50. The Finest Sword in the Village, the Finest Horse in the Village, and the Finest Girl in the Village

After strengthening his skills and equipment, Su Yu's overall strength increased significantly!

Moreover, with reaching level 10 and unlocking the [Pet System], he could now own his very first pet.

Unfortunately, the village did not have a "Pet Incubation Room"; he would have to head to a major city to hatch the [Moon-Howling Wolf Egg].

Checking his remaining game time for the day, he had a little over two hours left.

"I'll use these two hours to solo the level-10 dungeon. Clearing the dungeon will give me a chance to acquire a 'Mega Megaphone', which I can use to advertise my guild."

Having made up his mind, Su Yu headed toward the新手村 (novice village).

The first thing to do upon returning to the village was to turn in the first quest of [Glory of the Golden Lily Empire], and then go tackle the dungeon.

......

At the square by the entrance of Nolan Village.

"Hello, Village Chief! I'm here to turn in a quest." Su Yu pushed through the bustling crowd and sought out the elderly village chief.

As his voice fell, every single player in the square vanished in an instant. The lively square fell into absolute silence, leaving only the nearby NPCs and Su Yu himself.

Su Yu was unfazed.

This phenomenon occurred because the village chief had pulled him into a separate instance, making other players invisible. Many hidden quests, main storyline scenarios, and environmental battles triggered this kind of setup.

"It's you, young adventurer." The village chief's eyes lit up the moment he saw Su Yu, his white beard twitching excitedly: "Have you obtained the [Head of the Moon-Howling Wolf Leader]?"

"Even better than that. What I got is the head of the Wolf King." Su Yu didn't beat around the bush and immediately produced the Wolf King's head, handing it to the chief.

"Whoa!" The chief jumped back, overcome with excitement.

Causing his hands to tremble as he stroked the Wolf King's furry, massive head, he stammered: "It really is the Wolf King's head! Adventurer, magnificent job! You are the most formidable adventurer I have ever laid eyes on, I am certain of it!"

"So... what about the reward?" Su Yu rubbed his fingers together.

"Oh, look at my memory!" The chief slapped his own forehead and grabbed Su Yu's hand: "Come, follow me to my house. My place is quite spacious."

"What are you trying to do?" Su Yu asked warily.

"The reward is kept at my house, so come home with me to get it. You surely don't expect me to conjure a horse out of thin air right here, do you?"

"Then what did you mean by saying your house is spacious?"

"My house is very large; I can mount the Wolf King's head as a taxidermy trophy on the wall." The chief caressed the Wolf King's skull, his eyes burning with fervor:

"From then on, I can tell everyone that I slew this wolf! Even in my old age, the village chief's blade remains sharp, hehe! Who knows, maybe Old William's widow, Jenny, will finally look at me in a new light because of this! By then, we could..."

Su Yu: "......"

He certainly hadn't expected the chief to use the Wolf King's head for such a purpose.

However, since the quest had already been turned in, he would let the old man say whatever he pleased.

......

Arriving at the village chief's house.

The chief rummaged through boxes and cabinets in the storage room for a long time before finally pulling out a rusted, battered longsword.

"Brave adventurer, as a reward for assisting me in slaying the Wolf King, I hereby present this sword to you! This is the finest sword in our entire village!"

What the chief was holding was a terribly dilapidated longsword, covered not only in rust but also caked in a thick layer of dust.

Looking at the weapon, the corner of Su Yu's mouth twitched.

How could something rusted to this extent possibly be "the finest sword in the village"?

Still, he said nothing and reached out to take it.

The very moment his hand grasped the hilt, however, the blade snapped clean off from the handle!

Clatter!

The blade clattered onto the stone floor.

Su Yu stood there holding just the hilt, staring blankly.

"Apologies, adventurer. I've had this sword stored away for too long, and I forgot to glue the blade back on."

The chief took the hilt back from Su Yu's hands, retrieved a bottle of glue from the back room, and glued the blade and hilt back together.

