The Regressor's Ice Is Golden - Chapter 17

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

017.

Cha Jin-hee declared it solemnly when we met at lunch.
“I think I need to tear apart and rebuild the Allegro Tanganville choreography quite a bit.”
“Oh.”
It was an unexpected bombshell.
But it seemed Cha Jin-hee had more to say.
Today’s menu was malatang, and yet her chopsticks moved with surprising composure.
“The thing is… your coach’s reaction wasn’t all that enthusiastic. To be honest, since I’ve never choreographed before, I’m not confident about it.”
“So…?”
“Can you look at it later?”
That much wasn’t difficult.
After that, Cha Jin-hee launched into a lengthy explanation while eating.
It was an account of how she’d come to the decision to overhaul the choreography in the first place.
Apparently, Cha Jin-hee had needed a cover story so her parents wouldn’t find it strange while she was in contact with the coach.
So the justification she came up with was building physical stamina for academic achievement.
As part of that, she’d declared she’d start morning workouts.
She said she’d been waking up an hour earlier than usual, arriving at school early, and using the time before morning assembly to do video calls with the coach while revising the choreography.
‘She’s insane.’
I could’ve sworn we were just making minor tweaks to the Roxanne choreography.
No wonder Coach Park looked like he was dying these days.
Cha Jin-hee looked at me with gleaming eyes.
What on earth was she trying to create?
“My academy instructor said she’s taking a break, so I have time free. I should try it myself.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll give you the rental time.”
I nodded absently and shoved food into my mouth.
Let’s see what she’s trying to show me after going through all that trouble.
For the record, a surprising result was waiting.

