

’It’s just auto chess. If she wants to cheat, let her cheat.’

’A wise man knows when to yield.’

"Do you know this account?" Zog asked, showing him the suspected cheater’s profile.

"I do." 9527 was extremely nervous. Although he couldn’t gauge his boss’s strength, that Beastman could easily crush him with one hand.

Zog glanced at the still-running game console. ’Alright, they’re still duo-queued,’ he thought.

"Do you know the user’s identity?" Zog pressed.

’This person is pretty cautious. No personal information was provided during registration. Right now, neither the social network nor the games require real-name identification—not that it’s even feasible. The current household registration system is far from perfect, leaving plenty of loopholes to exploit.’

"He said he’s an elite Mage from the Loman Empire, employed at the Royal Caster Academy. His annual income is several hundred Gold Coins, he owns a manor of over a thousand square meters in the Royal City, he likes to collect various Magical Clocks, and he often sprinkles words from the Elven Language into conversation."

"That’s enough." Zog waved a claw. For some reason, the description gave him the distinct impression of a finance bro.

"Can you get him to meet up with you?" He got it now. This customer service rep was playing the role of the girl being carried.

"Shouldn’t be a problem."

"Then arrange to meet him. Pick somewhere wide open... say, Beheading Plaza," Zog said. "I’ll count this as overtime; you’ll get paid for it."

immediately got to work and opened the chat window.

"You’re so amazing! You carried me to number one on the ladder so fast."

"That was nothing. There are other ways I’m amazing that you haven’t discovered yet."

"You’re so bad. (shy emoji)

"How should I ever thank you, you naughty boy?"

Next, he sent a deceptively innocent-looking photo: a high-angle shot of someone in a bath towel with wet hair, sitting with their legs tucked under them, one hand artfully placed to "hide" their chest.

"A real pro," Zog couldn’t help but remark.

If online shopping existed, Zog was sure there’d be a link to sell tea posted right below it.

"He’s agreed to meet," 9527 said after a moment.

「Half an hour later, in front of a bar still open for the night near Beheading Plaza.」

A man in formal attire stood there holding a bouquet of flowers. He gave off the strong, awkward vibe of someone trying—and failing—to look like a nobleman.

He hummed a little tune, feeling pleased with himself. ’The "Little Girl Who Dreams of Getting into Repin," a famous online beauty with thousands of followers... and all it took to win her over was carrying her for a few ranks.’

"Hahaha..."

He couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

"Waiting for the ’Little Girl Who Dreams of Getting into Repin’?" a voice asked. A Beastman had suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Yeah. What of it?"

SLAP! A heavy hand struck him across the face, and the world started to spin. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Zog leaned in to get a better look at the cheater on the ground.

’This face looks familiar.’

"Late Wind?"