I Stepped on Their Shadows and Skills Started Copying Like Crazy - Chapter 27

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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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27
The Midas Guild—one of South Korea’s four major guilds.
This is how people remembered Midas.
Of the four major guilds, the largest in scale, the wealthiest, and the one with the least prestige.
And not without reason—Midas was different from its very inception.
When the Tower’s appearance plunged the world into chaos, it was established by Kim Young-sook, the loan shark king of Myeongdong, who caught the scent of money and poured his entire fortune—scraped together over a lifetime—into its founding.
That lack of heritage seeped directly into the guild’s way of doing business.
Security services, mercenary dispatch, equipment rental, factory operations through subcontract guilds, and high-interest loans backed by items—they did it all.
Literally anything that turned a profit.
Some called Midas the “parvenu with no prestige,” but no one could dismiss it.
A fortress built of gold did not shake in any wind worth mentioning.
And now, on the topmost floor of that Golden Citadel, a suffocating silence hung in the air.
“Sigh… Explain this to me. What happened? Huh?”
Gwak Se-jun, Kim Young-sook’s son and master of the Golden Citadel.
The dedicated secretary standing before him like a condemned man opened his mouth with caution.
“I apologize, sir. We were the highest bidders until ten seconds before the deadline. But just before it closed, someone placed a higher bid and won the item.”
“So who is this someone? What kind of madman outbids thirty million won on some item like that?”
“I found out right away. When I inquired with Temperfarm, they said Haetae has been buying up every Summoner Item on the market—online and offline both.”
Haetae.
The moment that name was spoken, his expression hardened.
No matter how high or brilliant the walls of a fortress, stone cannot make a pauper into a nobleman.
What Midas did not possess.
What money could not buy.
History, honor, and prestige.
Everything that those people had.
Soon Gwak Se-jun unfroze his face and continued as though nothing were amiss.
“Haetae? Yes, now it makes sense.”
In this world, only Haetae would be mad enough to burn thirty million won or more on an item like that.
“Yes, it appears San-gun moved on it personally.”
“That old man—he doesn’t look the type, but he sure dotes on his daughter. I heard Kang Yu-jin hit a wall with her climbing lately. Guess the rumor was real after all.”
Just a single Rare Grade item.
But to him, it was more than mere equipment.
It was pretext, and it was a gift.
That Midas’s representative Gwak Se-jun harbored romantic feelings for Haetae’s heir was an open secret everyone knew.
When word spread that Kang Yu-jin had recently been struggling with her climbing, he’d prepared this as a homecoming gift with an air of “That Yu-jin?” about it—only to have the whole thing fall apart.
“Ugh, ‘I picked this up thinking of you.’ I was going to be so cool, just like that! Ah… it would have been perfect.”
As things stood now, the item he’d been after would naturally find its way to Kang Yu-jin.
Of course, that wasn’t the picture Gwak Se-jun had painted, and he wasn’t ready to give up yet.
“Get me the seller’s name and contact information right now. Fast. Before ownership transfers.”
“That’s… customer information at Temperfarm, sir. It won’t be easy to obtain.”
“How much?”
“Pardon?”
When the secretary parroted back his abrupt question, he continued with an edge of irritation to his voice.
“That information you got about Haetae sweeping up all the Summoner Items—how much did you pay for it?”
“That information cost three million won, sir.”
“Three? Not thirty? Wow… people really do live hand to mouth.”
Gwak Se-jun let out a contemptuous laugh at an amount that barely registered as money to him.
“Spend more. If a guy spills secrets for pocket change like that, he’ll do anything for the right price.”
“Then how much should I offer, sir?”
“Come on, don’t ask me every little thing. You figure it out. Look, I’m in a generous mood—ten million won is nice. Start at three hundred and work up gradually until you hit ten. From what I’ve seen, that guy will be happy to hand over customer information well before we even reach ten million.”
A man who revealed everything about Haetae buying up Summoner Items for a mere three hundred thousand?
He’d spill any dangerous information once the price was right.
“Understood. I’ll report back as soon as possible.”
“Good. Let’s move quickly on this.”
The secretary withdrew, and Gwak Se-jun was alone once more.
“Man, I need to hire a new secretary. I thought things would go smoothly, but he can’t do anything right. It was a perfect plan.”
The plan falling through was unfortunate, but the whole table wasn’t flipped over.
“Well… doesn’t matter.”
There was nothing money couldn’t do.
He just had to contact the seller with the Helmet directly.
‘If I call for a hundred million, they better not refuse and act tough.’
* * *
The storm of an auction passed, and by the next day.
He slept in until the sun was high in the sky, rising late.
