I Stepped on Their Shadows and Skills Started Copying Like Crazy - Chapter 29

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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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29
A few days back, after I’d said something terse to a voice phishing call, I’d worried half-heartedly that I might get hit with delivery terror or some other petty harassment. Fortunately, nothing came of it.
Or rather, something did happen—just not from where I expected.
‘Everyone lost their minds because I took one day off climbing.’
The Wetland Abundance—originally a three-day duration buff.
I’d been extending it by twenty-four hours every day by clearing trials, but four days ago when I took a single day off, it made the nine o’clock news.
— And now, tower-related news. The Wetland Abundance extension alert, which has been sounding every day this past week, failed to sound for the first time today……
I saw it while taking Bami out for an evening walk on the way back, and I thought I must’ve misread something.
‘The internet was all about it too.’
What was it again.
[Major News This Hour]
[Roundup] ‘Abundance Buff’ Extension First Halted… Is the ‘Abundance Throne’ Syndrome a ‘Week-Long Dynasty’ Coming to an End?
[Tower Issue] Does the Relentless ‘Abundance Throne’ Need to Catch Its Breath, or Has It Hit Its Limit?… Expert Opinion ‘Divided’
[Economy] Tower Stocks Plummet at the ‘Abundance Throne’s’ Silence… Market Anxiety Amplified
That sort of thing.
Just one day off, and the talk wouldn’t stop.
Even The Lobby, which I’d visited just to gather information about the eighth floor, was in an uproar.
[Breaking] Abundance Throne buff extension failed lol Korea server shutting down lol
[Real-time Tower stock chart.jpg massive red candle whoooosh lol]
[Honestly let’s not trash the Abundance Throne. The fact that they got to the seventh floor was already a miracle ;; At least we had a happy week thanks to them.]
Of course, the fuss died down quickly enough.
Once I conquered the eighth floor and posted an EX Rank record again.
[Breaking] ‘Abundance Throne’ Achieves EX Rank on Floor Eight… ‘One Day of Rest Was Strategic Breathing for the Leap Forward’
[Breaking] Abundance Throne EX Rank on Floor Eight just dropppppppped]
[lol who here didn’t dump their stocks yesterday you dumbasses lol lol lol]
[??? : Oh I was just tired so I took a day off lol (seriously)]
[The Abundance faction never doubted for a second, straight victory vibes tower climbers lol anyway we’re back in lol]
In any case, taking that one day off made me freshly aware of the Abundance Throne’s influence.
Which meant I couldn’t even rest freely anymore now.
‘Well, it’s not like I need such grand reasons anyway. I’d climb the tower of my own accord.’
I didn’t want the Abundance buff to end on my side either.
I was already accustomed to the buff—would my earnings really drop if it ended all of a sudden?
‘No, that won’t do. That won’t do at all.’
But mostly, that one day of rest taught me something.
That I’m a tower-climber through and through.
‘My whole body was itching to go back.’
When I conquer the tenth floor, my Sword Saint Skill will strengthen once more—I was dying to know how it would change this time.
Floor 10.5, the hidden level beyond the tenth—what was the Goblin Lord hiding there? The curiosity was maddening.
So I pressed the momentum onward, and yesterday I blazed through the ninth floor in one go.
And so today, at last, I’d reached the tenth floor.
‘The black message box first appeared at the fifth floor, so I hope the pattern repeats every five floors.’
Climbing the tower never felt this thrilling.
Without anyone pushing me, I’m so eager to climb that I might well exhaust my natural lifespan before I finish. Isn’t that a thought.
‘But that’s my destiny, whatever it may be.’
Seems my fate was always meant for the tower.
I was just having that very thought when Bami finished eating.
“Ready? Bami?”
“Yowl!”
A vigorous reply.
“That beast’s answers flow like they’re carved in stone. All right then, shall we go?”
I’d finished my own preparations long ago.
I ran a hand once across its head and murmured softly into the empty air.
“To the tenth floor of the tower.”
* * *
Passing swiftly through the waiting room, I entered the quest area, and the Wasteland spread before my eyes.
The tower’s theme, now familiar through the tenth floor.
Beyond the horizon of rust-red sand, a single Fortress rose in the distance.
‘That must be it.’
The main stage of the tenth floor’s quest.
“The quest objective is….”
[Quest Objective: Eliminate Golden Heir Tribe combatants. (0/30)]
The system message surfaced as if on cue.
It was exactly as he’d found it in his research before climbing the tower.
“Yeah, yeah. I know.”
He waved his hand to dismiss the message window floating before his eyes and fixed his gaze on the Fortress.
“A fortress, huh? This’ll be a pain.”
In truth, seeing it with his own eyes, the image that had come to mind when he’d merely heard the word “fortress”—some impregnable iron bastion—was nowhere close. It was almost a ruin instead.
