I Stepped on Their Shadows and Skills Started Copying Like Crazy - Chapter 61

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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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61
Floor 13 of the tower, deep in the heart of the Great Forest.
“Left!”
Kim Min Joo’s cry came the same moment the axe blade came crashing down.
Park Jin Sung clenched his teeth and pivoted his shield.
Bang!
A sharp, bone-chilling sting shot through him.
But there was no time to catch his breath—he had to brace immediately for the next assault.
“Behind!”
“Damn it—!”
He’d lost count of how many times this had happened.
Three in front, two on the right. And something stirring in the brush behind him.
All Goblins.
They weren’t simply charging mindlessly—they were the infuriating kind that knew how to drive prey into a trap.
“How’s your mana holding?”
“Almost gone!”
Not a single piece of good news.
Park Jin Sung gasped for breath and reset his grip on the sword.
‘I can do this. Just keep my head.’
Twenty days had passed since he’d met Si Hyeon—since he’d quit his job and dared to become a climber.
In that time, he’d ascended the tower with breakneck speed, and he’d thought himself reasonably accustomed to the Great Forest by now.
Yet the tower was a place that gnawed at an Awakener’s throat the moment overconfidence took hold.
Today was precisely that day for Park Jin Sung.
“One more on the left!”
“Got it!”
In the same breath, a bright flash erupted from Kim Min Joo’s fingertips, striking the Goblin’s torso squarely.
“Gack!”
Holy Shock—a new skill he’d acquired climbing the tower.
Unless aimed at the head from close range, it lacked lethal force, but it was enough to slow an enemy.
Slash—!
Park Jin Sung’s blade drove into the Goblin’s throat as it faltered.
That made eight fallen. Yet the situation remained beyond their grasp.
“Min Joo, can you manage one more?”
“…Sorry, I can’t. That was my last one.”
“It’s fine. I’ll figure something out.”
He’d forced confidence into his voice to keep from saying ‘What do we do now?’—but his own vision was just as dark as hers.
‘If it comes to it, I have to get Min Joo out of here.’
The gravest decision of his life.
Two more Goblins approached from both sides, drool dripping from their mouths.
“Min Joo, when I open a path, run. Don’t look back. Understood?”
Then it happened.
Whoosh!
Something cut through the air just above his head.
Thunk!
“Shriek!”
In the blink of an eye, the charging Goblin crumpled where it stood.
A long shaft protruded from its left chest. A spear.
“…?!”
Park Jin Sung’s head snapped reflexively toward the direction the spear had come from.
Between the brush at the edge of his vision, small green creatures were pouring out.
“Krik!”
“Kerik!”
“Kirrrr—!”
One, two, three… eighteen by his immediate count.
“…Hell. Goblins, right after those things.”
The moment the thought crossed his mind, more Goblins surged past him and Kim Min Joo.
“…?”
Before he could even process what was happening, the arriving Goblins swarmed the first group in unison.
“Kerr!”
“Kraaaagh!”
The two groups tumbled into chaos in an instant.
As individual combatants, Nol’s advantage in raw power was undeniable.
But the goblins didn’t fight alone.
Two or three of them would surround a single Nol, bring it down, stomp its legs, gouge its eyes, and drag it into the undergrowth.
Once it vanished beyond the thickets, only a dying shriek—”Keeyagh!”—echoed back.
Park Jin Sung and Kim Min Joo, of course, didn’t stand idle.
“Min Joo, get behind me! Their target is Nol! We need to join in!”
“Y-yes!”
Park Jin Sung drove his blade into Nol’s flank while it was locked in the melee, distracted.
So the two humans and the goblin pack—not quite allies, yet acting as one—whittled down Nol’s numbers.
The battle didn’t last long.
As a couple more Nol fell, the survivors tucked tail and bolted.
Just as the emboldened goblins were about to give chase, a goblin with one ear shorn clean off raised a clawed hand.
“Kerook!”
