Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 18

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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 18
“What?!”
We all jumped in surprise.
I’d thought they gave us Bigok-dan this morning because the senior students hadn’t arrived yet and there were only a few of us in each dormitory, so we’d make do with it for now.
But eat Bigok-dan for lunch and dinner too?
“Then what about the dining hall? Do only the Instructors eat at Jinmidang?”
“Once a student accumulates Merit, they qualify to eat there. Well, you lot should be able to taste my cooking sometime next year or the year after.”
I asked in bewilderment, but Suksoo answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
“That Bigok-dan—it may taste like nothing, but it’s good for your body. Eat one each, and anyone who feels like peeling onions can come in. Otherwise, off to Geunhaenggak with you—and be quick about it!”
Needless to say, no one wanted to peel onions.
A moment later, the door of Jinmidang swung shut with a heavy bang.
“So we’re not even allowed to eat lunch—just work?”
“This is tyranny!”
“How much did my family donate?”
The students choked down the Bigok-dan, using the delicious aromas wafting through the door gap as their only seasoning.
Though they vented their fury among themselves, not one of them had the courage to confront Gwan-ju about it.
“Making us get by on this dirt—it’s madness.”
Maeng Ryeongji in particular gnashed his teeth and growled.
So Un was content enough, pointing out that at least we weren’t starving.
But Maeng Ryeongji declared his intention to sneak out of the dormitory that very night and go hunting.
* * *
We ended up proceeding to a place called Geunhaenggak without having eaten a proper meal.
To be honest, Bigok-dan didn’t taste quite so bad that it was inedible.
But the students’ faces fell into shadow, perhaps because they’d expected a level of dining to match the banquet from the day of our formal entry.
“Ah, welcome, new students! Do come in! Ha ha, how we’ve missed you during the break. We’ve been counting the days until you arrived at the Academy!”
Still, Gak-ju, the manager of Geunhaenggak, greeted us with a warmth more genuine than anyone had shown since we arrived.
“Ha ha, I see you’ve grown a bit thin from missing your meals. Not to worry. If you work diligently at your Geunhaeng, you’ll be entering Jinmidang in no time.”
“What’s Geunhaeng? If we work, can we eat properly?”
Hope glimmered in the students’ eyes.
“It’s serving the Academy and the Jeongpa Murim, accumulating Merit in the process! Once you gather enough Merit points, you can enjoy elaborate meals at Jinmidang. And that’s not all—you can receive fine weapons or Spirit Medicine, and borrow restricted martial arts manuals from the special archive!”
They’re handing out Spirit Medicine too?
Then I should work hard and see what happens.
“What sort of work do we do?”
“Ha ha, excellent! Excellent! Such enthusiasm from all of you!”
So Geunhaeng turned out to be—
this place seemed to be where tasks came in from inside and outside the Academy, which were then assigned to students and credited somewhat like academic grades.
They spoke of “accumulating merit,” but really it was exploiting labor.
Now I understood why the Academy buildings were so grand despite there being so few workers visible.
Though there appeared to be dangerous or difficult commissions, the Geunhaeng assigned to new students consisted mainly of chores like cleaning.
I’d expected noble-born students to resist such menial work.
But they didn’t.
“May we choose? I wish to draw water. I spent three years drawing water at Mudang.”
Some of them even showed pride in it.
It seemed that receiving instruction from a master while performing menial tasks was a natural custom in the martial world.
“But how much work do we need to do before we can eat properly? If we work today, will we get real food for dinner?”
“An excellent question! You need to earn five hundred points! Work diligently at your Geunhaeng, and by next year you’ll be able to eat proper meals and take missions outside the Academy!”
……
But at the mention of the required points, everyone fell silent.
A year? They want us to eat Bigok-dan for a whole year?
The students, who’d been asking questions with newfound ease thanks to Gak-ju’s kindness, suddenly went quiet.
Looking at the notices posted on the wall, I could indeed see missions that took students outside.
Bandit suppression. Catching wanted criminals.
The sort of work proper martial artists do.
So even to attempt those, a year of chores was required first.
