The Regressor's Ice Is Golden - 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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018.

What exactly is the Grand Prix Series?
The highest level of regular international invitational competitions held throughout the early and middle of the season!
It’s a colosseum where top-tier skaters from each country descend to compete for medals.
And the Junior Grand Prix Series, among these, is essentially a proving ground where skaters’ potential is evaluated.
Naturally, countries don’t just send anyone to such competitions—each holds a selection competition to identify their most talented athletes.
This year, South Korea had received competition spots from the International Skating Union, and they were set to be distributed like this.
Two spots for places one through five in the selection competition, and one spot for places up to nine.
‘Wasn’t it up to tenth place last year?’
I shook my head, drying my hair as I recalled last year’s Junior World Championships results.
It was lower than last year, but this was respectable enough.
The seniors had fought hard to secure these competition spots.
“Want some water?”
“Sure.”
Coach Park floated a few ice cubes in a glass.
I didn’t refuse and gulped it down in one go.
“Coach, would you say something for me?”
“Say what?”
“You know, just the usual thing you always say.”
Coach Park accepted the empty glass with a small laugh.
“Right then—watch your hip flexors. In the end, you’ll win. You’ll win.”
“You know I’m good at the loop jump.”
“You are.”
We stayed talking for a while longer instead of going to bed.
“So if we properly showcase the Triple lutz and Triple loop while designing a high-scoring program strong enough to make the finals……, we’ll need to map it out.”
“You’re already good at that sort of thing.”
“What’s this?”
That night, I went to sleep just like that.
Three weeks until the selection competition.
Ding—
Just as my eyes were drifting closed, one more notification came through.
[Park Ji-ho, 2nd year senior: Hey listen, the costume design is done. Come to school tomorrow no matter what]
A photo was attached immediately after.
“Oh, that’s pretty neat.”

The next day, Park Ji-ho and I met in the school backyard.
The air in the shade, away from the blazing sun, hung lukewarm.
“Can you show me the design now?”
“Yeah, hold on a second.”
Park Ji-ho grinned and handed me a blue spring notebook.
“There’s fabric samples tucked inside, so be careful not to lose anything.”
“You even have samples?”
“I have to. I can’t try it on myself. You need a sample to work with.”
Right, of course.
The moment the notebook passed into my hands, the bell rang loudly.
We hurried up the stairs.
“Is it okay if I return this during break time?”
“Sure.”
At this point, I wasn’t worried about what everyone else might think. Let them look or not.
Soon the teacher came in to start homeroom.
I opened the notebook cautiously, glancing around.
Park Ji-ho’s design sketches were two variations.
The first was a black one-piece dress with one shoulder exposed.
And a flare skirt with a side slit.
Beneath that skirt, layered bright blue petticoats were designed to flutter with every movement.
The decorations balanced white and red perfectly, blending together elegantly.
Sharp yet fiery—like a blue flame.
If the colors had been combined differently, it could’ve just looked like a solid black taegeuk flag.
‘Pretty.’
The page with the design sketch had several fabric swatches tucked alongside it.
I touched them gently with my fingertips and nodded.
Then I turned the page.
‘Wow.’
Ha-seol pressed between her brows for a moment.
The costume in the drawing had cubic and beads literally ‘blazing’ across it.
Judging by the small campfire sketched beside it, she’d translated the actual flame colors directly onto the beads.
Looking closer, she’d created the flame’s shape using geometric patterns.
How on earth did she draw all this?
The answer came during first period break the next day.
“Honestly, I made it as an option to add to the tango, but I didn’t trust myself to refine the design more, so I just went with it.”
“No, that’s not the issue—are you sure about this? You’re going to have to do serious labor getting all those cubics in.”
“Come on, you worried about your junior? Us high schoolers operate in a bit of a gray zone with labor laws, if you know what I mean.”
People around here called this a disaster she’d brought upon herself.
What ungodly experience must she have endured to talk like that?
I’d bet a thousand won that Cha Jin-hee would be moaning in pain within days.
I sighed, wiped the sweat from my face, and bowed my head.
“Thank you for this. I’ll wear it well.”
“Don’t mention it. I did all right by my own looks, yeah? You know the rule—a creation always reflects the maker’s face.”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, the agony of creation, truly.”
Such nonsense.
I waved my hand dismissively and shooed Park Ji-ho away.
A few days later, word came that Cha Seo-hee had arrived back in the country.
And summer vacation had begun.