At that sharp signal, every goblin ceased pursuit in unison.
“Look at that,” Kim Min Joo murmured.
Her finger pointed to the ear of the goblin who’d just given the signal—or rather, to the earring dangling beneath its severed lobe.
“Why?”
“That earring. Look closely. And the others too.”
Park Jin Sung’s eyes swept across the goblins.
Now he saw what she meant.
On their foreheads, their forearms, their chests, or hanging beneath their torn ears—every goblin bore the same mark.
“……A feather?”
A red feather.
Each one was positioned differently, applied in its own way.
Some appeared as scars, as if branded with a hot iron; others dangled as ornaments from severed ear tips.
No two were identical, yet all traced the same shape.
‘The same tribe, then. That explains their seamless coordination.’
The problem was that he might now have to stand against that very unity.
They’d received help just now, but the helpers weren’t human—they were goblins.
There was a saying that the enemy of your enemy is your friend, but the moment that “enemy” was gone, the equation shifted.
Park Jin Sung gripped his sword anew, bracing for combat.
The goblins facing that blade lifted their weapons in lockstep.
Between the humans and the goblin pack—who moments ago had fought together against Nol—tension coiled like a drawn string.
On a knife’s edge, another slaughter about to erupt, when a rustling came from the undergrowth behind them, and another goblin stepped forth.
‘Damn it—more coming?’
By goblin standards, this one had just reached youth. At a glance, plainly young.
Yet that boyish face was covered stem to stern with scars.
Across its chest—or rather, just below its neck—the red feather mark was plainly visible.
A tattoo as vivid as fresh blood, more pronounced than any on the other goblins.
It approached slowly toward them.
‘…It’s coming.’
Whatever its intent, Park Jin Sung resolved to strike first if it made any sudden move.
But the situation unfolded in a way he hadn’t anticipated at all.
“Joo-gun… un.”
“…?!”
Words tumbled from the approaching goblin’s mouth—halting, clumsy, yet unmistakably clear in meaning.
“Wait, what did you…?”
The goblin with the red feather tattoo pointed at Park Jin Sung, then at Kim Min Joo.
Then, in that same labored voice, it spoke again.
“Sik-gu… koo.”
The pronunciation was mangled.
But there was no mistaking what had been said.
“Didn’t he just call us family? Wait—before that, didn’t he say ‘lord’?”
“I heard the same thing.”
A goblin speaking human language.
Even as the two stood doubting their ears, the goblin carefully picked up Park Jin Sung’s scabbard from where it lay and handed it to him directly.
“Thank… you.”
Park Jin Sung managed a thanks, even as uncertainty gnawed at him about whether any of this was real.
Then the goblin gestured toward a distant direction—as if urging them to go that way.
“Keru!”
With that word, the Goblins turned their backs as if there was nothing more to see and vanished, supporting the wounded among them.
The two people left alone could only stare blankly at the retreating figures of the Goblins.
“Brother…? We were just rescued by Goblins, weren’t we?”
“…Looks like it.”
It was the second absurd moment since Park Jin Sung and Kim Min Joo had begun ascending the tower.
* * *
Floor 17 clear repeats were now into their sixth day.
They were finally approaching the target of 50% Goblin Faction Restoration Rate.
‘I’d hoped we’d hit 50% today, but that didn’t pan out….’
The hopeful outcome had narrowly failed to materialize.
If it had happened, tomorrow they could have climbed to Floor 18 and extended the Golden Age, but that option was now lost.
“Our Awakeners must be quite disappointed.”
Si Hyeon quietly pulled out his phone to check public reaction, and suspicion became certainty.
[Breaking] Golden Age ends in 24 hours… Abundance Seat, sixth day with no further clear records
[Overall] Abundance Seat stalled on sixth day… “temporary pause” optimism loses steam
[International] “Is even Korea’s miracle at its end?”… Global Awakeners brace as Abundance Seat goes silent
The portal site’s main page was plastered with related news, and The Lobby, which had been riding high on the buff extension, was in uproar as if the sky itself were collapsing.
