Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 30

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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 30
Though the conclusion remained unresolved, simply refraining from dismissing it as impossible felt rather hopeful.
For now, I would need to follow through with the original plan to extend my lifespan.
I wanted to place my hopes in Yak Seon’s abilities—she who was counted among the finest of the Three Greatest Medical Institutions Under Heaven.
‘I never expected treating the Nine Yin Severed Meridians to be easy in the first place. Since I’ve only just enrolled, I should focus on accumulating Service Credits.’
When I dwell on thoughts like how many years of life might remain, I do grow melancholy from time to time.
But then, most people die before they reach a hundred anyway—doesn’t that mean everyone lives a Limited Lifespan Life?
Moreover, Martial World practitioners are said to be able to reverse aging and live far longer by accumulating vast Internal Energy.
Yet in reality, far more of them fail to fulfill their Allotted Lifespan and fall to sword wounds instead.
‘So I should live earnestly and joyfully while I’m alive!’
Expecting too much only sets one up for disappointment.
I steeled myself to hope only modestly and climbed the mountain.
The location of the Stone Caves was not marked precisely on any map.
All that was provided was a vague note that they lay on the opposite side of the mountain from the dormitory, along with a few lines of warning.
And those warnings were…… positively absurd.
—Stone Caves Entry Precautions—
One. Avoid entering the Stone Caves alone if at all possible. Should you find it unavoidable to enter alone, you must inform someone of your departure time and expected return.
Two. The Stone Caves called “True Essence Chamber,” “Ancient Stone Hall,” and “Seat of the Deceased” do not exist. Should you discover any steles, murals, or inscriptions bearing these names within the caves, exit immediately. No return cases reported.
Three. Should the path suddenly widen, the wind begin to blow backward, or unfamiliar junctions appear that you did not notice upon entry, do not venture deeper. Instead, retrace your steps along the direction you first entered.
Four. Should you hear an old man’s voice, the sound of pages turning, or a transmission saying “fortune awaits you” from deep within the caves, this is not a test. Do not respond or look behind—simply leave your current location.
Five. Should you discover any unusual herbs or objects emanating strange light within the Stone Caves, beyond ordinary Buddha statues, do not touch them under any circumstances.
Exit the cave and

report to the authorities.
Six. Precautions are Six.
Six. Should you reach a broken stone platform deep within the Stone Caves, undertake the trial. A Fortunate Encounter awaits you.
Eight. The season or scenery visible at the exit may feel different from when you entered. This is a natural phenomenon. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely escape.
Why would they not provide the location or a proper explanation? What in the world is this—not guidance, but a horror story? Or a joke?
What terrible taste!
If they had the funds to hand-copy dozens of these sheets and distribute them, they could at least prepare decent food instead.
And yet here they were, listing precautions in exhaustive, tedious detail.
The Stone Caves were not even a restricted zone—merely an area of caution.
‘Well, Yak Seon said to try and turn back if it seemed wrong anyway.’
I couldn’t speak for anything else, but I had at least followed Precaution Number One.
I’d told someone I was going to the Stone Caves, and I had no intention of venturing very deep anyway.
Though I did harbor no small hope of searching for the Wall Book Herb eventually.
For now, I planned to conduct a light reconnaissance and return.
I’d thought finding the Stone Caves alone would be difficult.
But when I made my way around to the rear of the mountain, they caught my eye at once.
There were not just one or two Stone Caves—hundreds, perhaps even thousands of openings honeycomb the cliff face, from the base of the rocky mountain nearly to its peak.
“These are all Stone Caves?”
The mountain was quite large, and I’d never had reason to come around to its rear until now.
The opposite side of the Academic Hall was a steep cliff face.
With hundreds of holes riddled through it, the sight was positively magnificent to behold.
Now I understood why Yak Seon had warned that students went missing.
Up to the middle heights, one could manage by finding suitable footholds, but the Stone Caves at the truly sheer cliff faces near the summit seemed unreachable without some special Divine Technique.
And if you fell from the top, you’d die on impact—there’d be nothing left to treat.
“So that’s why she warned about heights.”
I entered a nearby Stone Cave located at a lower point first.
It was far too shallow to truly be called a cavern.
It was perhaps the size of a dormitory room at most.
The end was visible the moment I stepped inside, but the space felt like a work of art itself—a Buddha statue had been carved directly into the stone wall.
“Ah…… so this is what counts as an ordinary Buddha statue.”
As expected, it did not glow like the warning in Precaution Five described.
The space was simply admirable in its beauty—above, below, and all around.
‘No mushrooms here.’
And unfortunately.
The stone wall had been carved so smoothly that no grass or mushrooms grew in the gaps.
I examined the next Stone Cave, and the one after that.
Some were remarkably clean spaces, while others appeared to have been carved far longer ago than the Academic Hall’s twenty-year history.
