I Stepped on Their Shadows and Skills Started Copying Like Crazy - Chapter 4

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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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04
When I said I could pinpoint the Boss’s location, Kim didn’t hesitate—he simply nodded.
“Oh, really? That’s a relief. Finding the Boss has been a chore, so cutting that part short will definitely help.”
Park Jin-seong and Kim Min-joo exchanged uncertain glances for a moment, but they soon came around when I backed up my claim with conviction.
“Hmm… I understand. You don’t strike me as the type to joke about something like this. I’ll trust your guidance, then.”
Park Jin-seong’s eyes flicked toward his teammate Kim Min-joo.
“It seems the opinion has already settled that way. Fine… I understand. It’s not like we have any better options anyway.”
She nodded reluctantly, though her expression remained unconvinced.
But as long as she wasn’t outright refusing, it didn’t matter much to me.
So with my role as guide secured, I explained the basic principle before we set out.
“It’s like following a star, if you will. I can sense where the Boss is, but I have no idea what might be waiting along the path there. So everyone, stay alert.”
“Got it. I understand the idea.”
“A star… I see. Thank you, Si-hyun.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Each of them answered in their own way.
A simple ‘yes’ would’ve done, but somehow all three of them gave different responses—which only made me more anxious.
‘This is a headache. Will we even manage proper teamwork like this?’
All I could do was hope internally that we wouldn’t end up getting in each other’s way.
“Well then, shall we go? This way.”
Five minutes… ten minutes… we pressed on through the forest with the others in tow.
About thirty minutes had passed.
The soft earth underfoot had gradually become waterlogged mud, and the thick jungle had slowly transformed into a damp wetland.
“From here on, it’s definitely swamp. Be careful. It’s completely different from the forest.”
I let their predictably varied answers go in one ear and out the other, and suggested we take a brief rest.
“…But first, let’s do a final check here. The Boss is close. Ideally we’ll rest once more before facing it, but if we can’t, this might be our last chance.”
With everyone’s agreement, the group caught their breath and prepared for the confrontation ahead.
Park Jin-seong suddenly raised his hand.
“Um… would it be alright if I stepped away for a moment?”
“…Excuse me?”
He had some nerve.
Of all times, he needed to go now.
‘Or maybe he’s so on edge that he’s got butterflies in his stomach?’
Either way, I couldn’t exactly refuse him.
It could lead to a loss of combat strength otherwise.
“We don’t know what might appear out here. Going alone is dangerous. Go with one of the others.”
At my words, Kim stepped forward without hesitation and offered to accompany Park Jin-seong.
“All right, I’ll go with him.”
After the two of them left, a moment of quiet opened up.
I seized the chance to start work on something I’d been thinking about on the way here.
‘I’ve got the time, and it should be effective relative to the effort I put in. Let me at least try to make it.’
Years ago, I’d once helped out with iron-smelting work near the tidal flats for a brief period.
At the time, the flats were so annoying—sinking in with each step—that I’d tweaked my boots a little, and the effect had been quite good.
I decided to use that same approach this time.
‘In other words, Swamp Overshoes.’
I sketched out a rough design in my head and started gathering strips of bark as material, when Kim Min-joo beside me asked carefully.
“What… are you making right now?”
“Overshoes to wear in the swamp.”
“…Overshoes?”
Originally, they were a device worn over regular shoes in regions with heavy snow, to prevent sinking or slipping.
The principle was simple enough.
It was just about spreading the weight by expanding the surface area in contact with the ground.
When I explained this briefly, Kim Min-joo furrowed her brow with an “Hmm…”
She clearly didn’t trust the idea of making something in a place like this.
Regardless, I worked quickly and soon had two broad, flexible strips of bark.
‘The base is done. The bindings should work with that cloth I tore up earlier.’
What remained was finding a sturdy branch to serve as the frame.
I glanced around, looking for something suitable, when—
“Ah, ah! What?! Why is it like this?!”
“…!”
An urgent voice.
It was Park Jin-seong.
“Si-hyun! Come here, quick!”
Followed immediately by Kim’s voice.
Something was definitely wrong.
“I should go check it out.”
“Yes, right away!”
Kim Min-joo, pale with concern for her colleague, was already ahead of me.
We rushed toward the source of the commotion.
What we found made my heart sink.
“Min-joo, help me…! Si-hyun, please save me!”