***

“It’s been a while.”
“Tell me about it.”
Cha Jin-hee looked at Park Ji-ho sitting beside her with an exasperated gaze.
He was rubbing his hands together with little excitement sounds, his palms making that quick scratching noise.
I handed him a warm can of coffee and he settled down a bit.
“It’s sweltering out there, but in here it’s like a freezer.”
“That’s why I told you to bring a jacket. You’ve been here before and still you’re making a fuss?”
“Aw, don’t be like that. Do you know how many times Kim Ha-seol is competing?”
“Probably the first group. She just debuted in the Junior ranks and doesn’t have any ranking points yet.”
“Ah, so it’s by standings?”
“Standings and a draw.”
Shortly after, the announcement system introduced the judges and the competition began.
{We will now begin the warm-up for female junior competitors one through five. The warm-up period is six minutes.}
Five competitors took to the ice at once.
Park Ji-ho turned to Cha Jin-hee with sudden admiration.
“Oh, there’s Kim Ha-seol.”
Ha-seol glided across the ice, building up speed.
As she removed the athletic jersey worn over it, the brilliant costume beneath came into view.
“Man, you should’ve seen how much I griped about sewing all those beads. Honestly, doesn’t it look incredible?”
“…Yeah.”
Cha Jin-hee didn’t argue about this.
To be fair, Park Ji-ho had done exceptional work.
“When I first saw the design, I thought the color scheme was crazy.”
“Looks incredible, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll admit it.”
Cha Jin-hee handed Park Ji-ho another canned drink and turned her attention elsewhere.
A skater who looked almost exactly like her was checking through her steps.
In contrast to Kim Ha-seol, she wore a costume of red and black.
A strong favorite to win this competition.
“That’s your sister, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Why’d they choose such an awkward color scheme?”
Park Ji-ho muttered his critique without pausing.
It was a standard tango dress in its silhouette, but the color arrangement felt distinctly off.
In any case, the skaters spent their allotted six minutes warming up diligently.
One of them executed a crisp Double axel.
“Ooh, nice jump.”
Park Ji-ho blinked.
“But can I be honest?”
“About what?”
“I have no idea what jump that was. You?”
“How many years have we been watching together and you’ve forgotten all that?”
“What, you’re hurt I can’t remember? Just explain it again.”
“Hand back my sports drink.”
“Excuse me…….”
Before their bickering could escalate, someone addressed them both.
Turning around, they found a middle-aged woman seated nearby with a child beside her.
“Yes?”
“It’s the child’s first time watching a competition, and I was wondering if you might explain what’s happening? You seem quite knowledgeable…….”
“Oh~!”
Park Ji-ho quickly slung an arm around Cha Jin-hee’s shoulder.
“You’ve found the right person. One of today’s skaters actually choreographed her own routine.”
“Hey!”
“Come on, look at the kid’s face. Just give us an explanation too.”
Cha Jin-hee had opened her mouth to protest but stopped short, then sighed.
She’d made eye contact with the child’s wide, curious gaze.
“Well…… what would be a good place to start? What’s your friend’s name?”
“I’m Ji Su-hyeon from first-year class three!”
The child, with her hair tied back neatly, introduced herself with admirable confidence.
“So, about figure skating competitions—maybe think of it like a card game?”
“A card game?”
“Yeah. There are three types, and there are set slots where you play each card.”
Cha Jin-hee held up a few fingers to illustrate.
“Figure skating is similar in a way. The competition comes down to how well you can activate those cards out there on the ice.”
“Aah.”
Her expression said she didn’t quite grasp it.
‘Maybe I should just pull up screenshots from figure skating manga and explain it that way.’
Trying to explain something to an elementary schooler in simple terms was proving harder than she’d expected.
Cha Jin-hee turned her attention back to the ice rink, somewhat reluctantly.
