I Stepped on Their Shadows and Skills Started Copying Like Crazy - Chapter 26

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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26
Today I woke earlier than usual, at six in the morning.
Bami hadn’t stirred yet, so when the alarm sounded, she jolted awake along with me, tilting her head in confusion.
“Mrow?”
That look of hers—*why is he up so early?*
“I’m heading to the tower early today. There’s a reason for it.”
After petting Bami a few times, I got ready to leave, and that’s when I noticed a message from Kim that had come in last night.
[Hey, Si-hyeon. You awake? The tower’s gone crazy right now. Everyone’s got their eyes peeled trying to catch the last Golden Goblin. I’ve never seen Floor 3 this packed in all my years.]
“Yeah… there really are a lot of people.”
The waiting area in the attached photo was a sea of bodies.
The Golden Goblin’s seventy-two-hour window was nearly over, with only hours left.
Afraid of missing the final Golden Goblin, the eager ones had rushed to the tower the moment the midnight bell struck and the daily entry limit lifted.
I wasn’t much different.
That’s exactly why I’d gotten up so early.
‘Basic Missions are quick enough once you’re in the tower, but I hate being rushed.’
As the one who’d essentially brought this event to Korea’s tower, I couldn’t afford to miss the last Golden Goblin.
‘Everyone else catches Golden Goblins and snatches up equipment items just fine—what about me? Getting nothing?’
Today was my last chance.
If something profitable dropped, great. If not…
‘I’d be disappointed.’
Of course, my real goal was something else entirely.
The final map fragment.
‘This one feels different somehow.’
Everything else was just secondary profit.
“All right. Let’s go.”
Ready and prepared.
Before the sun had even risen, I headed back to the tower in the early dawn.
“Floor 6.”
For the final map fragment.
* * *
Floor 6 was the Wasteland again.
I already knew that the main stages from Floor 1 to Floor 10 were all Wasteland, with Floor 5 being a special case, but the feeling hit differently this time.
“Ahh, yeah. Now *this* is more like it.”
I never thought I’d miss this dry, dusty, rust-colored earth so much.
Good riddance to damp, dark caves.
‘Floor 6’s Basic Mission is… raid the goblin settlement.’
In the distance, I could make out what looked like a small village.
That had to be my target.
‘Hmm, at that scale… three minutes should do it.’
But first, there was something I needed to try.
‘Regeneration. I need to test it.’
I couldn’t exactly subject myself to lethal attacks just to experiment—I couldn’t pick and choose which deadly blow was “safe enough” to take.
So what I’d do instead was…
Shick. Scrape.
I drew the dagger I’d been using regularly and cut across my forearm.
‘Still getting used to putting a blade against my own skin, huh…’
The knife edge split fragile flesh.
Following the shallow wound, red blood seeped out slowly.
‘Now let’s heal.’
There was a faint tingling, and fresh skin began sprouting across the wound.
In less than three seconds, the cut vanished without a trace, leaving only smooth, unblemished skin.
“…Insane.”
I’d suspected the skill’s potency when my wrist pain disappeared right after I got it on Floor 5, but this exceeded expectations.
I felt the weight of an A-Grade Skill anew.
‘Yeah, if an initial Awakening ability is A-Grade, you’re basically royalty among Awakeners. This makes sense.’
I’d been a little disappointed that Floor 5 never offered anything special beyond Black Pages and the usual rewards, but looking at it now, I’d received the finest reward possible.
“This is good. Should I try once more?”
Just as I was about to cut deeper,
Screech—!
A sound like air being torn apart.
“…!”
Had I been even slightly alert, I would have dodged—but the rush of Regeneration had left me careless, my mind elsewhere.
‘Danger…!’
Before I could even register where it came from, survival instinct took over; my hand flew up toward the sound and I threw it out defensively without thinking.
Crack!
In that instant, a searing heat bloomed across my palm as if I’d plunged it into flame.
“…Ugh!”
The arrowhead didn’t just embed itself—it punched clean through my hand.
I’d dodged disaster by mere inches; my face wouldn’t have become a colander today.
My blood ran cold, then anger surged up to replace it.
Anger at myself.
When had it started?
I’d grown arrogant, convinced that neither Trials nor Basic Missions posed any real danger—and now I’d paid the price for that hubris, laid flat on my back.
“…Yeah. I’ve been way too relaxed on Basic Missions lately.”
