Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 17

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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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Episode 17
Unfortunately, the students of Cheonmu Hakgwan had no right to refuse.
When the Master said to go to Jangchanggwan, we went.
“What? What’s in this place?”
The children in our dormitory stirred with unease.
I’d told Maeng Ryeongji and So Woon something vague about blades shooting out, but most of them had no idea what Jangchanggwan was like at all.
“Myeongseong barely made it out alive, they said…….”
“Will it be okay for me and Senior Sojeong without Min?”
By contrast, the students from Cheonmyeong Gwan and Jijeong Gwan had clearly heard something from Namgung Min and Myeongseong, and they were visibly rattled.
“Well, from what I remember…….”
I’d wanted to tell our dormitory children right then and there.
But Jegal In had forbidden me to speak of it, and honestly, I couldn’t recall anything about the patterns.
“……I can’t remember much either. Everyone, stay strong.”
“Ah, there’s no help for it.”
Still, the friends who’d taken the Antidote weren’t particularly frightened.
They figured that since I’d made it through without Inner Power, it should be fine.
“Stay close to me! I won’t let a single student from Inbong Gwan get hurt!”
If the other children were scared, well, that was a problem—
But Maeng Ryeongji stepped forward with confidence.
“Finding clues one by one from the start is the most fun, but since time is short, I’ll tell you where to go. Everyone, try to find the Seojae together.”
Unlike the Initiation Ceremony where we’d had to open every door from the beginning, Jegal In openly revealed our destination this time.
Opening a special door in the Seojae would connect to a space where hundreds of blades shot out all at once.
It seemed he meant to lead the students there.
“The student who finds the Seojae first will receive a Xiaotian Pill!”
Jegal In even dangled a prize.
Probably not just for the Xiaotian Pill, but Eun Hyeon leapt into Jangchanggwan first without hesitation.
And three or four others bravely followed him inside.
“Ryeongji, just go with them. Once a mechanism in the corridor activates, it won’t trigger twice.”
I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, but surely this much was all right?
“I appreciate it, but I can’t do that. We have to be first!”
Had he already forgotten that he’d promised to protect the other children?
Maeng Ryeongji quickly entered Jangchanggwan and chased after Eun Hyeon.
I was taken aback at first, but seeing them all rush in like that, and with more than half of them possessing Inner Power, I figured it shouldn’t be too dangerous.
“But Master, we found the Seojae without any Inner Power, so I’m disappointed we weren’t given a chance to win the Xiaotian Pill.”
I griped to Jegal In, who was watching the children enter with great interest.
Namgung Min, Myeongseong, and I—having already cleared Jangchanggwan—were unable to compete, which was genuinely disappointing.
I’d already heard that the Xiaotian Pill wouldn’t mean much to me, but it was still a medicinal treasure.
It was human nature to want everything whenever a prize was on the line.
“Hmm, that’s a fair point.”
Jegal In acknowledged my complaint.
“Then would the three of you like to search for something else instead of the Seojae? Actually, I hid a Merit Badge in one of the Jangchanggwan lecture halls.”
And he offered an alternative prize.
“Miss Seol, there’s no need…….”
Myeongseong’s face went slightly pale—apparently he didn’t want to go back into Jangchanggwan.
Honestly, the proposal wasn’t particularly welcome to me either.
“Is this it?”
I’d already guessed what Jegal In was getting at.
“How…… how did you find this? It’s supposed to be further back, requiring you to break through a much higher difficulty level before you could enter……?”
“……Was there a difficulty difference? I wondered if there might be an Antidote at the end of the corridor, so I ran all the way to the end and searched for the Seojae from there.”
But strangely, Jegal In’s expression shifted to one of shock when he heard my explanation.
“Student Seol Sureo……? At the back, there should have been a mechanism where the floor gives way just from opening a door?”
“I hung from the door frame and crossed over it.”
Jegal In’s mouth fell open, and he let out an exclamation of admiration.
“……You’re well-versed in the Mechanism Array Technique?”
How could that be?
Buk Hae Bing Gung was a sect with almost no connection to the Mechanism Array Technique, so I had no knowledge of such things whatsoever.
I’d only ever seen trap doors like that in fantasy novels I’d read in my past life.
“You’ve even studied ahead to the next stage. You didn’t have to go all the way, but did curiosity strike you? That investigative spirit is exactly what’s important when studying mechanisms!”
I’d missed my chance to protest, so Jegal In rushed ahead with his own conclusions, treating me as an engineering prodigy.
“We found the Seojae.”
Before I could offer any excuse, Eun Hyeon’s voice carried in from within Jangchanggwan.
The difference between having Inner Power and lacking it was striking indeed.
With so many children eagerly opening doors, it wasn’t long before the Seojae was discovered.
‘Wait, it was somewhere in the middle, wasn’t it?’
I hadn’t needed to go all the way through—yet I’d wasted effort opening doors to unnecessarily difficult chambers.
“There are no dangerous mechanisms within the Seojae. Let us all enter together.”
Jegal In confirmed that Eun Hyeon had found the Seojae first, and handed him a Xiaotian Pill.
“There’s a sliding bookshelf. Shall we search for it?”
Apparently eager to explain, he immediately recited the next step.
With dozens of Students pressing against the bookshelves, a door naturally appeared in moments.
“Oh? Could we insert the windows from outside into the slots?”
One child arrived at the same conclusion I had.
“That’s right!”
Jegal In answered with obvious delight.