Right on cue, the six-minute warm-up period ended.
Four of the five skaters left the ice, and only one remained.
{Now introducing our competing skater: Park Chae-rin from Seolhyang Middle School.}
The four of them applauded the entering skater.
Soon, a lyrical film soundtrack began playing throughout the ice rink.
The skater began gliding across the ice with slow, graceful arm movements.
“Wow, but who chose that garish fluorescent yellow…….”
“You asked for an explanation. Watch what the skater is doing, not the costume.”
Cha Jin-hee shot Park Ji-ho a look and continued her explanation.
“In the short program, there are only three jumps. Usually the first jump is a combination jump.”
“Why?”
“As the music progresses, the skater’s stamina depletes, making it harder to land jumps. It’ll happen in just a moment.”
Before her words had even finished, the skater turned and took off into a jump.
A sharp cracking sound echoed in quick succession.
It was exactly the two-jump combination she’d predicted.
Applause erupted immediately.
“What jump was that?”
“A Triple loop followed by a Triple toeloop. The first jump is the third hardest.”
“Can’t you connect the two hardest ones?”
“In a combination, the second jump has to take off from the right foot, so not all combinations work. You could attach a loop, but usually it’s the toeloop like that.”
The performance continued, and the skater launched into the next jump.
But with a heavy thud, she fell.
“Ouch, she fell.”
“That’s a deduction, and it looked like it hurt.”
The first skater landed another jump and began a spin.
A Flying sit spin—this season’s required element.
The skater rose from a crouch, unwound from the rotation, and stopped.
When the music ended, applause erupted.
“Wow, that’s impressive for just one person.”
The child’s mother settled her back in her seat.
“But where’s she going?”
“What? Oh.”
The skater the child had pointed out was walking toward something.
There was a table, two chairs, and a camera set up in that direction.
Behind it stood a backdrop board covered with various logos, like a checkerboard.
“That’s the Kiss and cry. She sits there and waits for her score.”
On the scoreboard, the skater and coach sat side by side, waving.
An announcement came not long after.
{Here are the results for Park Chae-rin. Total score: 56.76. Current ranking: first place.}
The skater’s name and score appeared on the scoreboard.
“She lost a lot of points falling on the Triple flip. It’s actually the third-highest base score available.”
“I see…”
The child’s mother blinked.
“If you knew all the rules, this would be really fun.”
“Mom, I’ll explain everything later!”
“Ha. Really?”
“Yeah, yeah—this sister will teach you all about it. Right? Oof.”
Cha Jin-hee gave Park Ji-ho a slap on the back and straightened up in her seat.
{Introducing the next competitor: Cha Seo-hee, from Songgol Middle School.}
A roar of applause erupted—far louder than before.
Here and there, cheers rang out.
“…You okay?”
“Yeah.”
Cha Jin-hee closed and opened her eyes slowly.
“Oh, you mentioned choreographing something for her? Is that who she is?”
“No, it’s someone else.”
The child’s mother blinked.
“But there is a connection.”

***

“The axis didn’t waver just now, right?”
“No, but I need to tighten it more—push it right to the edge. We might not have enough rotations otherwise.”
I sighed as I did a final check.
My turn was third.
Right after Cha Seo-hee…
‘Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise that I don’t have to see the Triple axel.’
Junior competitions have strict rules to foster young skaters.
Since everyone performs the same technical elements, victory comes down to the quality of execution.
‘Let’s see what she can do.’
I leaned quietly against the rink barrier.
The next moment, a familiar violin melody filled the ice rink.
Roxanne’s Tango.
회귀자의 빙판은 금빛 18화
전자책 출간일 | 2026.06.05

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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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