The problem was a swamp.
Park Jin-seong had sunk past his knees, the murky water already up to his thighs.
“Si-hyun. What do we do? The ground just caved in suddenly, and now it’s like this…! I wanted to pull him out directly, but I’m afraid I’d be dragged in too, so I tried using this instead….”
Kim stood there at a loss, helpless.
The broken branch in his hand told the story.
“Don’t worry. I’ll figure something out.”
I spoke with confidence, but the swamp’s pull was faster than I’d anticipated.
“Park Jin-seong! First, don’t do anything — just stay still! Any thrashing will only pull you down faster!”
“Like… like this?”
Park Jin-seong, terrified but obedient, followed my instructions at once.
Thanks to that, his descent slowed considerably.
“Now lie flat on the bottom! You need to distribute your weight!”
“L-lie down? Here? But that doesn’t seem right….”
“You need to increase the surface area. You’re not trusting me — you’re trusting physics.”
“Ugh… okay.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Park Jin-seong gritted his teeth and lowered himself onto the murky surface.
The effect was immediate — his sinking nearly stopped.
‘That bought us time.’
Now the question was how to get him out.
‘The ideal solution would be for him to roll himself out from where he’s lying….’
But the situation was far from ideal.
His lower body was embedded so deeply in the muck — whether from his own struggles or some unlucky settling — that self-extraction was already impossible.
‘The quick solution is too risky.’
There was another option: the three of us could line up, link hands, and form a human rope.
The problem was that while simple and fast, failure carried enormous danger.
The moment any one of us lost balance or let go, we could all tumble into the swamp — the worst possible outcome.
So I chose the slower, more complex method — one that kept us safe.
“You and Min-joo go back to where we were resting and bring me a rope. That rope I fixed around your back earlier.”
“Got it!”
“Yes!”
Both of them nodded quickly and hurried away.
I called after them as they departed.
“Go back the way we came! Watch your footing! There could be more sinkholes like this!”
Sensing the urgency, they returned remarkably quickly with what I’d asked for.
“Here! We’ve got it!”
The moment I took the rope, I tore it apart into three long strands.
Kim Min-joo gasped in alarm.
“What…! Why are you tearing it!? We barely have enough as it is!”
“If we use it as-is, it won’t hold the weight — it’ll snap.”
Then I twisted the three strands and braided them back together into one.
With practiced hands, a sturdy rope took shape quickly.
“When you braid multiple strands like this, they distribute the force between them and hold together through friction — much tougher.”
“Oh… it does look stronger than before. Will this be enough?”
Kim examined the finished rope with admiration.
“This alone won’t be enough. I need to borrow your sword sheath for a moment.”
“The sheath? You don’t need the blade, just the sheath? Here you go.”
Kim handed it over without hesitation, though I could see the unspoken question in his eyes.
I tied it securely to the end of the rope I’d made.
The sheath would serve double duty — as a weight and as something Park Jin-seong could grip.
I swung the rope a few times to get the feel of its weight, then headed straight for the rescue.
“Alright, throwing it!”
Whish!
The sword sheath arced through the air in a shallow parabola.
Thunk!
Fortunately it landed right in front of Park Jin-seong, and he seized it with both hands as though catching a rope dropped from heaven.
“Got it! That’s it!”
“Everyone pull together! One, two! On ‘heave!’ you all understand? One, two!”
“Heave!”
As the three of them pulled in unison, Park Jin-seong’s legs—which had seemed utterly immovable—began to squelch free from the swamp.
“Oh! He’s moving!”
“Again, one, two!”
“Heave!”
The rope, drawn taut as wire, seemed about to snap any moment, groaning under the strain—
“Almost there! One more time! One, two!”
Squelch!
With a tremendous sound, mud sprayed everywhere as Park Jin-seong pulled free from the swamp.
Covered head to toe in sludge, he gasped for breath and offered his thanks.
“Hah… I really thought I was done for. Thank you. All of you.”
“Phew, thank goodness.”
The tension broken, our group sank to the ground, catching their breath.
That was when it happened.
“Um! Look at his leg.”
“Ugh! What—what is that!”
Something black was clinging to Park Jin-seong’s leg, writhing.
I was wondering what it could be when Kim recognized it at once.
