Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 86

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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 86
The Yellow River?
We’d crossed a river on the way down from Buk Hae to Luoyang, and this seemed to be one of its tributaries.
Cross the river and head north? How far are we going?
Whether someone had arranged the boats in advance or they’d simply prepared exactly enough for the number of cadets, the math worked out perfectly.
I boarded one of the vessels with Maeng Ryeong Ji, Gu Won, and So Un.
“Is this the right way to do it?”
“No, wait. You have to twist the angle of the oar every time you push and pull.”
Maeng Ryeong Ji, who’d grabbed the oar with such confidence, flailed about like someone rowing for the first time in her life.
I demonstrated the proper form and corrected her stance.
“Seol, have you ever rowed before?”
“Yes—Buk Hae has a large lake, and there are rivers in the jungle too, aren’t there?”
“Beast Palace Way martial artists fight the current with their bare hands! Don’t you people just freeze the lake and cross it?”
“No.”
Besides, how wide is the lake in Buk Hae? They couldn’t freeze it every time they needed to cross.
And surely there were crocodiles or worse in the jungle rivers?
I doubted all the Beast Palace Way martial artists swam everywhere barehanded, though Maeng Ryeong Ji might be capable of it.
Either way, once I showed her the technique, she picked it up quickly.
“Everyone gather over here!”
Paeng Jung Geol, practically bursting with excitement, called out to the cadets who’d drifted ahead.
As fifteen boats clustered together, Muk Jin Ha tossed something to each one.
“Take these.”
Thwack!
I caught all the objects that landed in our boat.
“Tokens?”
The items were jade tokens.
Unlike the tokens distributed on Entrance Ceremony day, these didn’t have the cadets’ individual names inscribed on them.
They all bore the same character: Cheonmu Academy.
“One per person—hang it from your waist! That token is your life!”
It didn’t seem like the token itself possessed any special power.
“The token cannot be hidden or entrusted to someone else—it must always hang from your waist. You can acquire one through theft, force, or formal Martial Combat, and the moment it leaves your waist, you’re eliminated!”
So the tokens were meant to represent our lives in this survival game.
Ah, so that wasn’t just about staying close together—they wanted to distribute the tokens and explain the rules.
“The Hunt Competition lasts four days. Those who hold their token until sunset on the fourth day survive. Living cadets earn ten points for each token in their possession. As I mentioned before, the first ten to be eliminated will have to consume the San Gong Du and return to the Academy without their Internal Energy!”
“If you lose your token, you’ll naturally make your way to Yeoan. And if you suffer a serious injury but haven’t lost your token and wish to forfeit, you can request help too. We’ll be watching from various points, so don’t think about hiding after losing your token.”
Paeng Jung Geol and Heo Gong spoke in distinctly different tones.
Last time, when Paeng Jung Geol had warned us, he’d mentioned we might get a meal early if we did well.
It meant that if I alone brought down everyone and collected all the tokens, I could monopolize 570 points.
‘I was already planning to take points through Martial Combat anyway—they’ve practically laid out the board for me.’
Unlike the suspicious mechanical trap they’d shoved us into on Entrance Ceremony day like the Long Spear Hall.
No complex rules either.
If you weren’t confident, you could run and survive; to earn points, you just took the other cadets’ tokens. Simple as that.
Clean and straightforward—I liked it.
“Does everyone understand? If you have any questions, speak up!”
“Excuse me, do we fight on the boats?”
“You’ll find out when the time comes. Any other questions?”
“Um, over four days—do we have to forage for food ourselves?”
“That’s right! Hunt for it, steal someone else’s kill—do whatever you want.”
Beside me, Maeng Ryeong Ji muttered that she’d definitely have to hunt.
She wasn’t wrong.
It wasn’t the season for fruit to ripen, so unless we wanted to graze like animals, hunting was the only option.
But when you catch or prepare an animal, you risk being spotted by other cadets.
The instructors had rigged the situation so cadets couldn’t simply hide in silence.
“Master, do we have to carry all the stolen tokens at our waist as well?”
“Yes! You must carry them all—that’s the rule!”
If you wore multiple jade tokens, they’d clink and clatter against each other, wouldn’t they?
Perhaps it was a kind of penalty on those actively pursuing hunts.
Our class didn’t have anyone particularly driven by that kind of ambition, but without such a constraint, cadets specializing in ambush techniques would have an unfair advantage.
Splash, splash.
Paeng Jung Geol rowed on, waiting for more questions.
Once I confirmed there was nothing more, I opened my mouth.