The air of the Ice Rink was always cool.
The moment Cha Jin-hee arrived, she tossed her bag aside and changed into her skates.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. The tempo’s so fast it feels chaotic.”
Coach Park smacked his lips and touched the iPad.
I watched Cha Jin-hee silently from where she stood in the center of the ice.
“Play the music.”
On the offered iPad was a rearranged audio file.
Ready to play with just a touch.
I took it and glided out onto the ice toward her.
Cha Jin-hee took a deep breath and settled into her starting position.
Her left foot braced on the toepick at the back, her hips tilted slightly to the left.
One hand pressed against that hip, the other arm raised as if shielding her forehead.
“Starting.”
“Go.”
The moment I played the track, the urgent melody of the bandoneon burst forth.
At the same instant, Cha Jin-hee swept the arm that had been shielding her forehead in a sharp arc.
The choreography, which began with vigor, followed the music’s powerful opening.
Dah, dah-dah, dah-dah-dah-dah-dah, dah.
The characteristic melody and rhythm repetitions of the Allegro Tanganville.
Arm movements synchronized with the rapid tempo flowed naturally into steps, and soon she was crossing the ice, building speed.
I quickly moved to keep pace with Cha Jin-hee.
‘Wow.’
To put it bluntly, she’d completely torn it apart and rebuilt it.
Yet even through all that, the feeling of the original choreography remained intact.
Perhaps because it was tango, there was no sense of discord.
Quick, brisk steps and arm movements matched to the tempo, along with a confident expression.
Whether my aesthetic sense was lacking or I simply didn’t understand because we were only at the beginning, but the choreography was genuinely good.
The upper body movement was rich, and there were delicate hand gestures that subdivided the rhythm.
That in turn filled in the parts that might have felt monotonous precisely because the melody was repetitive.
I rubbed my eyes for a moment and watched Cha Jin-hee’s movements again.
Right on cue, Cha Jin-hee finished a spin and was executing a Step Sequence.
Curves of every shape traced themselves relentlessly across the ice.
Throughout it all, her arms moved without pause, bringing out the bright character of the music.
Rocker-Counter-Loop, Rocker-Counter-Bracket….
A stream of steps and turns that barely had time for their own names swept forward on both blades.
As the melody dipped lower and then quickened again, she turned into a Twizzle right on the beat.
Even as the choreography pressed relentlessly forward, the timing of the jumps and spins never felt forced.
The transitions right after each takeoff and landing were clean and precisely placed.
‘Though the Twizzle right after that jump feels like a lot.’
I’m not getting dizzy or anything, I can’t tell.
Then, just as the piano and bandoneon twisted into a sound that erupted with a bang.
The music and spin ended almost simultaneously.
Cha Jin-hee, having completed every movement, thrust her arms forward and back in a clean finish.
Her forehead was slick with sweat.
I tucked the iPad under my arm and clapped.
“That was impressive.”
“Not bad, right?”
Coach Park had come over at some point.
“Looking at it now, yeah, it holds up. Whatever else, she’s secured solid component scores. The Step Sequence is basically guaranteed a Level 4.”
Then she wiped the sweat from Cha Jin-hee’s face as she caught her breath.
“Good work.”
!
Cha Jin-hee laughed brightly even as she panted.
“Thank you.”
And the moment she finished greeting and turned to leave, she practically collapsed onto the bench.
She looked like a zombie.
“Could I get some water, please?”
“Here you go.”
Coach Park kindly unscrewed a Water Bottle and handed it to Cha Jin-hee.
It seemed Coach Park hadn’t just a preference, but an active dislike for something.
She preferred to keep a certain amount of breathing room in the tempo, after all.
‘Wait, hold on.’
Come to think of it, I’m the one who has to do that choreography.
I felt my courage drain away.
‘I have to do that….?’
I’ll collapse the moment the competition ends.
“Alright, take a quick break and then let’s learn the choreography. Ha-seol, leave the iPad here and come back with your phone.”
“Yes, Coach.”
I swapped the tablet for my phone and stepped out onto the ice.
‘Let me think about this.’
I skated slowly across the rink while I considered.
There was one thing I needed to account for.
The person who created this choreography, Cha Jin-hee, hasn’t competed in figure skating in years.
She doesn’t have the stamina to match a professional skater.
The fact that she danced that well on a regular person’s endurance was a miracle in itself.
Since my Stamina stat hit A, I should be able to handle Cha Jin-hee’s choreography somehow.
At minimum, I should be able to crawl to the side of the rink once it’s done.
But there was something nagging at me.
‘There’s too much detail.’
The revised Allegro Tanganville choreography had a lot of small, precise movements—breaking up the tempo and such.
This meant that if I missed even one beat, the flow would break or it’d look awkward.
If I didn’t execute it properly, I’d be shooting myself in the foot.
You know how on YouTube, dance choreographers sometimes upload the original choreography for idol dances?
When you watch those originals, you often notice details that disappeared in the final version the idols actually performed.
In the best case, it means they found a shortcut. In the worst, it means they couldn’t pull it off properly.
And if it’s bad enough, they end up getting flamed for not being able to dance.
‘I should’ve practiced more at school.’
I’ll probably need to invest more points in my Precision stat.
While I drifted around the ice for a moment, Cha Jin-hee somehow managed to get back up.
“You don’t need more rest?”
“If you choreographed it, you should have told me…….”
“Right, okay.”
If she was willing to sacrifice for the greater good, I was fine with it.
As it happened, leveling up Interpretation had proven quite effective.
I’d never quite understood what it was for until now, but this was exactly the moment it mattered.
The ability to grasp the nuance and emotional arc of choreography, then express it.
Since figure skating was fundamentally dancing to music, it was essential.
“You need to land your steps on the beat. Like this—one, two, three.”
“Right, clean up your line a bit more.”
By the time the ice time slot ended, we’d nailed more than half the choreography.
“Let’s do the rest tomorrow. Good work, both of you.”
“Thank you.”
“Phew.”
Training wrapped up smoothly (Cha Jin-hee didn’t stop humming even after she caught the last bus home), and we headed back.
I tossed my bag into Coach Park’s car and settled into the seat.
“How’s your knee?”
“So-so.”
“Let’s get some heat therapy in when we get home.”
I really did need to stay on top of my hip management.
With the pain lingering through every night, I’d lost track of what kind of ache it even was anymore.
I pulled up my Status Window again.