He then handed the longsword and the glue back to Su Yu, boasting proudly: "Adventurer, do not underestimate this sword. It is the very weapon I used to wield, and with it, I went undefeated for ten years!"

Su Yu: "......"

Su Yu no longer had any adjectives to describe his current state of mind.

Yet, he wasn't overly worried.

If this old coot dared to fool him with a piece of junk, he would simply find a way to lure the next generation of the Wolf King and slaughter the novice village all over again.

Su Yu checked the sword's stats.

[The Finest Sword in the Village (Consumable)]

Remaining Uses: 10

Usage: Point this sword at the target and shout, "Take this!"

Effect: The blade snaps and falls to the ground. If the target's level is no higher than yours by more than 10 levels, they will fall into a [Dazed] state for 3 seconds.

[Dazed]: Unable to move or attack. Taking damage will automatically cancel this state.

Note: Don't forget to use glue to stick the broken blade back on after use!

......

"The stats are actually quite decent." Su Yu was somewhat surprised.

While the sword's appearance could not possibly be uglier and it was completely covered in rust, its stats were unexpectedly good.

No, it could even be called a formidable consumable item.

On second thought, though, since it was a reward from the main storyline, it naturally wouldn't be too shabby.

......

Seeing that Su Yu seemed quite satisfied, the chief grabbed his hand once more: "Come! Let's head to the stables to check out your second reward!"

"Hold on, this horse isn't going to be unusual as well, is it?"

Having survived the baptism of the "Finest Sword in the Village," Su Yu strongly suspected that the "Finest Horse in the Village" wouldn't be any normal creature either.

"You'll see once we reach the stables!" Without taking no for an answer, the chief dragged Su Yu out of the house.

......

Two minutes later.

"Village Chief, this is a mare!" Su Yu stared blankly at the small red mare assigned to him by the chief, utterly speechless.

Having been through the "Finest Sword" incident, Su Yu had already realized that the "Finest Horse" might not be ordinary.

Never did he expect, however, that the chief would actually hand him a female horse.

Aside from the little mare, several other tall, majestic stallions stood in the stable. No matter how one looked at it, the small mare could hardly be called "the finest in the village."

"What's wrong with a mare? Do you harbor prejudices against females? Keep talking like that and I'll throw hands!"

The chief rolled up his sleeves, adopting a menacing posture.

"No, I mean... aren't herd leaders usually stallions? And isn't every other horse next to this one superior?"

Su Yu pointed at the towering stallions nearby.

"Ahem, actually, it's like this."

The chief's tone softened as he reached out to groom the mare's mane: "To tell you the truth, your quest reward for slaying the Wolf King wasn't originally supposed to be 'the finest sword in the village' and 'the finest horse in the village.' If you had triggered this quest a bit earlier, the reward would have been 'the finest sword in the village' and 'the finest maiden in the village.'"

"A maiden?!"

"That's right."

"Then... where is the maiden?"

Su Yu stared intently at the little mare.

Could this mare possibly be the transformed "finest maiden in the village"? What kind of fairy-tale plot twist was this?

The chief seemed to read Su Yu's mind and waved his hand dismissively: "What kind of wild imagination is that! This is genuinely a mare, not a human in disguise. The 'finest maiden in the village' I mentioned—you probably don't know her, her name is Tina."

"Tina?"

"Yes, Tina is the kindest maiden in our village." The chief placed his hands behind his back and gazed into the distance: "Recently, she passed her talent assessment and has already taken a carriage to Olan City. In the future, she will become a Unicorn Knight."

"This little mare was her favorite mount. Ever since Tina left, the little mare has lost her appetite and grown thinner day by day."

"Young adventurer, would you be willing to take this little mare to Olan City and personally deliver her back to Tina?"

......

Author's Note: There are many affairs around the Lunar New Year, so the second chapter for the past two or three days will be a bit late.