“Ha ha, there’s no need to be discouraged. There are other ways to earn Merit besides Geunhaeng—students who achieve strong results in the Ranking Martial Tournament can enter Jinmidang in just three or four months!”
I recalled the Merit Badge I’d spotted in Jangchanggwan.
So there were tournaments, and they handed out credits like this during class time as well?
“If you prefer, you needn’t work often at all—simply eat your Bigok-dan while you wait for the Ranking Martial Tournament. They say from Gwan-ju that Bigok-dan is remarkably good for the body?”
Gak-ju went on, remarking that Cheonmu Academy had a very free-spirited culture.
Some students ate Bigok-dan while concentrating on their studies, then did months of intensive Geunhaeng later—he said we were welcome to visit anytime that suited us.
‘Hmm, so I need five hundred points to clear the tutorial?’
The board on the wall listed monster-suppression quests worth a hundred points each.
But menial chores like cleaning earned barely two or three points.
Three points a task meant doing it a hundred sixty-seven times—they’d probably mentioned a year because the daily schedule made it difficult to work every single day.
“My blood relative graduated in four years. There are students who complete all their coursework and then spend another two or three years doing nothing but Geunhaeng assignments.”
Maeng Ryeongji added this, having an older brother who’d already graduated.
Graduation itself required a staggering ten thousand merit points.
The structure seemed designed so that if you diligently tackled chores in your first year and ventured outside whenever there was a holiday break, you could graduate from the academy fairly quickly.
“I’ll take the cleaning work at the Gyomusdang.”
“Cleaning? You, Suyeo?”
“There’s no reason not to.”
Graduation wasn’t urgent—that could wait.
Right now, any chore work was much the same as any other.
The morning classes weren’t difficult enough that I’d need to spend my free time reviewing instead of working.
I chose a reasonable three-point task from the available options.
Back in my previous life, I’d preferred helping with the school office too. Once you became friendly with the teachers, you’d often get small gifts—a piece of rice cake, perhaps—in return.
“Oh, would you mind if I joined you?”
So Un said he’d come along.
“……Chopping firewood might be better work.”
Maeng Ryeongji grumbled about whether there was any hunting available, then decided on the more physically demanding task that the work supervisor had recommended.
* * *
The Gyomusdang.
As the name suggested, it was indeed a place where the Instructors handled their administrative duties.
But the Instructors weren’t actually gathered here doing paperwork at the moment.
The Gyomusdang was a spacious hall like a conference room with refreshments laid out, a lounge area, and a series of research chambers divided into individual offices for the instructors.
Even though it was around mealtime, it didn’t feel like the sort of place that was usually crowded.
The Instructors generally stayed in their own lecture halls, so they probably only gathered here for meetings.
“Excuse us! We’ve come to do the cleaning!”
Though there were only two of us, we still bowed respectfully upon entering since there were people inside.
“Mm.”
Even just from their presence alone, they were unmistakably one hundred percent Instructors.
A scarred, rough-looking man with a sword wound across his face was the first to return our greeting with a nod.
“How nice to—mm?”
The other Instructor next to him turned his head.
When I saw his face, I froze in shock.
The man’s face was extraordinarily beautiful.
Good heavens!
Long hair cascading down to his waist, a handsome man cast entirely in my preferred aesthetic—wasn’t he?
“Master Gwak Docheon!”
What was even more surprising was that So Un apparently knew this handsome Instructor.
Gwak Docheon—I’d heard that nickname before entering the academy.
‘Wait… this person is Gwak Docheon, the one they call Kuaijian? The Instructor who gave So Un his admission token?’
Not only did So Un, whom I’d met, seem to know him to some degree, but Baek Ungdaejoo appeared familiar with Gwak Docheon as well.
It was simply unbelievable.
Why on earth was his nickname like that?
Kuaijian? It conveys nothing but that his sword is fast!
If the Jeomchangpa had someone as handsome as this, shouldn’t they have called him something like “The First Beauty of Jeomchangpa” or “The Jade Sword of Jeomchangpa” so the whole world would know about it, rather than lumping him in with “The Five Swords of Jeomchangpa”?
