I Stepped on Their Shadows and Skills Started Copying Like Crazy - Chapter 10

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

10
Returning to the 1st Floor Waiting Room after leaving the mission zone, it was still packed with people.
‘I’d believe it if someone told me every Korean Awakener in existence was gathered here.’
Anyone who was an Awakener could ascend to the 1st Floor.
Thanks to that, the 1st Floor Waiting Room had become a gathering place for Awakeners to meet.
And whenever people congregated in such numbers, supply and demand aligned, and commerce inevitably bloomed.
‘So… I was told that most workshops are all on this floor.’
It was the natural result—unless they were the type to turn away customers unless they came from higher floors or something.
I pushed through the crowd and headed straight for the workshop that was supposedly the most famous in the waiting room.
I worried I might get lost on the way since it was my first time, but a certain ‘delicious smell’ helped me along.
‘Oh… that must be it. The smell of steel is just vibrating through the air.’
Focusing on the scent of iron and fire mingling together, I found the alley where the workshops clustered without much difficulty.
And the place I was looking for among them was….
‘Found it. Jang’s Workshop.’
The workshop name was refreshingly simple.
The owner’s surname must be Jang.
Since you apparently couldn’t construct buildings inside the Tower, they’d just thrown up a wooden sign with the name scrawled on it.
There was no shop front to speak of, but from somewhere deep inside, the sound of metal ringing against hammer echoed from what looked like a furnace in the distance.
‘Can’t build a structure, but a furnace works? Does a Forging Skill master just improvise and suddenly have a furnace?’
At least I’d found the place.
“Oof… but really, all these people….”
When I saw the long line of people stretched out in front of the workshop, I realized I had a long way to go.
There had to be at least a hundred of them.
‘Standing in line and waiting here… that’s not really ideal.’
I was debating whether to wait or not when someone came hurrying over from the front of the line and started talking to me.
“Hello, are you here to commission something? Crafting? Repair? Or maybe you’re here to buy? You don’t need to wait for purchases.”
“Ah, I came to commission a Crafting job.”
At the mention of a Crafting commission, the clerk adjusted his glasses with his hand and asked,
“What kind?”
“I’m thinking of having a sword made from Giant Saw-like Fangs, and a Swamp’s Curtain made from Giant Swamp-Cured Leather.”
While listening to me, the clerk’s hands moved busily, scribbling rapidly into his notepad.
“If you book now, it’ll be ready in a month. Is that alright? If you’re in a hurry, there’s an expediting fee. Ah, the price without the expediting fee is about this much.”
Then he slid the notepad toward me as if revealing some great secret.
But that price… it didn’t make sense.
“Five… wait, isn’t there an extra zero on this?”
“No, it’s exactly as you see. You brought the core materials, but between the labor costs and the price of the other necessary materials, it adds up. Crafting isn’t cheap.”
“…I’ll look around a bit more and come back.”
It wasn’t just the time—the price was unreasonable, so I backed away from the counter.
‘Too bad. That furnace over there had a better smell than anywhere else.’
Judging by the scent alone, whoever was hammering that steel in that workshop was clearly a skilled craftsman.
Unfortunately, it was beyond my budget.
In any case, Jang’s Workshop, despite all the recommendations, was crossed off.
I was left with nothing but legwork.
And about an hour later….
‘They’re all expensive…?’
I’d gone through all the workshops in the area that smelled decent.
But the prices were all the same.
‘The first place was definitely the most expensive, but considering the difference in quality, just going with them… no, if I start spending carelessly now that I’m making some money, I’ll end up destitute.’
Actually, it wasn’t that Awakeners made good money—it was that Awakeners with Crafting Skills made good money.
Still, I wasn’t ready to give up here.
‘If I search hard enough, there’s bound to be something worth looking at, right?’
I figured I’d seen enough of the 1st Floor workshops, so I searched for related information online… and found something.
“This is it.”
Buried among all the ads and promotions and viral posts trying to hide themselves, I found one place that actually seemed worth visiting.
【INFO】Check out the guys you’re commissioning item repairs and crafting from
You all know the waiting room workshop guys are colluding on prices now, right?
I asked someone to sharpen the blade on a general-grade shortsword and they wanted 500k ㅋㅋ For that price you might as well just buy a new one ㅅㅂㅋㅋ
So I looked around and found there’s still one blacksmith in Seoul using a traditional furnace?
Choi’s Industrial Workshop — this old man runs it solo, super gruff, and if you’re an Awakener he starts by cursing you out.
But his skill? Absolutely genuine.
My beloved weapon’s durability was shot to hell and I was about to scrap it, but this old man tapped it with a hammer a few times and made it look brand new.
The price was a fifth of what the 1st Floor Waiting Room Workshop charges? Ridiculously cheap.
Downside: no reservations or anything. You just show up and wait around.
The old man’s got a temperament problem.
If you can’t humor him, he’ll kick you out on the spot.