Clearly it hadn’t been properly maintained in ages; crumbling sections riddled the structure, and not a single wooden plank filling the gaps remained intact.
“Poor maintenance… but even in that state, it’d be threatening enough.”
A fortress was still a fortress, even half-collapsed.
If goblins rained arrows down from up there, dealing with it wouldn’t be simple.
‘And if I tried to mount a ranged counter-attack from this side, the infantry wouldn’t just stand idle.’
Perhaps that was why.
Floor 10 had a fearsome reputation.
If Floor 5 was a sieve that filtered out reckless rookies who didn’t know any better, Floor 10 was a grinding mill that crushed would-be experts lacking true skill.
Even Awakened who preferred climbing solo, like him, were actively encouraged to form parties by the time they reached Floor 10.
Of course, that was all speaking in terms of typical Awakened standards.
“Thirty of them? Perfect for warming up.”
Screee.
The cold transmitted through his hand gripping the sword hilt froze away all stray thoughts, sharpening his focus on the target ahead.
‘How should I go about this? A frontal assault sounds like a hassle.’
Then, suddenly, a bold idea struck him.
What if, instead of breaching the gate, he vaulted over the fortress wall?
The towering ramparts would become useless in an instant.
The question was this.
Could he do it, or couldn’t he?
“…Think I can pull it off?”
Within the tower, human athletic capability had long since been left behind.
The rewards from conquering each floor, combined with the steady consumption of Favor of Observation.
Factor in the stat rewards he’d gained during his kidnapping, and his abilities reached the level of an Awakened climbing around Floor 20.
‘Floor 20… at that level, I’m reasonably competitive among climbers….’
Intuition whispered and goaded him on.
It was possible.
“Yeah, let’s try it.”
His deliberation was brief, his action swift.
Click.
He sheathed Nocturne and drove his full strength into the ground beneath him.
If he wasn’t going to do it, that was one thing. But if he was, he’d do it right.
There was no hesitation.
Crack!
The sandy ground beneath his feet buckled from the violent run-up, and riding that rebound, his body shot forward like an arrow.
“Kiiieeeek!”
Chaos erupted at once in the goblin fortress.
Alongside sounds that could have been shrieks or war cries, several green heads poked up along the ramparts.
“Kiru! Kol―din! Ah kyaru!”
They jabbed their fingers at him, shouting furiously, then drew their bows in unison and took aim. Naturally, their target was him.
‘I’ll need to dodge those.’
Hyper Regeneration might handle it somehow, but he had no desire to become a porcupine.
“Keru!”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Before he could even think of evasion, arrows poured down like rain.
Ordinary Awakened would have fallen back or sought shelter then….
‘I’m just plowing through.’
Accelerate, then accelerate again.
All he had to do was move farther and faster than the point where those arrows were aimed at him.
At that dizzying velocity, he was nearly overtaken by the illusion that the surroundings were warping,
Swoooosh!
The volley of arrows streaked past his head with a cutting whistle.
Bang-bang-bang!
Missing their target, the arrows struck uselessly at the ground below.
‘I cleared the arrow volley, at least.’
The real problem came next.
I’d built up so much speed that a massive fortress wall now loomed directly ahead.
Five meters tall? Six? I couldn’t tell. The closer I got, the higher it seemed.
At this rate, I wasn’t about to crack an egg against a stone—I was about to crack myself.
Every instinct screamed at me to stop, but stopping wasn’t an option.
If it were, I’d never have started in the first place.
So I pushed faster still, as if to prove a point.
‘Faster…! Keep going!’
Tap-tap-tap—!
The moment I reached the absolute limit of my speed, something strange happened: a sense of release flooded through me, and the fear simply dissolved.
I felt like a single gust of wind sweeping across the Wasteland.
But I couldn’t linger in that feeling.
I’d eliminated every other option myself, leaving only one move.
I had to clear this wall.
‘Now!’
Crack!
As I converted every ounce of acceleration into upward momentum, I launched myself skyward.
Whoosh!
My body shot upward.
The world tilted dizzily.
For a suspended instant, the wall that had loomed so impossibly high was suddenly level with my eyes.
‘This is actually working?’
In that moment of shock, I locked eyes with a goblin that had been waiting on top of the wall.
“Hey there.”
“Kyeee!?”
This was probably the first time that creature had ever seen anything like it.
Not someone climbing up the wall—someone launching over it.
Even I was stunned, and I was the one doing it.
‘Almost there. Just a little more and— wait.’
But in that very instant, my momentum failed.
Gravity, that force I’d briefly forgotten, struck back.
My body began to sink, even though my fingers could almost brush the edge.
If I fell from here, I wouldn’t just break something—I’d shatter.
“No, no—!”
Instinct took over and both hands shot out, grabbing at whatever I could reach.
