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

Could this Craig be *the* Craig Zog was thinking of?

He thought it over. It couldn’t be anyone else.

Noble surnames weren’t repeated. Across the entire Continent, there was only one Craig Clan.

There was likely no one else in that family who would pull a stunt like *Young Hero Craig*. It could only be Young Master Craig, the one who had been so desperate to make a cameo.

To be certain, Zog decided to ask Elsa.

"This Craig is...?"

"It’s him," Elsa nodded.

"After his cameo in *Mechanical Warrior*, he wasn’t satisfied. He decided he had a real talent for acting, so he funded and filmed a Magic Shadow Drama of his own," she explained.

"That thing got approved?" Zog asked, confused.

This approval process wasn’t about prohibited content on the Magic Vision Device. Other than anything excessively bizarre, there were few restrictions on what could be shown.

It meant that any content hoping to air on the Magic Vision Device had to pass an internal test screening. Only shows that performed well in the screening were given a slot.

Once they realized the immense value of this new media channel, many powerful groups were vying to get their productions on the Magic Vision Device.

The days when they struggled to even fill the programming schedule were long gone.

In Zog’s mind, Craig didn’t seem like the type who could win in such a competitive environment.

’Did he have some sort of epiphany while he was grounded last time?’

"Craig only invested and starred in it. He left the rest to professionals," Elsa said.

"The film crew were all outstanding students from the training classes we started, and the screenwriter they hired is a famous playwright."

’He just puts up the money and stays out of the way. A model investor.’

"So what’s the show about, roughly?" Zog asked.

"It’s about a talentless Craig who lives in a fantasy world where he’s a Legendary Hero and adventurer. He sets off on an adventure filled with absurdity and comedy.

"In the end, he becomes a hero by a twist of fate, but also comes to terms with his lack of talent. He rejects a title from a Duke and sets off on his journey again as an Ordinary person, still optimistic and pursuing justice."

As a qualified assistant, Elsa’s notebook was filled with all sorts of information Zog might need.

’Young, a bit of a smart mouth, but a total pro.’

Zog fell silent after she finished.

’Crap. It sounds pretty decent. I even kind of want to watch it.’

As a brand-new art form, animation wasn’t immediately embraced by the audience. It was understandable that its ratings might be lower than a drama like this.

But the show with the highest monthly ratings would receive a substantial cash prize to recognize outstanding creation.

The more local productions flourished, the better. After all, the platform belonged to Zog, so he was the one who ultimately profited.

All the previous monthly awards had been won by Zog Film Studio.

Now, a shining example of local talent was finally about to emerge, and yet... it was Craig.

Craig was about to make a fortune off the Zog Group!

This really irked the Dragon.

Now, even when he made money off Craig in the future, he’d feel like a part of it had been his to begin with.

In Zog’s mind, this was basically a net loss.

’This is a crisis. Is there any chance for *Tom and Jerry* to make a comeback? But the next episode isn’t until next month. There are only reruns for the last week of this month.’

「The end of the month arrived quickly.」

According to the law of conservation of happiness, if Zog was unhappy, then someone else had to be happy.

Namely, Craig.

Right now, he was in a banquet hall with the cast and crew, holding a celebration dinner.

He was about to make a fortune off Zog. How awesome was that!

In the future, when he went to buy things from Zog, he would feel like he was using Zog’s own money.

’So satisfying!’

Although Craig seemed a bit goofy and often did things that hurt his own family while benefiting the Zog Group...

...as a scion of a great family who had received an elite education since childhood, he actually understood quite a lot.

He knew very well that professional matters should be left to the professionals.

A high status doesn’t mean you know everything about everything.

There had been plenty of fiascos caused by inflated egos meddling in work they didn’t understand.

His frequent dealings with the Zog Group were, on one hand, because he genuinely liked their products. On the other hand, his intuition told him that Zog represented the future.

’I have to latch onto this opportunity to the future.’

This was the sharp intuition he had inherited from his Prophet Mage mother.

Obviously, young Craig didn’t know how prophetic Magic worked, so he could only attribute it to an ineffable intuition.

As a celebration, the banquet wasn’t formal—at least not the kind with the whole suite of strict aristocratic etiquette.

Instead, it was a relatively relaxed cocktail party and ball held at the same time.

The female lead of the show even tried to invite Craig for a dance but was rejected outright.

This leading lady was a famous theater actress, exceptionally beautiful, and never lacked for suitors. She hadn’t expected her charms to be ineffective on Craig.

He could tell what the actress was after with a single glance.

’Trying to get a ticket onto the Craig family’s gravy train? Not a chance!’

Being young didn’t mean he hadn’t seen much. He had heard no shortage of messy affairs among the nobility ever since he could remember.

’She’s just an actress. Not even as interesting as *Ferin Chronicles*.’

’How could some cheap flirtation compare to a game that an entire team spent months meticulously researching and developing!’

Besides that, he was also a bit uneasy and not in the mood to dance.

He was worried they were celebrating too early. The ratings for the final week of the month hadn’t been released yet.

’If my Magic Shadow Drama doesn’t end up in first place, won’t this be incredibly awkward?’

But the entire cast and crew believed victory was in the bag. They’d already popped open the champagne when last week’s ratings were released.

The idea of celebrating at the end of the month was to see the final ratings report during the party, bringing the atmosphere to a climax.

Although Craig felt it wasn’t a sure thing, he didn’t want to be a spoilsport when he saw how much everyone else wanted to celebrate.

"Respected Young Master Craig, why do you look so down?" the show’s director asked, approaching Craig with a glass of wine.

This director was from the Drama Guild. After the Guild accepted that they couldn’t compete with the magic shadow format, they’d opted for another strategy.

They would establish a new organization, shoot their own magic shadow productions, and defeat Zog Film Studio on their own turf.

The goal was to prove that people with a background in theater made better magic shadow productions. This, in turn, would prove that theater was superior to the new medium, which had only gained market share due to its low barrier to entry.

In short: they had to win!

"I’m worried about the last week’s ratings," Craig answered truthfully.

"Haha, Young Master Craig, you have nothing to worry about. We deliberately chose our air date to be in the gap after the season finales of the Zog Group’s two hottest shows. That cartoon with the close ratings doesn’t even have a new episode. There’s no way..."

"Young Master!"

The director hadn’t finished speaking when Craig’s servant ran over in a panic, holding a piece of paper.

"What is it?"

"The ratings... the ratings are out! *Tom and Jerry* overtook us," the servant said, out of breath.

"What! How is that possible?" the director shouted in disbelief.

Craig, on the other hand, wasn’t terribly surprised. He really liked that cartoon too. If he lost, he lost. It was just incredibly awkward now.

"But they don’t even have a new episode, do they?" The director still thought his servant must have made a mistake. ’These commoners have hardly any education. What if he can’t even read the numbers?’

"It was a rerun."

The director snatched the paper from him.

*Tom and Jerry*, 48%—blatantly in first place.