[Breaking] 24 hours until Golden Age ends lololol]
[Abundance Seat has been quiet this long before? Is he really not dead in the tower??]
[btw I almost died just now but the Goblins saved me;;]
[uu… I’m scared of the tower… I have no confidence returning to life before the Golden Age…]
[Abundance, even if you can’t extend it’s fine, just give us a sign you’re alive…]
“…I want to as well.”
If he’d known it would come to this, he should have just given up on the Floor 18 Trial yesterday and ascended the tower instead.
Then the Golden Age extension would have been possible somewhere on Floor 19 today.
But that last chance had passed, and the success of the buff extension now rested in the hands of our decidedly unreliable Goblins.
[Goblin Faction Restoration Rate: 47.6%]
Just 2.4% to the target.
An ambiguous margin—too fragile to rest hopes on, yet too close to abandon entirely.
“…If the Goblins pull off something big in there, it should be enough. Ah, forget it. Whatever happens, happens.”
It’s out of my hands anyway.
For now, it’s better to focus on what I can do, what I should do, and then let it go.
“So what we’re doing today….”
A deep clean.
He’d originally been thinking about moving, but decided to put that off.
The Golden Ratio had made it crystal clear that 100 million won was the cost-performance threshold. If that’s the standard, it only makes sense to match it.
He’d set aside the lump sum he’d won at the last auction as living expenses for now, and made it his top priority to fill Bigo with 100 million won in material value for the time being.
Which meant doing everything he could to make his current place somewhere actually worth living in.
So as soon as he got off work today, he’d stopped by the variety store and bought cleaning supplies in bulk.
And now.
“So today we’re doing a major cleaning. No one has a problem with that, right?”
“Just give the order, sir!”
“If we said we had a problem, would you let us off?”
“Squeak!”
Snig burning with determination, Sang Sik scheming for an escape route, and then there was Bami.
The reactions varied. But there were no absentees. Not that they had much choice anyway.
If he’d been living alone, it would have ended at the level of dusting out stubborn grime in places he usually didn’t reach.
But today he planned to do it properly. Given that he’d postponed moving.
“Right then, today we’re going to dry out the mold in this place. I’ll buy us all something delicious for dinner, so let’s finish up quick and clean. Okay?”
“O… okay!”
“Yeah, yes. Do as told and get it done.”
“Mya!”
Fully prepared. After issuing the declaration, he pulled out the furniture stuck to the wall, and colonies of mold hidden behind it came into view.
“…Wow, it looked sketchy even when visible, but hidden spots are even worse. At this rate, the mold should be paying half the rent, shouldn’t it?”
“If it did, I’d want to send them an invoice too.”
“But how are we supposed to do all this by hand…? Boss, are we really doing this?”
“Who else would do it if we don’t?”
“There are cleaning companies. I’ve seen plenty of professional cleaning services these days.”
This guy talks about spending other people’s money so easily.
“Does money rot? Use it to clean.”
“Awakeners make plenty of money, sir. And you’re hardly an ordinary man—locking people away in incomprehensible spaces, inviting even the Sword Saint. It’s just…”
“Your words seem to have thorns in them, don’t they?”
“No, well… that’s just what I mean. It’s not entirely wrong, is it?”
He wasn’t entirely wrong. Still, it was strange to see a kidnapped man act so boldly.
“There—stop your whining and scrub. We breathe all that in, after all.”
I thrust the cleaning tools into Sang Sik’s reluctant hands and turned my gaze toward Snig.
“Alright, Snig. The bathroom’s yours. I can trust you with this, right?”
“Of course! Your faithful servant Snig is prepared to obey any command, anywhere, anytime!”
The creature wasn’t usually this reliable, but today he seemed genuinely dependable.
“Good. I appreciate the enthusiasm. Here—dab this here, then scrub out those black spots in the cracks. You can handle that, right? And careful with this bleach. It’s potent stuff. If it touches your skin, wash it off immediately with water. Be especially careful it doesn’t splash near your face. Understood?”