Several Students rushed down the corridor to retrieve the windows and fitted them into the openings.
Up to that point, it was exactly what I had done.
“Well done. But do not enter immediately—it is dangerous. When you look up to insert the windows, there are characters written on the ceiling, yes?”
……There were characters there?
The insertion point was higher than my reach, and I’d assumed the Mechanism Array Technique was simply built for adults, so I hadn’t seen any writing at all.
[Do not proceed recklessly.]
There really was writing there.
‘Ah, I didn’t see that and just rushed in—so the window shot out immediately!’
If you’re going to write a warning, you should make it bold and in red letters.
What kind of warning is it to carve it so shallowly?
“You must find within the Seojae a book that contains the same height of writing as this door, which teaches how to Dismantle the windows inside.”
But the warning wasn’t all.
The instruction to find a book—that was truly a clue I’d never heard of before.
“Shall we go look for it?”
The children all rushed into the Seojae together.
Only Myeongseong, Namgung Min, and I stood dumbfounded, listening to Jegal In’s explanation.
“So……you had to find an appropriate book, learn the window technique from it, and Dismantle the windows inside?”
Myeongseong asked Jegal In.
“Wasn’t there also a method to Dismantle using a sword?”
“In any case, Dismantling…….”
“There is certainly a Dismantle method. This is an educational Mechanism Array Technique, not one designed to kill. Would I truly ask someone without Inner Power to traverse that bare-handed?”
Jegal In answered him with a smile.
“Ah, I see. Since the young lady entered alone, I……did not realize.”
I had assumed he would have prepared something a child who had only recently passed Foundation Stage could manage.
Yet here it was, written so plainly.
“The fourth tail of Xuanwu……Xuanwu is the divine guardian of the north, so wouldn’t it be the fourth book from the bottom of the northern bookshelf?”
“The fourth book from the bottom, not the bottom fourth?”
The Students actually deduced it quickly by reading the clue.
They retrieved what seemed to be the correct book and learned the basic Dismantle technique.
“If you Dismantle the first ten windows in front, the subsequent ones will shoot out far more slowly.”
……So they didn’t all spring forth at once.
One by one.
Dismantling the mechanisms as they went, the Students advanced slowly forward.
“Wow, this is actually fun!”
“It’s my turn next!”
“How was this even made? The windows keep getting replenished!”
Savoring the children’s amazement.
Jegal In spoke with an expression fuller of joy than anyone’s.
“Now you understand the true appeal of Mechanism Array Technique, do you not?”
Only I had not known a Dismantle method existed.
I had hurled my bare body directly into the path of windows flying at extreme speed.
Faced with this shockingly staggering truth.
“This cannot be.”
I muttered with a frozen expression.
“That……the Master said the Return to Root Principle was a mistaken concept, yet surely the young lady did not find the root itself.”
Myeongseong approached me, still dumbfounded, and spoke.
Right…… that’s true.
If swordsmanship is strong enough, you can simply destroy it all.
If speed is nimble enough, you can dodge before it even arrives…….
“Today’s lesson ends here. Give the optional lecture serious thought!”
Jegal In smiled faintly at the students and encouraged them once more to consider the Mechanism Array Technique lecture.
He taught well, as always.
With all the hints given and the dangers removed, the children seemed to find genuine enjoyment in it—unlike the theory classes.
“Master, that was an excellent lesson. Should we sit in on the Mechanism Array Technique class as well……?”
So Woon asked.
I just laughed hollowly and glared at Jangchanggwan with burning intensity.
“Do as you like. I’m not going.”
“Understood.”
“Sureo. Either way, you found the study hall first. In the end, we were faster than that courtesan’s brother.”
Maeng Ryeongji burned with competitive spirit, regretting that he was a step behind Eun Hyeon.
This too was proof that he’d greatly enjoyed the latter half of the lesson.
“Of course. I came in first……. Let’s go grab a meal.”
Today I hadn’t even used martial arts at Jangchanggwan.
There was nothing strenuous about it, yet I felt utterly drained.
“There’s the dining hall!”
Without thinking, I followed the others and arrived at a building with a plaque reading Jinmidang.
Since there were no afternoon classes anyway, I’d grab lunch and then head to the training grounds.
The dining hall building was also grand, though not quite as lavish as the dormitory.
As if unable to accept losing the study hall to Eun Hyeon, Maeng Ryeongji quickly seized the door handle.
“Hmm? Aren’t you new students?”
But we couldn’t enter the dining hall.
A man of enormous build blocked Maeng Ryeongji’s way.
A cook, perhaps? His presence didn’t feel entirely ordinary though.
“Uh…….”
“We haven’t met before, have we?”
The children tried to greet him, but the man’s scowl didn’t ease.
“New students sniffing around Jinmidang already?”
“Is there a separate dining hall for new students?”
What’s this about? A dining hall only for the masters?
The map showed no other building that looked like a dining hall.
Everyone blinked in confusion, and the man let out a deep sigh.
“Honestly. What are new students doing at a proper dining hall?”
“Then…….”
The man stretched out his hand.
Where his index finger pointed,
there were stacks of the same substitute food I’d seen at the dining hall that morning.
“You students need to eat Bi Gu Pills!”
Surviving as a Doomed Heiress of the Frozen Ocean Palace (Serial)
Author │ Sahyang Noru
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyeok
Address │ 401, Acetech Tower 8th, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email │ [email protected]
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ⓒ Sahyang Noru 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder. No part of this content may be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the publisher and author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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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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