Even as the arrow remained lodged in my palm, the flesh knit itself back together.
The thought crossed my mind: if this happened to my face instead, would I survive an arrow through my skull? A bitter laugh escaped me—but it was a laugh at my own expense.
I was ashamed of the mess I’d made of myself.
“Look at you. Kim Si-hyeon. Get one A-Grade Skill and suddenly you think you’re invincible.”
I turned toward the source of the arrow to find a goblin fleeing in a blind panic.
Probably a scout of some kind.
“At least I don’t need to run any more tests after this.”
Venting on myself for my own stupidity, I grabbed the arrow buried deep in my palm and wrenched it free.
Squelch!
The wound, already mostly healed, tore open again with a fresh sting—but I’d call that the tuition I deserved to pay.
After the fool’s move I’d just pulled.
The heat that had flooded my head now drained away, leaving cool clarity behind.
“Right then. This time I’ll do it properly.”
* * *
The walk out after clocking off and washing up.
“Ahh, that’s better.”
I’d made it through another day without incident.
Or rather—today was different.
Today I’d carved through Floor 6 like a man possessed.
The word “without incident” hardly did it justice.
‘Was it all thanks to Regeneration? No—after that, I didn’t pick up a single scratch.’
It was a matter of mindset, you might say.
Knowing I could trade flesh for bone, then simply restore the flesh afterward—that selfish exchange changed everything. My movements became less constrained, bolder.
And with that shift, my opponents found themselves scrambling just to protect their own bodies.
After taking an arrow to the chest early on Floor 6, Regeneration never needed to activate again. I cleared all the way through to the Trial without a hitch.
I’d collected the final map fragment I’d been after, breezed through the Trial, and met no resistance whatsoever.
‘I didn’t get a good look at it back then—I should check it properly.’
Normally, I’d have examined it right there in the tower.
Today, after taking that arrow, my head had cleared enough to just pocket it and save the inspection for a safe place.
“Item information.”
[Goblin Lord’s Secret Treasure Vault Map]
Grade: ???
Classification: Miscellaneous Item
Description: The Goblin Lord—the ruler of the red earth who first unified the scattered tribes of the Wasteland’s goblins—hid this in life. Now a legacy, this map points the way to his secret vault.
The path to that hidden chamber is marked upon it.
Special Effect:
[Open Sesame]: When the map’s owner conquers Floor 10, this effect activates automatically, opening a door to the hidden layer (Floor 10.5).
“Floor 10… that’s coming up soon.”
It had been a week now since my Awakening—seven days without a single rest day, climbing the tower like clockwork.
Floor 10 wasn’t far off anymore.
“But there’s a Floor 10.5?”
It must be a special layer, like that “undisclosed floor” I’d been dragged to on the day I was kidnapped.
‘This has the smell of money all over it…’
A secret vault containing the Goblin Lord’s legacy?
I’d be able to make a killing there.
Part of me wanted to sprint straight to Floor 10 that very moment, but the limitation of one floor per day felt unbearably restrictive.
“What’s the rush? I’ve got….”
I pulled out my phone with a quick swipe.
“This.”
I figured I’d check on the auction that was about to close.
When I checked last before heading up the tower this morning, it was at 9.5 million won.
With the deadline approaching, surely it had crossed 10 million by now.
‘That much would be enough to cover living expenses for a while. Well, if I do move, I’ll have to tighten my belt again, but….’
Half hopeful, half excited, I logged into the TemDaFarm app to check the auction status.
[Toothed Scrap Metal Crown]
[Current Bid: 30,000,000 won]
“……What?”
What is this? Am I dreaming?
I checked again, thinking I’d misread, but it was still 30 million won.
“3… How did it jump to that price….”
I felt like I’d won the lottery.
No, it was practically like winning second prize in the actual lottery.
With my heart hammering in my chest, I carefully examined the bid history.
“This isn’t some kind of error, is it?”
After it crossed 10 million won, bidding activity dropped off noticeably.
There were maybe three or four more counter-bids after that, but each only raised the price by hundreds of thousands of won.
But then suddenly, there appeared a counter-bid that made no sense whatsoever.
‘From 10.8 million straight to 30 million?’
It made no sense to burn 30 million on a single rare-grade piece of equipment, especially when the previous highest bid was only 10 million won.
“What kind of crazy— no, generous person is this?”
I finally understood what the phrase “money to burn” was coined for.