[Kim Ha-seol]
Age: 13 years old (Born February 27)
Height: 162cm
Weight: 46kg
Puberty Progression Rate: 31%

Strength: B-
Stamina: B+
Flexibility: B
Precision: B
Presence: B-

[Biological Metronome] (D/Active)
[Self-Generated Heat] (E/Active)

Distinguishing Traits: Regressor, Unbreakable Will
[Points: 3]

Hold on.
‘Why isn’t Stamina at A?’
Sure, I’d finally broken through the B ceiling on Presence, but everything else had locked in at B.
I’d distinctly allocated Stamina up to A last time.
Some stats could naturally increase without spending Points, yet several had actually gone down instead.
Precision and Strength, for instance.
My gliding speed had started to slow microscopically.
‘Status Window.’

[Yes?]

‘What’s going on?’

[Ah, well. There’s something you need to check. It’s an inevitable Debuff that shows up—there’s nothing I can do about it on my end.]

At that, I glanced back at the Status Window almost numbly.
At the edge of my trembling vision, another change came into focus.

[Puberty Progression Rate: 31%]

In that instant, my blood ran cold.
Do you remember?
For figure skaters with brief peak years, there comes an inevitable trial during the junior years.
Puberty—and the body’s transformation that comes with it.
As height increases and body fat distribution shifts, the center of gravity destabilizes.
The refined technical sense built since childhood crumbles.
Which inevitably leads to a decline in athletic performance.
So if I translate this into status window terms—
‘Can this thing actually downgrade me?’
Struck by that frightening realization, I slowly turned my head toward the status window.
Ding—!

[!Status Abnormality! Upon reaching 30% Puberty Progression Rate, random downgrades will be applied to all stats. Additionally, points required for stat level-ups will increase twofold.]
[Duration: Until Puberty Progression Rate exceeds 85%.]

I glanced down at my own legs.
Beneath my shorts, they were mottled with bruises in shades of purple and blue.
Suddenly the weight of it all pressed down on me.
“Come to think of it, it’s about time I restructured my technical content anyway.”
I bit my tongue lightly against my molars.
The pain and faint taste of blood cleared my head.
“Speaking of which, when was the Selection Tournament again?”
“End of July.”
Winter sports, including figure skating, are held each season from fall through the following spring.
The competitive season officially begins on July 1st each year.
And the Selection Tournament held in late July was the competition to select skaters for ISU Junior Grand Prix events.
Exactly one month remained.
‘Cha Seo-hee landed a Triple Axel, didn’t she?’
After turning back time over a decade, I’d landed the Triple Lutz-Triple Loop.
But if my technique remains imperfect, I’d be useless even wielding a legendary sword.
So how far could I push back against a Triple Axel?
Right on cue, Coach Park asked.
“You’re really going to attempt the Triple Lutz-Triple Loop?”
“…If I can land it, I have to land it.”
Stay composed.
Even if the sky falls, there’s a hole to escape through; even in a tiger’s den, you survive if you keep your wits.
There had to be a way to break through this nightmare.
I gazed quietly out the window.
Time was running short.
The air at the Ice Rink no longer felt cold.
Summer—burning and fierce—was drawing near.
The Regressor’s Ice Rink in Gold Episode 17
E-book Publication Date | 2026.06.05

Author | Corcarolli
Publishers | Heo Heung-beom, Park Geon-won
Publishing House | Potence

Address | [04783] 10th Floor, 8 Yeonmujan 11-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
Phone | 02-6320-8500
Fax | 02-6320-8585

UCI | G720:N+A101-20260514092.0017
List Price | Not for Sale

© Corcarolli 2026

This e-book is protected under copyright law.
This e-book is published under contract with the author, and unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or sharing without written consent from both parties is prohibited.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————