“When you hear the Jungma Great War, you think of the Heavenly Demon’s last battle, the Formation techniques great masters deployed across the vast plains—isn’t that right?”
It was an oddly sudden turn in conversation, but the image I’d conjured while listening to my father was much the same.
“I’m sure you’ve heard of the Seon Gak Master bisecting the Nine Abyss Demon Lord, or the Polar Star Emperor striking down the Blood Flame Demon Emperor…… Such martial combats, yes. But on a great battlefield, there aren’t many warriors who perish after confronting Demon Lords head-on with blade and honor.”
The children, who had been excited about enjoying the Hunt Competition, grew solemn at this abrupt talk of war.
“Ambushed, they fled into gorges. Pursuing recklessly, they stumbled into traps and found themselves isolated on mountains. In such places, warriors fell ignominiously. That’s why we conduct training to survive in unfamiliar terrain like this.”
Paeng Jung Geol drew his sword and pulled it halfway from its sheath, gazing at the blade.
I wondered if he’d fallen into reverie, remembering old comrades who had perished during the war.
Scrape!
But he had not.
Paeng Jung Geol drew the sword completely in the next instant.
Crack! Splinter!
With a broad swing, he cleaved four boats in a straight line down the middle.
“Ahhh!”
“M-Master?”
“What on earth—!”
The students who had fallen into the water thrashed about.
Those who witnessed it jumped in alarm and tried to assume defensive positions, but
the children on the remaining boats suffered the same fate in mere moments.
“Gaaaah!”
“Cough, cough!”
When three martial masters deliberately destroyed the boats,
there was no time to prepare or block—in an instant, all had become soaked rats floundering in the water.
“I-I can’t swim!”
“Hey, stay calm! It’s not that deep!”
“Push off the bottom with all your strength and rise!”
“What? Uh? Blub!”
The children were all thrown into chaos, but
the destination was not far away.
Even as we explained the rules, we rowed steadily and had reached near the island.
“There, we go that way!”
“Pfft, hack! Cough!”
The water was slightly deeper than my height, but for martial artists, even swimmers who couldn’t manage this depth wouldn’t drown.
Those who knew how to swim did so, while those who didn’t attempted to propel themselves off the bottom using their Light Qinggong.
‘So that’s why they say you find out when and where you’re fighting when the time comes.’
And since I had played from childhood by freezing the great lakes in Buk Hae,
I was quite confident in swimming.
Splash.
I took a deep breath and dove completely, approaching one of the students.
A frontrunner for the Hunt Competition, you might say?
In theory, everyone is both prey and hunter,
but as a hunter, my true rivals are roughly fixed.
Namgung Min and Myeong Seong, Paeng Ho, Maeng Ryeong Ji, Eun Hyun…… and Un Cheon, perhaps?
Well, among those who’d consumed the Mountain Empty Poison at the Entrance Ceremony, there might be one or two unexpectedly strong ones added.
In any case, of these, Paeng Ho’s individual ability lags behind Namgung Min and Myeong Seong,
but since all the larger boys with loud voices at Cheonmyeong Hall follow him, he’d be quite a troublesome opponent in this survival setting.
If he formed a group on the island and ganged up on opponents, wouldn’t it be rather annoying?
‘Even Master Gwak taught me to kill before they grow stronger!’
Before he could gather his wits,
I approached him as he desperately jumped about in confusion underwater,
Whoosh!
and tore the token from his waist.
‘They said theft, plunder, and transfer were all permitted, right?’
Whip! Whack! Splash!
First kill achieved right at the start!
Having robbed a top contender of his token, I pushed off with all my strength and
“Wh-What? Who is that?”
By the time Paeng Ho realized his token was gone, I was already far away.
“Ha-ha-ha! This batch of cadets shows real promise!”
“Already the first elimination.”
“Uncle?! We haven’t even reached the island yet……!”
“You should have taken every precaution to ensure you didn’t lose your life in underwater combat!”
From the one intact vessel remaining, Paeng Jung Geol watched the situation unfold with quiet satisfaction at his nephew’s despair.
Muk Jin Ha wore a pleased smile as well.
I swam gently to the island and emerged from the water.
I fastened the token I’d obtained to my waist.
Excellent. Twenty points secured.
Surviving as the Buk Hae Ice Palace’s Time-Limited Young Lady (Serialized)
Author │ Sachyangnoruu
Publisher │ Kim Joo-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 401, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Ace Techno Tower 8th)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Sachyangnoruu 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder, and the contents may not be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the company 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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