Won’t even glance at Tower Materials or Monster Drop Items.
He only works with pure metalsmithing.
▼ Comments
Anonymous1: Yo, thanks for the pro tip
Anonymous2: Choi’s Industrial Workshop? That place still operating? My dad got his tools fixed there lol
└ Anonymous (OP): Yeah, fifty years hammering away in the same spot. Living fossil.
Anonymous3: How do you even trust your gear to a blacksmith who hates Awakeners? I wouldn’t dare.
└ Anonymous4: Lmao right? What if he deliberately ruins it?
└ Anonymous (OP): Nah man, the skill is the real deal. He won’t take the job if he won’t do it. Once you hand over your gear, he doesn’t mess with it. His pride is serious.
Stubborn as hell, but a craftsman whose skill is beyond question?
And cheap on top of that?
‘All right, I’ve got to see this for myself.’
I searched for the location—not far at all.
Twenty minutes by car? I left the Tower immediately and flagged down a taxi.
“Yes, where shall I take you?”
“Driver, Choi’s Industrial Workshop, please.”
The electric taxi glided smoothly down the road.
It was a weekday afternoon with light traffic, so I arrived sooner than expected.
‘This must be it.’
The exterior was unremarkable.
Like those little workshops you’d find in neighborhoods when you were a kid?
But the smell—that was unmistakable.
The moment I stepped out of the taxi, my nose caught the sharp, charred sweetness of coal and the keen bite of steel, the hot, peppery scent of flame.
It was definitely a delicious smell.
No—that wasn’t enough to describe it. This was a feast for the senses.
“Oof, my mouth’s watering.”
Compared to this, that smell from the 1st Floor Workshop earlier might as well have been a child playing pretend, arranging leaves and sand and calling it dinner.
‘Well, I’m definitely in the right place. But was the owner an Awakener? He’s supposed to hate Awakeners, so why does it smell like….’
I’d find out soon enough once I went inside.
Without hesitation, I stepped into the workshop.
“Pardon the intrusion.”
The moment I crossed the threshold, a wave of heat rushed over me.
He still used an old-fashioned forge, and inside it, iron was glowing red-hot as it heated.
“What brings you here?”
An old man with white hair, standing before the fire, glanced over and asked.
“I’d like to commission some crafting work.”
“Crafting? What do you need? A hoe? A plow? A spade?”
I hesitated for a moment here.
They say he looks down on Awakeners. What should I do?
‘Well, I came all this way. I should at least try.’
I closed my eyes, opened my Inventory, and reached for the Giant Saw-like Fang—
“Out.”
—and put it back without showing it to him.
“I don’t work on Awakener trash. Get lost.”
The old man’s voice wasn’t just firm—it was ice cold.
Whatever the reason, he clearly had history.
‘Damn, with a smell like that, he’s genuinely a master craftsman. What a waste.’
The owner wasn’t taking the job, so what could I do?
Nothing for it.
“I apologize, sir. I knew you’d dislike it, but I was grasping at straws and ended up being rude. I’m sorry.”
“You’ve got some sense about you at least, kid. I’ll accept your apology. Now run along.”
Should I just leave peacefully? No—I can’t leave empty-handed.
“Would you happen to spare just a moment to look at this? I’ve had a bit of experience working with metal myself, so I tried to fix it roughly on my own. I’m just not sure if it’s safe to use as is….”
Carefully, I took the blade I kept stored in my Inventory and showed it to the old man.
“I already told you, I don’t work on Awakener stuff. You’re not listening….”
The old man had been waving me away, but the moment his eyes fell upon the blade, something in his gaze transformed—his words cut short.
“Let me see it.”
What could possibly be so special about it?
The old man held the sword in one hand, turning it this way and that, examining it intently.
I stood quietly nearby, barely breathing, careful not to intrude.
After a moment, he stopped rotating the blade and flicked his finger against the edge—a sharp, bright ping.
Ting—
A pure, clear ring echoed softly through the workshop.
Once the resonance faded completely, the old man finally spoke again.
“Well now, look at this. The outside is all rotted and crumbling, yet I can hear a faint breath from within.”
“A breath…?”
“Steel breathes too, you see. And this one here—yes, it’s like a consumptive patient in his final days.”
“I see…”
To be honest, I had no idea what he meant.
A sword that breathes? Is that what he said? Then his gaze swept over me from head to toe.
“You touched this?”
“Yes.”
“Shows. The inside’s rotten, but you’ve somehow managed to keep the edge sharp—it’s… well, it’s laughable, really.”
“Ha, well… with just a couple months of learning over someone’s shoulder, I couldn’t do much better.”
“Why would that be laughable?”
“Sir?”
Confused by his question, I asked again, and a faint smile crossed the old man’s weathered face.
“Because it’s only the edge that’s intact. That’s what’s absurd.”
* * *
First he said I’d clumsily kept only the edge sharp, now he’s saying the edge is the only thing intact. How am I supposed to take that?
“So… the edge is acceptable, then?”