Snig’s large eyes began to glisten with tears at the concern.
“Master… are you worried about me?”
Worried—well, I suppose I was, in a sense. Though it was just bleach, after all.
“I’m serious. This stuff is genuinely dangerous. It’s the very essence of modern civilization, they say. Handle it wrong and it could kill you.”
“Leave it to me! This Snig shall demonstrate perfect mastery of the deadly poison you have bestowed upon me!”
Snig took the bleach and brush in both hands and entered the bathroom with grim determination.
Moments later.
“Begone, you foul filth!”
Scrub-scrub-scrub!
“This is the master’s sanctuary! Not a single seed of yours shall remain!”
This wasn’t going to work.
His momentum was far too enthusiastic.
At that pace, he’d splash it all over his own face and blind himself before touching the mold.
“No, this won’t do. Come out. I’ll take over.”
“But… what did I do wrong? If you tell me, I’ll fix it and do better! Please, don’t take it away! I can do this!”
“No, no. You’ll get it all over yourself. Come out. It’s dangerous.”
The moment I took the brush from him, his shoulders sagged in defeat.
Of course, with labor running short, I couldn’t afford to let him stand idle.
“Sang Sik. Take Snig and put him to work.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Watch over him while he works. Just don’t let him touch the bleach.”
“Now I have to supervise a goblin too?”
“You’re the one with the least to do here.”
Sang Sik had his complaints, but Snig was even more displeased.
“I refuse to take orders from Filth Sang Sik!”
“Listen here. Do you know more about this world than Sang Sik does?”
“Well, no, but…”
“You’re even learning Korean from him these days. Stop complaining. That’s an order. Go help Sang Sik.”
“…Yes, understood.”
Chastened by the word ‘order,’ Snig turned toward Sang Sik.
That handled. Now for our Bami…
“You do nothing. That’s how you help.”
“Myaow?”
Bami looked up with round, questioning eyes.
Mercifully, she was being quiet for now.
She’d taken a liking to the paper bag from the convenience store earlier and was curled up inside it contentedly.
‘Good. As long as she stays like this, we won’t have any disasters.’
But perhaps I was being too optimistic.
Just as I was absorbed in scrubbing the bathroom, Snig’s sharp cry pierced the air from the other room.
“Kyaaaah! Save the goblin! The moldy wall is crumbling!”
Bami had somehow escaped the bag and was now darting recklessly through the cramped studio apartment.
“Myaaaw!”
No—she’d actually taken flight.
Or rather, it was closer to gliding, but the problem was that she’d pushed off against the wall in doing so.
The wallpaper, thick with mold, was literally crumbling away.
“Damn.”
Why was even cleaning this apartment like waging a war?
I exhaled deeply in exasperation.
[The changes occurring through the intervention of the subject ‘Si Hyeon’ continue to exert sustained influence upon the Great Forest.]
The meaning embedded in the Red Feather spreads throughout the Great Forest. Multiple Goblins converge beneath the Red Feather banner.
Whispers transform into prayer, and prayer swells into a roar. The name Ashkatal echoes across the entire Great Forest.
Goblin Faction Restoration Rate increases. (Current Restoration Rate: 50.1%)
You have satisfied the entry conditions for a higher-tier Trial.
A system message suddenly materializes before my eyes.
“Huh?”
The Goblins did me a favor—and I wasn’t even counting on it.
This way, I might be able to extend the Golden Age.
‘Works out nicely for me. Things are falling into place.’
There were a few phrases in between—prayers, roaring voices—that nagged at me slightly, but I’ll know what that’s about once I head up tomorrow.
I’m not the type to back away when I’ve already laid out the welcome mat.
‘This is going to get rowdy again.’
Well, what can you do—the Windy Seat didn’t even die, and here it comes again.
I barely stepped on its shadow, and the skill just copied itself.
Author |
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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