I Stepped on Their Shadows and Skills Started Copying Like Crazy - Chapter 38

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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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38
“Noooo―! Kim Si-hyeon, you bastard!”
Park Sang-sik’s anguished cry echoed through Bigo.
Ever since Si-hyeon had left, Sang-sik had been searching desperately for an exit, but all he’d found was despair.
“Why…! Why is there no door!”
How long had he been trapped in this white prison?
‘A day? Or two?’
Perhaps a week had passed.
In this sterile white cell where he couldn’t even distinguish day from night without a clock or sunlight, his sense of time had long since gone numb.
‘I have to escape somehow. I can’t die in a place like this.’
But how?
‘Threats won’t work. Neither will force.’
That left him with only one option.
He had to win them over.
The problem was that he hadn’t had a chance to see him.
‘If he meant to leave me here to die, he would’ve killed me already. He’ll come back. When he does, then…!’
As if summoned by thought alone, the air at the corner of Bigo shimmered, and Si-hyeon appeared.
“…Huh?”
“Oh, Sang-sik! What’re you doing over there? Exercising?”
Si-hyeon waved cheerfully, his smile utterly devoid of conscience.
‘He’s smiling?’
After kidnapping him and beating him senseless, and he smiled like some innocent child. It was nauseating.
Sang-sik’s instinct screamed at him to charge forward and smash that face in, but the throbbing pain in his right hand held him back.
“…Lunatic.”
All he could do was mouth curses under his breath, hoping Si-hyeon wouldn’t hear.
Of course, Si-hyeon in the tower heard every word crystal clear.
“Wow, I greet you and you curse at me?”
“Y-you…! This filthy wretch dares insult you, my lord?! I should go teach this scoundrel a proper lesson….”
“Ah, that’s enough, that’s enough. I think he was trying to curse quietly so I wouldn’t hear—let’s just pretend we didn’t notice, yeah? He’s had it rough.”
“How merciful you are…!”
“Well then, shall we set up the grill?”
Si-hyeon had brought quite a bundle with him. He crouched down on the floor and spread newspaper out widely.
“My lord, you shouldn’t sully your noble form on the ground like that! Allow me to do it!”
“Never mind, you fool. What would you know about it? If you’re so eager to help, just watch and learn for next time.”
Watching from afar, confusion bloomed in Sang-sik’s mind.
‘Newspaper…? What’s he doing? Wait—is he laying it down to keep blood from splattering…?’
Gripped by that dark thought, Sang-sik inched backward.
But then the items that emerged from the black bags seemed distinctly odd.
‘Meat… drinks, a gas burner? Don’t tell me this bastard’s planning a Pork Belly party in here?’
The sight alone was enough to take his breath away.
A meat barbecue in this white madhouse where he was being held captive—it was insane.
‘We’re inside a tower, aren’t we? Can we even do that here?’
Si-hyeon finished his preparations and laid meat on the grill plate.
Sizzle―.
The loud sound was followed by the aroma of grilling meat filling Bigo completely.
“See, Snig? This way the oil doesn’t splatter on the floor, the smell doesn’t linger in the room, and it’s so convenient, isn’t it?”
“Truly you are wise, my lord! Discovering new uses for Bigo like this!”
Unlike the two delighted kidnappers, Sang-sik was dying inside.
‘A kidnapper grilling meat in front of his hostage. This is torture…!’
Sang-sik had seen all manner of human filth in the rough streets, but he’d never encountered anyone quite like this.
‘But Park Sang-sik will not break.’
He clenched his lower lip tight, steeling himself against temptation.
Someone of Sang-sik’s caliber would never bow to a mere handful of meat and beg food from his kidnapper.
Gurgle―.
Yet his stomach, that second brain, had other thoughts.
‘Damn it… I’m starving. I could’ve held out, but that smell…!’
He felt as though he hadn’t eaten in a week.
Whatever resolve he’d mustered crumbled in the face of that rich, savory aroma of cooking meat.
Perhaps that’s why.
Before he knew it, he had drifted close to the kidnapper’s side.
“Gasp…!”
Park Sang-sik flinched in surprise, while Kim Si-hyeon greeted him as though nothing were amiss.
“Oh, Sang-sik. Perfect timing—you’ve arrived just when I needed you. I was about to call you.”
“Me? Why…?”
“Why? Because we haven’t eaten yet. Would we really come all this way and then exclude you from the meal?”
There wasn’t a trace of malice in Kim Si-hyeon’s manner, and it was Park Sang-sik who felt oddly thrown off.
“Eat together…? This meat?”