“Well, it’s not exactly flawless, but it’s far better than those upstart Awakeners who rely on their Skills and nothing else. You’ve clearly handled steel before—that much isn’t a lie.”
Apparently it was a compliment, after all.
With that expression and stubborn manner, if that wasn’t praise, it would’ve been even more terrifying.
“Stay right there for a moment.”
Was he checking the weight balance of the blade now?
The old man stepped back and clumsily swung the sword through the air.
‘The old master… making something and using it are different beasts, aren’t they.’
Beneath eyelids that sagged with the weight of years, his eyes glimmered with curiosity and excitement.
Like a child who’d just received a new toy.
“…Ah, this blade’s no ordinary thing. Whoever forged it, I don’t know, but they clearly understood steel. The craftsmanship is superior to mine.”
Judging by his tone, the old man’s skill was genuine.
For him to admit so readily that someone surpassed him…
As expected, this was no ordinary blade.
“Have you already used this sword?”
“Yes, right after I sharpened it.”
He seemed so startled that wrinkles deepened across his forehead as his eyes widened.
“Is that so? So you’re clumsy with steel, but decent at using a blade. You actually managed to take this into real combat without breaking it—remarkable, considering it could snap in two any day now.”
“Is the condition really that bad?”
“It is. I’ll admit, you kept the edge in decent shape. But that’s all you managed. Keep using it like this and it’ll break—sooner rather than later.”
Breaking mid-use would be the worst outcome imaginable.
It’d be a shame, but maybe I should let this blade go.
‘No, I can’t.’
This isn’t some trash item.
It was the only piece of equipment the Tower had spat out after the first EX Grade evaluation, recalculating its rewards in the process.
‘There’s definitely something to it.’
Even this old man standing before me had acknowledged it wasn’t ordinary.
The potential and promise bound up in this blade were too precious to abandon now.
“Isn’t there some way to fix it?”
“Of course there’s a way. I already told you, didn’t I? The breath still lingers. It hasn’t died yet. So we just need to revive it, don’t we?”
Easy for him to say when he wasn’t the one doing the work.
If it were that simple, I’d have done it already.
“Why don’t you do it yourself? From the way you sharpened the edge, you’ve clearly handled steel for years. Surely you’re capable of some Forging?”
“No, like I said from the start—I’ve only spent a couple months casually watching someone work. That’s the extent of it. And besides, this isn’t a kitchen knife or vegetable knife. Something like this… I don’t have the confidence.”
Either he hadn’t been listening properly because the blade had captivated his attention, or perhaps he simply hadn’t paid close attention to my words back then—he looked genuinely surprised, as if hearing this for the first time.
“What? A couple of months?”
“Well, ‘learned’ might be too generous a word. I didn’t have anyone instructing me—I picked it up by watching and doing it myself.”
The old man let out a mirthless snort as I briefly explained my experience of learning over someone’s shoulder in the past.
“Heh heh. Young fellow, let this old man offer you some advice. I don’t know why you’re downplaying your credentials, but you should know that even lies need to suit your audience. I’ve spent more than fifty years eating iron dust.”
As for me, I’d grown so used to that kind of reaction that it didn’t faze me.
“I understand your skepticism, but there’s nothing I can do if you won’t believe the truth.”
“It’s not about belief. Not half a year—a couple of months? Ha, if that were true, you’d have picked up a hammer instead of climbing the Tower. Though of course that’s nonsense.”
The old man’s disbelief only stoked my determination.
“Sir, would you be willing to make a wager with me?”
“A wager? What kind of wager?”
“Just as you said—I’ll give it a try myself. This thing’s going to be unusable anyway, so why not give it a few swings? But if I manage to get the breathing room on this beast working, then you’ll properly work on it for me.”
“How did we end up talking about that? That wasn’t the point we were discussing.”
But there’s no better way to explain things in moments like this.
I flashed a confident smile.
“Once you see it, you’ll understand how I got there in just a couple of months. Will you give it a try?”
“Fine. If you manage to get that breathing room working with your own hands, then I’ll properly see to it. I’m curious myself—how you’ll prove such an outlandish lie.”
The old man grinned as if the whole thing were ridiculous.
It was clear he was telling me to go ahead and try.
“So, shall we begin?”
“What? Didn’t you say you were going to do it yourself?”
The old man’s smile faded, replaced by a bewildered expression.
I simply grinned back at him without shame.
“As I said, I learned everything by watching. This time, I’d like to watch you work and learn from that.”
“What? What do you—”
“There was no condition that it had to be done right now, was there?”
This is why you need to examine the terms of a wager carefully.
I Only Stepped on Shadows, but Skills Copied Perfectly
Author | Killing Part

Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Chief Editor |
Editorial Department
Published by |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books
Address |
7th Floor, Gwangseong Building, 28 Bongeunsa-ro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260703072
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter (X) |
@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
Without the written permission of Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books, the contents of this book may not be used in any form or by any means.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————