Wang Yu immediately made his way to the blacksmith the moment he arrived back in Twilight City.
All he could think about was whether or not the blacksmith would be able to salvage his beloved Universe Sword.
As usual, the front of the blacksmith store was filled with players. As the player got progressively stronger, more and more of them were starting to find equipment blueprints, resulting in an increase in the number of players that were trying to learn blacksmithing.
These players naturally didn't have the heart to hand something as precious as a blueprint over to someone else for crafting. Even if they failed to craft it by themselves, they couldn't blame anyone but themselves...
Wang Yu made his way past all the players, placing the Universe Sword in front of the blacksmith instructor as he respectfully asked: "Master is there any way to fix this sword?"
"What did you say this was?" The NPC asked.
"A sword..." Wang Yu was startled, how could a NPC not recognise this item?"
"It's just a piece of scrap metal!" The instructor shook his head.
"So can you fix it?" Wang Yu persisted.
"Well the metal that this was crafted from seems like something of pretty good quality. I could probably make a dagger if I tried to refine it..."
"Go f*ck yourself..." No matter how well mannered he was, the words of this NPV had thoroughly offended Wang Yu. He simply could not help but curse at it.
Just as he was about to leave, a familiar voice called out to him.
"Little fellow, why are you in such a rush to leave..."
Wang Yu halted his steps, turning around to see a tiny figure leaning against the wall.
This tiny figure was the one that had crafted the Universe Sword in the first place! Simba the blacksmith!
"Master Simba, can you restore this sword?" Wang Yu asked as he presented the sword to Simba.
"Have you gone blind? How could I possibly fix this sword?" Sumba chided Wang Yu.
"Er... so you can't do anything about this either..."
"It's not that I can't do anything about this sword, but this sword is merely a failed equipment. Even if I could fix it, I wouldn't bother to..." Simba explained.
Simba the Divine Smith had crafted countless godly weapons throughout his life. But the only failure that he had ever created was the Universe Sword.
This failed equipment was nothing more than a stain on his legacy, an eternal shame to his name. There was simply no way to convince Simba to try to repair this sword.
Wang Yu naturally understood this as well, so he did not press on with asking Simba to fix the Universe Sword.
"Then can you craft another sword like this? I'll provide all the materials needed for the forging and I'll pay whatever the cost is!" Wang Yu stated.
To be honest, Wang Yu didn't really need a weapon to fight. Even a random sword would have been enough for him to take on any opponent.
But he really like this Universe Sword too much, simply because of its traditional chinese design. Out of all the weapons that he had ever seen, this was the only one that he had ever grown attached to. It was hard to say how long it would take for him to ever find a blade that could even come close to the feeling that he got when wielding the Universe Sword.
"Ha ha, this weapon is really special. Not only are the forging requirements extremely high, even the materials used are of the highest quality. I scoured the lands for many years before I even found the materials to craft this sword." Simba chuckled.
"Ah? Then what should I do?" Wang Yu continued asking. Wang Yu did not believe for a single moment that Simba had no way to fix this sword, furthermore, that lengthy monologue of his was very suspicious.
A NPC wouldn't talk to a player for no reason. There was definitely a quest!
"Hmm… well you seem like a decent young lad... how about this, if you have enough gold on you, I have a quest that definitely won't disappoint you!" Simba laughed.
"F*ck!" Wang Yu nearly fainted from shock when he read the system notifications.
300 gold coins. Even after clearing the dungeon on behalf of the Sanguine Alliance had only earned Wang Yu 250 gold. It looked like he would incur a loss of 50 gold today... this game really was devious, why was it so hell bent on sucking the money out of him?
"Young man, don't show me such a pained expression. This quest isn't supposed to be for someone at your level anyway... let me tell you, this sword is supposed to be a quest item. Once you complete this quest, not only will you have a new sword, but you'll get an even greater reward as well!" Simba explained.
Simba wasn't trying to trick Wang Yu. This sword really was the key to starting this special quest.
If this sword had been acquired by a normal player, they would definitely have read the item description and brought it directly to Simba. They would then spend money to start this quest line. One a person like Wang Yu would dare to use it as a weapon...
If it had not been for Angela's Curse, Wang Yu might never have discovered this quest in his lifetime.
"A greater reward?" Wang Yu was slightly moved by those words.
Not only would he have his Universe Sword back, he would even get an additional reward!
"That's right! I guarantee it'll be worth your time!"
"Okay! I accept your quest!" Wang Yu gritted his teeth as he replied, pulling out 300 gold from his inventory and passing it over to Simba.
Simba chuckled as he received the money, after which Wang Yu received another system notification.