“Of course. Did you think I’d bought it just for myself? Sit down.”
Hunger clawed at him—he was famished enough to collapse.
His survival instinct overtook reason in an instant, scrambling to rationalize.
‘No, think about it. This is an opportunity. A chance to win him over!’
In business, every meal, every drink carries meaning.
It wasn’t as though he couldn’t eat alone, couldn’t drink alone—they shared it anyway.
So this wasn’t begging for scraps; it was part of the escape plan.
“Then… I’ll accept your offer.”
The moment Park Sang-sik settled into a seat as if resigned to his fate, Kim Si-hyeon’s question followed.
“Sang-sik, are you good at grilling meat?”
“Grilling…? Why would you…?”
“Ah, I don’t eat much meat, so I’m not confident grilling it.”
In the twenty-first century—not even Korean beef, just pork belly—and he claimed no confidence in grilling it.
‘This isn’t North Korea… he just doesn’t feel like it. He could’ve just said so.’
The lie was transparent, but Park Sang-sik decided to play along without comment.
“I’d say I’m reasonably good at it. I did some part-time work at a meat restaurant when I was younger.”
The fact that he’d quit after barely a month over a brawl with a drunk customer—that remained unmentioned.
“That’s perfect. You can grill for me, then.”
There was always a price for anything free.
Park Sang-sik, foreseeing this turn, made no protest and promptly grabbed the tongs.
Hunger left no room for pride.
“Yes, of course. It’s an honor. I’ll grill.”
“Don’t be so tense about grilling meat. Take it easy. I won’t bite you even if you char it a little.”
And so began the shared meal with his captor.
“Wow, this is delicious. Meat grilled by a former meat-house worker really is different. You should eat some too, not just grill. Come on.”
“Yes, I will.”
At last, his first bite.
The savory meat juice burst across his tongue, mingling with the rich, tender flavor of fat, and his eyes squeezed shut.
In all his years, Park Sang-sik had never tasted meat this good.
“You know how to eat meat properly. Smart—first piece plain, no sauce, just the meat itself. After that, salt, I’d wager. That’s usually how it goes, isn’t it?”
At Kim Si-hyeon’s unremarkable, ordinary chatter, Park Sang-sik could only nod dumbly.
‘I thought he was completely insane, but… maybe he’s not.’
“Here, there’s garlic and vegetables too—wrap some in lettuce, drink some soda. You can’t just eat meat or you’ll get sick.”
“Yes, I’ll have a wrap.”
Park Sang-sik sipped the carbonated drink Kim Si-hyeon poured, and his tension eased noticeably as he began eating more freely.
Watching him chew his wraps contentedly, Kim Si-hyeon smiled quietly to himself.
‘Good. Feed him vegetables and soda too—that way my meat will last longer.’
Emboldened by the relaxed atmosphere, Park Sang-sik ventured a question.
“…How long have I been here?”
“What?”
Kim Si-hyeon’s expression suggested he didn’t understand what kind of question that was.
“What do you mean? It’s lunch time now.”
“I’m not asking about the time outside. I’m asking how long I’ve been here.”
“Well, you said you came while I was out. So… maybe two or three hours?”
“Come on, don’t joke. Even without a clock here, you can feel the passage of time. I’m not trying anything—I just want to confirm if days have passed. Please be straight with me.”
“I’m serious. Why would I lie about this? You can’t leave anyway unless I let you out.”
“That can’t be… I was sure at least a few days had gone by…”
In this windowless prison, did time itself flow differently?
“Maybe it feels that way because you’re alone, like solitary confinement? They say even the most dangerous criminals shiver at the thought of solitary.”
That was where Park Sang-sik broke.
“Th-that’s a lie! It can’t be! The time must have…!”
“Whoa, panic attack coming on. Breathe. Just breathe.”
As Kim Si-hyeon patted Park Sang-sik’s back in that moment, his shadow on the wall suddenly writhed.
“…!”
Park Sang-sik found himself doubting his own eyes—but before he could make sense of what he’d seen, a shadow parted and Bami emerged into view.
“Meow!”
“Oh, Bami’s here?”
“W-what is this now?”
“Hmm? You’ve never seen a cat before?”
“A cat that… has wings? No, never mind that—it just jumped out of the shadow!”
“Ah, she’s Tower-born, like Snig. She’s a cat, but I suppose you’d say she’s a bit special?”
A winged cat that materialized from shadows was ‘a bit special’?
‘He’s definitely insane. Absolutely certifiable.’
Bami, who’d joined the meal late, thumped her tail against the floor with clear dissatisfaction.