Since his Awakening, he’d pushed hard every single day for a week straight.
So today, for once, he’d decided to take a break.
‘Besides, I need to look at some apartments.’
Even after waking, he lay bundled in his blankets for a long time, scrolling through his phone.
It wasn’t idle browsing.
He was apartment hunting.
His plan was to find a few places on a real estate app and visit them in person.
“Ah, this one looks decent.”
An officetel with clean, modern interiors—nothing like his current rooftop room.
Most of all, two things caught his eye: “Full Options” and “Pets Allowed.”
‘Furniture… most of what I have is junk anyway, so that works. And if I want to live openly with Bami, I need to go with pet-friendly.’
He was scrolling through listings, putting marks on ones he liked, when it happened.
A bright ringtone shattered the silence.
“Huh?”
A call from an unknown number.
‘Damn voice phishing.’
Membership pitches, telemarketing—that was small potatoes now.
Back when I was in that position, I answered unknown calls too.
But lately they’ve gotten bold enough to call out of the blue with “Hello, is this Kim Si-hyeon? This is the Supreme Court.” That kind of thing.
Already struggling to get by, the last thing I needed was to fall behind on the latest voice phishing trends. One moment of carelessness and I’m swindled.
‘Anyway, you have to earn money honestly.’
Without hesitation, he hit the decline button.
But immediately after, a text message arrived.
[Hello, Kim Si-hyeon. Are you available for a brief call? I’m contacting you regarding an item you recently put up for auction through Temperfarm.]
His name, contact info, and Temperfarm?
Ah, he felt it coming.
He had a rough idea how this worked.
“Wow… Temperfarm got hacked too? I only signed up a few days ago?”
With all the hacking news lately, he knew personal information wasn’t personal anymore—it was public property. But he hadn’t expected Temperfarm to get breached.
‘I shouldn’t even talk to these bastards.’
I already ignored their call, and now they’re texting?
He blocked the number immediately.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
Ring! Ring!
This time from a different number.
‘Timing-wise, same guy.’
Without hesitation, he rejected the call and added the number to his block list.
But another call came right through.
“…Man, persistent.”
At this rate, they’d keep calling no matter how many times he refused.
After a moment’s thought, he hit the answer button.
Might as well hear what nonsense they had to say.
“Hello?”
— Ah, Kim Si-hyeon! Finally you picked up.
“Yes, if you don’t mind my asking, who is this?”
— Ah, well… I have my reasons, so it’s difficult for me to explain. I apologize.
“So you’re telling me you called my number out of the blue shouting ‘Kim Si-hyeon!’ but you can’t even say who you are?”
He was about to hang up, annoyed, when an urgent voice came through the receiver.
— W-Wait! Just a moment! Please don’t hang up!
“Fine, fine. Let’s hear the pitch then. You were going on about some item in that text, right?”
And then the caller launched into an odd proposal.
— Yes, exactly as I texted. The item you sold at auction yesterday—since yesterday was Sunday, it hasn’t been delivered to the buyer yet, as far as I know. We’d like to purchase it. Double the price.
Sixty million won? For that?
The pitch was good, at least.
“A financial transaction worth sixty million won with someone who won’t even identify themselves… I have to say, that’s really appealing. Don’t you think?”
— Ah… I understand your concern there, but it’s absolutely not what you’re thinking.
What the hell are you talking about, sir.
“All right. Thank you for your time.”
Just as I was about to hang up, another voice came through the receiver.
― Did he get through? Is he on the line?
― Yes, but we’re having trouble reaching an agreement….
― Give me the phone.
― The director himself… will handle it?
― Yeah, kid. My arm’s about to fall off waiting. Hand it over.
A conversation between the person I’d been talking to and someone else.
I couldn’t figure out what this was about.
― One moment! I’m transferring your call.
To who? Why are they transferring?
Before I could even ask, the person on the line had changed.
― Call transferred. Let’s talk, Kim Si-hyeon.
A younger man’s voice this time, different from before.
There was something oddly arrogant about his tone.
― I’m sure you’ve heard the gist already. That helmet you, Kim Si-hyeon, put up for sale—I’d like to acquire it. I’ll double the price. Of course, we’ll also cover any cancellation fees separately.
“No, before that—how did you get my name and phone number? Who are you, and where are you calling from? Let’s start with that. It’s only proper, isn’t it?”
― Proper? Worrying about proper conduct….
His voice sounded like he was choking down anger.
Then I heard two people talking through the receiver again.
― What did I do wrong to suddenly become someone with no manners the moment I answer the phone? I never even revealed where I’m calling from? I’m not doing anything shady, so why hide my identity? Huh?