“So Un! What brings you here? Was everything all right yesterday? Gwan-ju must have given you the Sangongdok…”
Though we’d met once before admission for identity verification, Gwak Docheon welcomed So Un with genuine warmth.
The way he spoke—with a note of regret—suggested something.
Not all Instructors enjoyed tormenting students the way Gwan-ju and Paeng Junggeol did, it seemed.
“Oh, fortunately we managed to find an antidote.”
“Is that so? I’m relieved.”
He looked briefly startled, then let out a sigh of relief.
“I was quite worried, truth be told. I suggested it myself, but this academy isn’t the easiest place. As you go on, you’ll find there are many hardships to endure.”
“Not at all. Thanks to your kindness, I’ve been granted this precious opportunity, and I am simply honored. My friends… have helped me, so there has been no real difficulty.”
So Un softened slightly when he said the word “friends.”
Friends, certainly—what else would they be?
“That’s good to hear. And you there—what is your name…?”
“I am called Seol Suyeo.”
I was staring intently at his face, so I answered quickly.
The moment our eyes met, Gwak Docheon tilted his head in confusion.
“Why are you looking at me that way?”
“Ah… forgive me, Master. The instant I beheld your visage, my spirit seemed to ascend to the heavens, departing from my mortal form.”
“……what?”
“Your skin is as smooth as white jade carved by a celestial artisan, and your eyes hold the depths of the very cosmos itself. Words so plain as ‘beautiful’ could never capture the radiance of your graceful form. Master, which classes do you teach?”
Even her flustered expression was beautiful to behold.
Gwak Docheon scratched his head, slightly taken aback.
The Instructor sitting beside him allowed the faintest smile to cross his lips.
“Ha, you have quite the gift of eloquence, young one. That’s a valuable skill in the current martial world. I teach the Kuaijian as an elective course, and I also conduct the Basic External Kung Fu classes.”
“I shall absolutely take both!”
I made sure to remember the Kuaijian. I would take it without fail.
Even at Jangchanggwan, speed had been paramount.
When fighting someone stronger than myself, wouldn’t striking first be half the victory if I were swift enough?
Quickness was an indispensable quality for any martial artist.
“By the way, Seol—are you perhaps the daughter of the North Star Emperor?”
“I am.”
Gwak Docheon’s expression faltered, though he’d been smiling a moment before.
Of course, he quickly composed himself and said nothing more of consequence.
Yet the Instructor beside him turned his head and studied my face once more.
I wondered if both of them had fought alongside Father during the Jeongma Tournament.
“Shall we begin cleaning this room first?”
“Ah, yes, do that.”
Both So Un and I were quite practiced at cleaning, so we finished the task swiftly.
If I went back to Geunhaenggak and cleaned another section, would they count that as two Geunhaeng credits?
The Instructors hadn’t left yet, so we were preparing to bow and depart when—
“Wait.”
Gwak Docheon called us back.
“Do you have any other engagements after this?”
“We have free time until the next class. We were thinking of exploring the Academy grounds, but if you have a task for us, we’re at your service.”
Right, of course.
When summoned to the administrative office, one should expect to run an errand for the instructor.
Especially for a handsome instructor like Gwak Docheon, I was delighted to help, so I smiled brightly and waited for his request.
Upon my eager response,
Gwak Docheon’s expression became noticeably more relaxed as he spoke.
“Actually, I was hoping to ask you. Would you and So Un visit the Blacksmith for me? I’d ordered a sword to give to So Un, but I’m hesitant to send him alone.”
Yet something about his explanation felt off.
It was touching that he’d prepared a sword for a new student he’d just welcomed.
And I had no real reason not to accompany him to the Blacksmith.
But what would he have to worry about going alone?
Was there a trap of some kind?
북해빙궁 시한부 영애로 살아남기 (연재)
지은이 │ 사향노루
펴낸이 │ 김주형
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주 소 │ 서울시 구로구 디지털로33길 11, 401호 (구로동, 에이스테크노타워8차)
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이를 위반할 시에는 형사, 민사상의 법적 책임을 질 수 있습니다.

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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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