As if demanding to know why she alone was excluded from something delicious.
“What, you hungry too? Hmm… I’m not sure if it’s safe for you. Hold on a moment.”
With that, Kim Si-hyeon told Park Sang-sik to eat at his leisure and stepped away briefly.
‘…Is this my chance?’
Park Sang-sik’s thoughts began plotting an escape, but the fantasy evaporated just as quickly.
“…I can hear the gears turning from here, Park Sang-sik.”
Snig fixed him with a sharp, knowing stare.
“Oh no, sir. I was just thinking whether I should add more meat to the grill, Snig.”
“Such concerns are reasonable. Add more if you wish—the master’s absent, so I, his proxy, grant permission. And it’s Snig, by the way.”
“…Yes?”
“Not ‘sir’—Snig. The finest mind among goblins, Snig, keeper of the Bigo storehouse.”
“Ah, yes, of course. Snig. How do you find the meat I’ve grilled?”
Snig chewed thoughtfully before answering.
“Not terrible, I’ll grant. But don’t mistake it for your doing. The master procured such excellent, fresh meat that the result would’ve been the same regardless of who wielded the tongs.”
‘…It looks like something he picked up at a neighborhood supermarket.’
Just as Park Sang-sik was thinking exactly that, Kim Si-hyeon returned to Bigo.
He held a smartphone in hand—apparently he’d been searching something.
“Trim away the fat, rinse it with water, and let her have only the lean meat. That should be fine. Though not too much, of course.”
With that, he gathered scissors and tongs and headed back outside.
When he returned, his hands carried Pork Belly trimmed neatly of fat, nothing but lean meat remaining.
“Here, eat.”
Bami perked up with excited “meow-meows” and buried her nose in the bowl, devouring the meat.
Kim Si-hyeon watched in contented silence, his gentle smile striking Park Sang-sik as deeply unsettling.
‘…So even a brutal kidnapper dotes on his pets.’
Kim Si-hyeon’s gaze lingered on the pale lump of fat left behind.
‘I’d better throw this out. People have been complaining about fatty pork belly lately anyway.’
In ordinary circumstances, he’d have set it aside and minced it fine for fried rice with kimchi.
But with an audience, somehow it felt wrong.
‘They say wasting food brings punishment.’
As he gazed at the bowl of fat with reluctant eyes, he felt a stare hotter than the grill plate beside him. It was Snig.
“…Master, what will you do with that meat fat?”
“Why? Want some?”
“Oh, no sir. You must eat it. How could I presume to touch something so precious…!”
“You can have it if you want.”
“You would bestow upon me such rare, pure fat…!?”
‘…Is it really worth that much?’
It occurred to Kim Si-hyeon then that throughout history, across every culture, animal fat had been prized as a precious, calorie-dense food source.
‘The Tower’s interior must feel rather medieval, after all.’
To someone like Snig, accustomed to the Tower’s ecology, the blob of fat before him represented the pinnacle of gastronomy.
A mischievous glint crossed Kim Si-hyeon’s face. He assumed an air of mock solemnity and handed the bowl of fat to Snig.
“Ahem. Ramen has its merits, certainly, but nothing rivals meat fat. Go on, don’t hold back—finish it all. I’m granting this privilege to you alone.”
“Really…!?”
“Of course. Have you ever seen me take back my word? Eat, eat.”
“Ah…! To think you would share something so precious with me! Your generosity is boundless!”
With trembling hands, Snig accepted the bowl and began chewing the fat with careful reverence.
Park Sang-sik, observing this spectacle from the front row, felt his expression twist involuntarily.
‘That’s just scrap meat dressed up fancy.’
The shamelessness of it—passing off fat trimmings as fine dining without so much as a change of expression.
‘He’s definitely no ordinary man. If he’d gone into fraud, he’d have been selling Han River water door-to-door.’
More unsettling than the walls-less prison, the talking goblin, or the winged cat—more than anything beyond common sense—was the man himself, Kim Si-hyeon.
‘This is bad. I’ve stumbled into something serious.’
Through it all, Si-hyeon’s gaze tracked Park Sang-sik’s silently.
“…!”
In the moment their eyes locked in midair, Si-hyeon raised his right index finger to his lips, hidden from Snig’s view.
‘Shh.’
Above his mouth, a smile bloomed softly—and Park Sang-sik nodded, as if entranced.
Now Sang-sik was his accomplice too.
I Copy Skills Just by Stepping on Shadows
Author |
Killing Part
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Editor-in-Chief |
Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. — Dream Books
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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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