Thud!
Rough stone scraped against my fingertips.
I never thought I’d be grateful for the archer’s embrasure built into fortress walls.
“…Phew. Thought I was done for.”
I’d literally come back from the brink of death.
“Hah!”
With every bit of strength I had left, I pulled myself up and shoved my body over the embrasure to safety.
Survival celebrations belonged in safe places, after all.
Once I’d dragged myself onto solid ground, I found a familiar face waiting for me—that same goblin from before.
“Oh, good to see you again. Hey.”
“K-Kyee!?”
The way it was backing up, face drained of all color, made it clear the creature wasn’t exactly thrilled to see me.
It was even fumbling toward its quiver—looked ready to shoot.
“Hurt my feelings.”
Here I was, freshly rescued from death itself, hoping for a little congratulations. Instead, it was thinking murder.
My own goodwill felt utterly betrayed.
“Well, I suppose we’re not exactly here for polite conversation. Fine then—let’s just handle what needs handling.”
Mid-sentence, I watched its hand withdraw an arrow from the quiver and reach for the bowstring.
“—!”
No time to think. My body reacted first, and my fist shot forward.
Crack!
Something sprayed near its face, and I closed my eyes reflexively—but the sound that followed was wrong.
Not the sound of breaking bone, but something bursting.
Which meant exactly what I thought it meant.
When I opened my eyes, a blood-soaked fist had punched clean through the creature’s skull and emerged from the back of its head.
“Ugh…”
Since I’d spent so long swinging nothing but blades, I’d failed to control my strength.
Grimacing, I withdrew my arm as the creature went limp and collapsed.
Seeing the perfectly fist-sized hole that had opened in its skull, I felt a flicker of regret.
I suppose killing it was necessary, but I hadn’t intended to do it quite so… thoroughly.
“You could’ve at least given me time to draw my blade. I was planning to let you go quietly.”
* * *
Within moments, the ramparts had become bedlam.
“Keee!?”
“Craaagh!”
An enemy dropping suddenly from the sky.
The panicked goblin archers fired arrows in my direction, but more often than not their blind volleys found their own allies instead.
“You confident about that? I wouldn’t risk it if I were you.”
In the first place, bows were meant for enemies crawling up from below the walls—not for me, already perched above them.
Thwack—! Splat!
Another one down just now.
Though I did dodge that one.
“See? I told you so.”
“Keeeee!”
“Why are you upset with me? You’re the one who killed him.”
The goblins, having sent several of their own comrades to their deaths by their own hands.
With belated realization, they began wielding their bows like clubs and charging at me, but they were far too weak to pose any real threat.
‘Hmm, jumping up onto the ramparts was definitely the right call. This is easy.’
Their sole advantage had been raining arrows down from behind those high walls, and now that was completely nullified.
But I couldn’t just stand idle, so with grim determination they came running single-file across the narrow ramparts, which was essentially just them choosing to die.
Even if a dozen of them came rushing at once, I’d only ever need to face two at most.
With three, they’d tangle their own feet.
The very ramparts that should have been their sturdy bulwark had become my shield instead.
Of course, there were drawbacks.
Clang!
Swinging the long blade of Nocturne on these narrow ramparts meant my sword tip inevitably caught the parapet now and then.
‘Hmm, even being careful, it keeps catching.’
So I’d simply adapt to the new environment.
I immediately threw Nocturne into my inventory and drew out the Short Sword from inside my coat.
Shwip.
That Short Sword which my brother had practically forced into my hands as a gift upon my Awakening.
It turned out to be surprisingly versatile.
‘I should give him a proper thank you next time.’
I held the Short Sword in a reverse grip, feeling how naturally it settled into my palm, and made a few light practice swings through the air.
Yes, this was it.
“Good—definitely better for tight spaces with something short like this.”
What followed was less a battle than outright slaughter.
“Kiiieeeee—!”
The creatures shrieking as they charged, I’d thrust, pierce,
“Gak!”
shove them back,
Crack!
and send them tumbling off the edge.
Simple and precise.
I felt like a butcher in a slaughterhouse—or rather, a single instrument in a mechanized abattoir.
“Right then. Next.”
“K-keee…”
Only then did they seem to realize something was wrong, faltering and backing away.
After all their eagerness to throw themselves at me, why the sudden hesitation?
But I couldn’t afford to show mercy here.
So I took the initiative and closed in on them instead.
“Let’s hurry this up. I’m on the clock.”
The Treasure Vault on Floor 10.5 is waiting for me, after all.
I stepped only on shadows, yet skills kept copying themselves.
Author |
Killing Part
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(주) Samyang C&C
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Editorial Department
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(주) Samyang C&C – Dream Books
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Submissions |
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No part of this book may be used in any form or by any means without the written permission of (주) Samyang C&C – 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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