“That looks like one of the blood-sucking leeches that live in the Tower. I’ve never actually seen one before myself, but if that’s what got him, we’re fortunate it stopped there.”
“Blood-sucking leeches? That’s what those are?”
Park Jin-seong, scrambling to peel the thing off—it was just an oversized leech, after all—couldn’t fathom what the fuss was about.
Kim Min-joo rushed over beside him, making a show of helping remove it.
I was the only one who didn’t quite understand the commotion.
“A leech? I mean, it is pretty big, but…”
“Those things catch the scent of blood and they go berserk—swarm like dogs. There have been several climbers who died in the Wetland from them. Don’t underestimate them.”
“I see. Is that so?”
Fortunately, once the leech was removed and Kim Min-joo treated his wound, the commotion was over.
Our group finally managed a proper rest.
Of course, we couldn’t simply lounge about doing nothing.
“If things keep going like this… we won’t even get close to the Boss, much less fight it.”
The group nodded at Park Jin-seong’s words.
Immediately after, Kim turned to me as naturally as if he’d delegated this beforehand.
“Si-hyun, got any bright ideas?”
I grinned, unwilling to disappoint that confidence.
“How could I not?”
I’d been waiting for just a moment’s breathing room to say something anyway.
“You brought it up at the perfect time, actually. I was thinking during the rest about making something… now I’m sure. Let’s all make it together.”
At this sudden proclamation of an impromptu crafting session, Kim and Park Jin-seong could only blink.
Only Kim Min-joo caught on.
“Oh, that thing from before!”
I nodded in confirmation.
“Yes—Swamp Overshoes that’ll let us walk gracefully even in this Wetland. We’re going to make them.”
* * *
And shortly after.
Slash!
With a clean horizontal cut, the last remaining Goblin’s head tumbled onto the muddy ground.
I caught my breath easily and flicked the blood from my blade.
‘Good, I can manage without the Flash Cut after all.’
This was my first combat since inscribing the Healing Touch in place of the Flash Cut.
Certainly not as efficient as before, but still—facing them methodically one at a time proved manageable.
The Wetland, after the brief skirmish, was strewn with Goblin corpses.
Nine green heads lay scattered about.
Counting even the one Goblin that had died with its head still attached, the total came to twelve—a fair number.
But once Kim caught up and rejoined us, even this was manageable.
“Haa….”
Park Jin-seong breathing heavily.
His face was a strange mixture of relief at having survived the ordeal and an odd exhilaration.
“Heh, heh heh. How did it become so easy… Si-hyun, this thing is really something. I was impressed even getting here, but in actual combat it was just… wow….”
Covering his feet were the Swamp Overshoes I’d crafted.
Tree bark harvested from the local area, light and resilient branches, and strips of torn cloth — these made up most of the materials.
To be honest, they looked exactly like beggar’s foot wraps, but….
“How do they feel? Pretty useful, right?”
“Useful? Si-hyun, these aren’t just useful — they’re extraordinary.”
The effect was different from the appearance.
Just a short while ago, a single misstep in this swamp would have meant certain death.
And Park Jin-seong had felt that more keenly than anyone else in the group.
Yet here he was, walking across that spongy wetland as if it were dry earth, cutting down goblins wholesale. It was remarkable.
Not just Park Jin-seong, but the other two members of our party were equally full of praise.
“I wasn’t sure these would work during combat… but they really are amazing.”
“You’ve got some genuine talent. Clacking away by yourself and then producing something like this.”
Four pairs of Swamp Overshoes — completed in the time I’d deliberately set aside before facing the Boss.
Fortunately, every single pair was performing its function perfectly.
“The simpler the principle, the more reliable the effect. Well then, shall we head out? Time to take down the Boss.”
With the swamp no longer a threat, our group’s pace transformed from light to downright brisk.
Thanks to that, we weren’t long in reaching our destination.
“Ugh, the stench.”
What greeted us first was a terrible reek.
The smell of brine and beast musk struck at our noses.
‘We’re close.’
Maybe a kilometer away at most.
The red message box floating in the distance had drawn so close it was nearly upon us now.
“Everyone, draw your weapons. It’s just ahead.”
The group nodded quietly and each prepared for combat.
In the silence before the storm, only the sound of someone swallowing hard broke the quiet.
A moment later, a shape appeared in the distance ahead.
At last, the moment we faced the Swamp Lord itself.
“That… that’s….”