‘Is it just legend that survives because it was made so long ago?’
After poking around a few places like that, the Stone Ear Mushrooms became easy to spot.
“Good.”
I harvested the Stone Ear Mushrooms and checked the adjacent stone caves.
After exploring over a dozen locations, the Stone Ear Mushrooms appeared readily enough.
But the Dark Jade Herb—I’d dug through more than twenty places without finding a single one.
So they weren’t handing out Service Credits generously for nothing, apparently.
‘The easily accessible spots must have already been picked clean by the seniors.’
I’d thought I could at least harvest one or two, even if not all ten.
Since I’d arranged to meet Eun Hyeon around evening anyway.
If I wanted to find something before sunset, it would be better to climb a little higher and search methodically rather than stick to ground level.
I didn’t have rock-climbing gear, so I couldn’t examine the very top, but climbing to mid-height should help, shouldn’t it?
I ascended the cliff using the Snow Wind Step Method.
Since I was practiced at deploying it on slippery surfaces like snow and ice, I could manage a decent pace even on the rock face.
“This feels promising… here!”
I climbed only as high as where there were at least some footholds,
and selected a stone cave whose entrance looked smallest and hardest to enter.
Seeing spider webs strung across it, the place seemed untouched by people for some time.
The entrance was too small for much light to penetrate, and the cave sloped upward,
making it considerably darker than the ones I’d entered before.
‘A torch… I should have brought a candle.’
Still, it wasn’t so dark I couldn’t see at all.
I blinked several times to let my eyes adjust.
Whether influenced by Internal Energy or not, adapting to the darkness came far easier than in my past life.
“Jackpot!”
Once my eyes adjusted, I could see the cave had no end in sight—and after venturing as deep as the combined depths of all twenty-odd caves I’d entered before, the Dark Jade Herb finally became visible.
This height was apparently necessary; otherwise the seniors would have picked everything clean.
I harvested the medicinal herb carefully and searched earnestly to see if there might be a few more roots.
The cave proved deeper than expected,
growing darker the further in I went.
Something hard pressed beneath my foot.
“Ugh, damn it. You scared me!”
It felt like the shell of a tortoise.
But there was no way a tortoise could be in a cave.
So I panicked thinking I’d stepped on some huge insect instead,
only to find it was an old suit of Armor.
Corroded weapon fragments and rotted cloth lay alongside it.
‘Why is this here? Did the seniors do some courage test in here a few years back?’
By common sense, that would make sense.
But the rust was thick and heavy—when I prodded it with my foot, red dust rose up, and something about it felt like traces of someone who’d died here far, far longer ago, which gave me an eerie chill.
The strange warnings written on that notice made it feel worse somehow.
‘Still… this isn’t that deep, and there’s no shining object, so it should be fine, right?’
What was I supposed to be careful about again?
Something about an old man’s voice and shining things… what else was there?
I wanted to check, but the cave’s darkness was too thick—even with my bright eyes, I couldn’t read any writing.
‘As a weapon, it’s worthless…’
Even as I heightened my awareness, I inspected the sword just to be sure.
But the blade was dull beyond use, corroded and cracked through.
The hilt smelled rotten, so I quickly lost interest and moved deeper.
‘Right, right. Forget useless things—I need to find this.’
Pressing further in, I found three roots of Dark Jade Herb clustered together.
Yak Seon hadn’t mentioned it beforehand, but I saw other mushrooms and grass clumps nearby,
so I harvested those too, wondering if they might also count for Service Credits.
Even if I couldn’t find the Wall Book Herb, I felt certain I could harvest all ten roots of Dark Jade Herb that Yak Seon had requested from this cave alone.
I pushed aside the complicated situation I faced and eagerly explored the stone cave.
The passage continued on—who had carved it out, when, and why remained a mystery.
As if it connected with a neighboring cave’s entrance, alternate paths occasionally appeared; I marked my way and ventured deeper.
‘Ah… is this the end?’
After nearly an hour had passed, I reached a dead end.
In my hands were nine roots of Dark Jade Herb and an abundance of mysterious medicinal plants.
It was an excellent result for the brief ten days she’d given herself to search, though it left her wanting just a bit more.
The fact that only one thing remained elusive gnawed at her slightly.
“Hmm.”
But something else caught her eye.
Unlike the stone caves below, where they had carved Buddha images into the cliff face,
here on the rock wall of a dead end, a small Golden Buddha Statue gleamed with light.
Surviving as a Limited Lifespan Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace (Serial)
Author | Sacred Musk Deer
Publisher | Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by | JP Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae-hyeok
Address | 401st Floor, Ace Techno Tower 8th, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email | [email protected]
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ⓒ Sacred Musk Deer 2026
※This work is published by JP Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder, and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and author.
Violation of this restriction shall 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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