― I’m, I’m sorry. I was trying to be cautious about exposing my position….
A moment later, the other voice came through clearly again.
― My apologies, Kim Si-hyeon. One of my subordinates overstepped without my orders and was discourteous. Let me introduce myself properly. I’m Gwak Se-jun, director of Midas.
“Midas? The Midas?”
― Yes, that Midas.
I’d certainly heard of Midas.
No matter how much people complained about its lack of prestige, there was no way you could ignore one of the Big Four guilds—one of the giants that had claimed its place among them.
The director of that place was Gwak… something. What was his name again?
“Gwak of Midas…?”
― Gwak Se-jun. Midas director. Did I mention double earlier? Considering my subordinate’s rudeness, I’ll make it 100 million won. How does that sound? Seems like a fair deal to me. Just go cancel the consignment and bring it here. We’ll handle the rest.
‘100 million?’
For a moment, my mind reeled at the sheer magnitude of that number.
‘100 million… what could I do with that?’
It was nothing like the 3 million from before. I couldn’t even imagine it.
It was too much money.
Then my mind suddenly cleared.
‘It’s already an absurdly expensive price for a Rare Grade item… and now they’re offering even more? 100 million? Who the hell is 100 million?’
In that moment, news articles I’d seen in the past flashed through my mind.
Crimes targeting Awakeners who can’t use their abilities outside the Tower—so-called “Inventory Robbery.”
A method where you’d torture, threaten, or otherwise coerce an Awakener into taking their own equipment out of their inventory.
It was exactly the same as the method used during the cryptocurrency craze, when people would kidnap those who’d accumulated wealth in virtual currency and extort them.
“I’m not interested.”
― …Excuse me?
“Whether you’re offering 100 million or a billion, I’m not interested. And don’t call me again. I can’t be bothered blocking spam.”
I’d originally planned to hang up right there.
― Kim Si-hyeon, think about this more carefully. An opportunity like this doesn’t come around every day.
But this bastard had been casually dropping his formal speech here and there.
“Hey, you’ve been dropping your formal speech this whole time?”
― …What?
“Come on, just because you call some random person and say, ‘I’m the Midas director,’ you thought they’d believe you? ‘Oh my, yes sir’? If you’re the Midas director, then I’m the Baekya Guild Master.”
― Hey, do you know who you’re…!
“Yeah, Gwak Se-jun of Midas, you said. Look, don’t live like that. Earn your money honestly. Self-proclaimed Se-jun. If you keep ripping people off, you’ll face divine retribution.”
I hung up on him right then and there, and blocked that number entirely.
“Midas my ass. All these phishing scammers should be rounded up and locked away.”
I’d just wasted a perfectly good mood.
‘At times like this….’
On a rare day off, I found myself wanting to smash something.
“I’ve got time anyway. Might as well go. The Tower.”
This wouldn’t do at all.
‘I have to go.’
There was nothing quite like washing away an unsettled feeling with sweat.
“Bami, let’s head out. I’m getting restless.”
“Meow!”
It wasn’t just me—Bami had been lounging around all day looking bored, but now his eyes lit up at last.
“That’s right. This is how we do it, you and I—earning money through honest work and sweat. Not through impersonation or fraud or thinking about ripping people off. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Mrow?”
“Yes, there are people like that.”
* * *
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Gwak Se-jun stood motionless, still holding the disconnected phone.
‘He turned down a hundred million won for an item he wouldn’t even use?’
He couldn’t make sense of it.
He’d shown kindness to these lower-class types who trembled over a few hundred or few thousand won, and in return he was met with a barrage of insults.
‘Calling himself… Se-jun? Living honestly? This bastard—did he just compare me to a voice phishing scammer?’
Since childhood, wherever he went, he’d only encountered people bowing and scraping, saying things like “Oh, young master.”
As he grew older, those words had transformed into “CEO,” and the people bowing before him had bent even lower.
For Gwak Se-jun, who had known only such deference, being treated with such contempt was a first.
The shock was too profound at first; he couldn’t emerge from it. Only later did rage swell within him, which he struggled to suppress.
But there was no stopping his face from contorting into something ugly and twisted.
“…You.”
“Yes, sir!”
The item—the original target of this call—no longer mattered.
What remained was restoring his wounded pride, dragging this arrogant common wretch before him and extracting an apology.
That was all.
“Find this bastard.”
I Copied a Skill Just by Stepping on a Shadow
Author |
Killing Part
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Editorial Director |
Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books
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7F Gwangseong Building, 28 Bongeunsa-ro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260703072
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
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@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books.

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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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