Kim Min-joo’s voice from behind trembled thinly.
She must have been shocked.
So was I.
“Elder, that’s… still a Goblin, right?”
“Well… it seems to be one, but I’m not sure if something like that should even be called a Goblin.”
A towering bulk that truly lived up to the title of ‘Lord.’
By rough estimate, its height exceeded four meters, and its bloated body was so massive that flesh spilled down and the very skin dragged across the ground.
To put it simply: a colossal mass of green flesh.
It felt like facing a small hill.
It had the shape of a Goblin, yet something transcending Goblin-kind.
‘It doesn’t seem to carry separate weapons… well, it wouldn’t need them.’
The massive claws and teeth befitting that bulk were already weapons in themselves.
At that moment, from behind the creature’s massive frame, three Goblins scurried forward from their hidden alcove.
All three were clutching something tightly in their arms.
“What is it? Looks like… food?”
The Goblins then presented the food they’d gathered to their Boss with great care, as if offering tribute.
The Boss moved its heavy hand, dumping the food into its mouth, and all that abundance vanished in an instant.
It chewed only a few times before frowning and spitting out what it had eaten.
‘Seems the meal didn’t sit right with it.’
Unsatisfied with its fare, the creature let out a sound like growling and began surveying its surroundings.
But there was something sinister in that gaze.
‘Something feels off….’
In that instant, it suddenly seized one of the Goblins standing nearby.
“…!”
“Ki, keeek!”
The Goblin thrashed helplessly, caught in the creature’s massive grip.
“…Surely not.”
The Boss opened its maw without hesitation, and what Kim Si-hyun had thought impossible became reality.
Crunch. Splinter!
A clear, nauseating cracking sound followed by wet, squelching noises.
“Ugh!”
When I turned at the sound of retching, there wasn’t a single person standing unaffected.
Kim Min-joo, ashen-faced, forced her gaze away. Park Jin-seong was dry-heaving.
Kim’s complexion had gone deathly pale, though he tried to hide it.
I, however, was shockingly unmoved by it all.
I’d done some butcher work at a meat shop before, I suppose.
My only thought was: ‘That’s some disgusting taste you’ve got there.’ Nothing more.
“Everyone, pull yourselves together. It’ll be here soon.”
No one answered, but their expressions did sharpen noticeably.
If we lost here, we’d end up like what we just saw—hardly the time for squeamishness.
Soon the squelching stopped, and the creature’s lips curled as if satisfied.
Then its gaze swept across hundreds of meters and locked directly on us.
No—on me.
In that terrible stare hanging in the void, its blood-stained mouth corners twisted into something grotesque and hungry.
As if it had just discovered something delicious worth devouring.
“Were you waiting for this? For your special meal to walk right into your jaws?”
That’s when I understood.
From the moment we locked eyes, its target had been me all along.
Just as I was hunting it, it had been hunting me.
“Kraaaaahhhhh—!”
A roar like thunder that filled the entire Wetland.
And with it, messages cascaded across my vision.
[Special Mission Triggered!]
[Tower’s Observation grants a new opportunity to its subject.]
[Tower’s Guidance: The Tyrant’s Wrath]
▶Mission Objective: Swift elimination of the ‘Swamp Lord’ (0/1)
▶Failure Condition: Death of observed subject ‘Kim Si-hyun’
※Rewards are allocated proportionally based on mission completion time.
‘Hm?’
Another opportunity granted by Tower’s Observation.
The terms were simple.
The faster I cleared it, the better the reward.
I had to kill it anyway—there was no reason to refuse.
‘Well, if this is what it means to have something watching my back in secret, I can’t complain.’
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a final message appeared.
That same bloodred notification.
[Special Condition: The ‘Swamp Lord’ has designated you as its top priority target for elimination.]
“Ha! Right—this is what makes a trial and an opportunity worth the name.”
Top priority target, was I?
All the better.
I’d had no intention of letting that massive brute rampage freely anyway.
If I could just hold out, the other three would have a much easier time fighting their battle.
This wasn’t a penalty.
Used properly, it would become the perfect lure—
“No, wait.”
An idea flickered through my mind.
Something far better than merely playing bait—something that made a smile spread across my face.
“Thank you. I’ll take that opportunity.”
He Only Stepped on Shadows, Yet Skills Copied Instantly
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Killing Part
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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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