After this generous soul’s appearance, bidding dried up completely.
‘Well, that makes sense.’
Unless someone literally had stacks of bills sitting around like rolls of toilet paper at home, who else would bet more than 30 million on an item like this?
‘If this goes through… that’s that.’
Originally, I’d planned to move to a small one-room place that avoided basements and rooftop units—somewhere with good sunlight and ventilation. But things had changed.
“1.5 rooms… No, a two-room!”
A spacious, gleaming two-room apartment shimmered before my eyes.
Years of moving between the orphanage, goshiwons, basement units, and rooftop rooms flashed past me like a lantern show.
I’d never actually lived in a two-room place, so I could barely imagine it, but that alone made me happy.
There was an hour and a half left until the auction closed.
I couldn’t possibly turn off the screen and wait calmly after seeing this.
‘At this rate… fried chicken for dinner tonight.’
Fried chicken. Not the occasional whole chicken I’d treat myself to, but proper fried chicken!
And not just any—I’d ordered from one of those big franchise chains I could never quite bring myself to order from before.
The kind with famous celebrities in TV commercials! Public stock listings and everything.
With delivery, a whole chicken from those places cost nearly 30,000 won.
There were weeks when I’d survive on 30,000 won in food costs, so this was a luxury I’d never experienced.
“Still, a day like today deserves a treat.”
Even after ordering, I wondered if it was excessive, but there was no taking it back.
I had to get used to it.
There’d be many more days like this ahead.
[I’ve left your food at the door. Enjoy your meal.]
After about thirty minutes, the delivery arrived, and I sat with my phone screen on, savoring the feast.
With no new counter-bids, nothing changed but the steadily dropping countdown—yet I found it endlessly entertaining.
And why was this fried chicken so delicious?
I felt guilty eating something this good alone, so I got Bami a special treat too.
“Yeah, come here and sit, Bami. Let’s have some Churu.”
“Meow-meow-meow!”
The little one bounded over at the sound of Churu.
I’d bought a few last night after coming back from Floor 5, thinking I might give one a try during an evening walk—and she’d devoured them so eagerly that I felt guilty for not having bought them sooner.
“Tasty?”
“Meow!”
By the time both Bami and I had finished our meal, there was barely twenty minutes left until the auction closed.
19… 18….
The minutes ticked away, and soon the remaining time shifted from minutes to seconds—and when it did, trembling with anticipation, I pulled Bami close and we counted down together.
“10…!”
“Chirp!”
“9…!”
“Chirp!”
Just before the hammer fell.
With roughly five seconds left until the auction closed, a counter-bid notification appeared on screen again.
[A counter-bid has been placed on your listed item.]
[Current bid: 30,500,000 won]
‘The price is going up again…?’
Thirty million, five hundred thousand won—another increment of five hundred thousand, the current minimum bid unit.
With the new bid, the countdown reset to ten seconds, and then it began again…10, 9, 8….
“Ding!”
The app chimed, announcing the auction’s close.
[Auction Settlement and Payment Notice]
The auction for your consigned item has concluded.
Item Name: Toothed Scrap Metal Crown
Final Hammer Price: 30,500,000 won
Commission (10%): −3,050,000 won
Final Settlement Amount: 27,450,000 won
※ The above amount will be transferred to your registered account within three business days.
While reading the message, a notification chimed—ding!
“Huh?”
[(Deposit Notice) TemDaFarm 27,450,000 won]
True to form for the nation’s largest private Tower item exchange, they processed it fast.
They said three business days, but the money had hit my account like clockwork.
“…….”
A sum I’d never seen in my account in my life.
Every time I managed to save a little, living expenses would drain it away; every time I scraped together what I could earn, it’d empty out just as quick. But now, for once, my account felt solid.
“Bami. We’re really… we’re really moving, aren’t we…!”
“Chirp?”
The idea of moving didn’t seem to register.
Well, I’d have to speak her language.
“I’ll buy you a hundred boxes of Churu!”
“Meow!”
The moment I mentioned Churu, Bami’s ears perked up and her eyes gleamed.
I scooped her up with both hands and couldn’t help myself—I spun around, dancing with pure joy.
‘Man, climbing that Tower was the right call.’
Maybe this Kim Si-hyeon’s life was finally about to see some light.
Walking in shadows alone, I kept copying skills
Author |
Killing Part
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
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Editorial Department
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No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. — Dreambooks.

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