The Regressor's Ice Is Golden - Chapter 20

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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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020.

That day, the Figure Skating Community was ablaze.

People who’d attended the selection competition live were sharing their experiences.

(Ha-seol’s Triple Lutz-Triple Loop gif)
I’ll spare the detailed explanation.
-What competition is this?
┗Today’s JGP Selection Competition!
-Damn, she graduated from Novice and came back sharpened up lol crazy
-A female skater doing Triple Lutz-Triple Loop…? In Korea??
-Wait, a Loop between a Lutz and a Lutz?

First came amazement at landing such a difficult technique,
and second came speculation and debate over the jump’s consistency rate.

There’s always a reason why others don’t attempt something.

I’m worried because I don’t know how consistent Ha-seol’s Triple Lutz-Triple Loop really is. If her condition slips even slightly, it’s a complete washout. Honestly, I’m wondering if it’s reckless to push that hard.

-? She must be able to do it or Coach wouldn’t have put it in her component score loll
-But it still looks a bit shaky. If the hip flexor gives out on the Loop, she basically has to write it off.
-Wouldn’t she be the one asking for it? Coach Lam watches over her so carefully—there’s no way she’d ask him to do something dangerous
┗Honestly the kid probably does need to be pushed a little loll gotta tighten discipline if she’s going for the Grand Prix
-Ah the athlete and coach will figure it out themselves, too much chatter ㅅㅂ

Even so, those who’d seen the overall point reduction found hope again.
Since Yu-na had retired and people stopped watching competitions, the number of fans was dwindling.
In that situation, Korean figure skating had gained another marquee name!

-Ah I’m so curious about the Free skate can juniors do Triple Axel? Looking for someone to break down Seo-hee’s Short Program—apparently it was Clean
┗The Triple Axel quality was insane though? The Triple Axel consistency seems pretty solid.
┗What’s the difficulty difference between a Triple Axel and a Triple Axel for you to even compare them like that ㅉㅉ
┗What? You want something to happen to a hardworking kid?
-They’re probably both medal contenders anyway, so we just gotta imagine two Korean flags at the podium, you blockheads
┗There are kids doing Triple Axels in Japan
┗Shut up, dream big

The women’s singles Free Skating competition was the very next day.
And these people would scream enthusiastically again while watching it.

***

“Hey, Kim Ha-seol! How’s your condition today?”
“Couldn’t ask for better……?!.”
Cha Jin-hee pulled me into an embrace the moment we met in front of the Ice Rink.
“Jin-hee?”
The arms around my waist tightened.
Jin-hee pulled her head back, her voice wavering but resolute.
“……I wanted to say thank you.”
“For what?”
“I……didn’t know what to do after I retired from Novice. But when you revised the choreography, it was so much fun.”
“…….”
“So thank you. For not letting me give up.”
Jin-hee looked rather relieved once she’d finished speaking.
Considering her age, it had been a harsh ordeal.
Having to quit despite being capable of more—that had to have left deep regret.
And on top of that, there was the inferiority complex watching her blood relative prove her abilities and continue pursuing her dream.
It was a sorrow too heavy for a fourteen-year-old to bear.
“I’m grateful too. Thanks to you, I got solid component scores.”
“Hey, what about the costume I made? Tell them about that too—I mean, I really had to coax this one to get her this far, come on!”
“Don’t you have any sense of the room right now?”
“Haha…….”
Park Ji-ho whined after taking a blow to his back.
I laughed quietly and offered my thanks.
“Thank you too, senior. You must have been pressed for time making two costumes.”
“Oh no, it wasn’t like that. I had fun making them. Though I caught some grief from our director.”
“The Turandot Costume looked amazing.”
“Right? You’ve got a good eye.”
Cha Jin-hee rolled her eyes at Park Ji-ho’s theatrical posing, then called out to Coach.
“We don’t do separate gala shows for the junior season, do we?”
“Why? You want to choreograph one?”
“……Would that be possible?”
“Yeah, I think it could work.”
Coach reached over and ruffled Cha Jin-hee’s hair.
“Either way, take the standard commission fee. I’ll need to get you set up with a bank account. Or should I just give you cash?”
“A, a bank account…….”
We talked a bit more, then split up into two groups.
Coach and I headed to the Waiting Room, while Cha Jin-hee and Park Ji-ho went to the spectators’ section.
“I’m going to hit the restroom real quick. Put your bag down and start warming up.”
“Got it.”
Coach left my bag with me and hurried out.
Watching her rush off, she must have really needed to go…….
‘Did we chat too long?’
I went to put my bag down in the Waiting Room.
I hadn’t taken out my Skate Boots yet.
The Free Skating competition order was divided into groups in reverse of the previous day’s Short Program rankings.
So my turn today was in the final group, and the draw had placed me last even within that last group.
Which meant I could wait comfortably, watching the results or plotting strategy.
Or, I could monitor the Figure Skating Community’s reactions.
Fans in the community sometimes offered useful feedback that skaters and coaches could actually use.
“Hmm…….”
……Though it didn’t seem like it right now.
The further I scrolled, the less carefully I read.
Most of the posts were people worrying about me.
There’s usually a reason why others don’t do something, after all.
-Shut up, you said to dream big
I clicked my tongue in agreement with the last comment.
It was strange how this world never seemed to change, old or new.
I might as well stretch.
I set down my phone and extended my legs backward.
Standing up straight with one leg stretched back, I grabbed that foot with both hands and pulled it up over my head and—!
‘Ah, ah, ah!’
Startled by the sharp fold at my waist, I quickly let go.
How did I manage this on the ice yesterday.
While gritting through the searing pain in my thighs, I heard an odd sound from somewhere.
A piece of plastic dropping with a soft tap.
“Huh……?”
I set my leg down and traced where the sound came from.
Near the Waiting Room door lay a pink plastic Blade Guard, detached on one side.
It was the thing you slip on to protect skate blades.
But what idiot just leaves their Blade Guard lying around like that.
‘Well, I’ve got time.’
Returning a forgotten item counted as a decent deed.
I picked up the Blade Guard and glanced down the hallway.
Sure enough, I spotted someone heading down the corridor with Skate Boots on.
The same model of Blade Guard was fitted on only one side.
“Hey, you dropped one of your Blade Guards…….”
“What?”
I hurried over, and the skater turned to look at me.
The moment our eyes met, I realized my mistake.
I knew this girl very well.
Well enough that I should have recognized her immediately.
I’d seen that blade guard color even during yesterday’s Short Program.
“Oh, you’re Kim Ha-seol, right? Actually, this is our first time meeting in person.”
Cha Seo-hee smiled brightly.
Her face still retained its baby softness, round and youthful.
A gentle, kind expression.
Over her elaborate costume hung a school gymnasium uniform jacket — the same one as mine.
“Oh, I must have put this on carelessly and it fell off. Thanks for picking it up.”
“Yeah, sure.”
I handed the object back to its owner without much comment.
Cha Seo-hee picked up her skates properly and refastened the blade guard.
“Thanks for picking that up for me. I almost would’ve left without it.”
“It’s nothing. Not a big deal.”
Then a fact I’d forgotten came back to me.
I’d known about Cha Seo-hee’s existence since roughly last year.
Even though we went to the same school, her class was on the opposite side of campus, so we had no reason to cross paths.
Besides, she’d skipped the entrance ceremony entirely and been sent off to a Training Camp in Canada.
This was actually the first time we’d met in person.
“Are you heading to get your blades sharpened?”
“Yeah. It shouldn’t need much sharpening. I’ll have time to make it back.”
“Got it.”
So why was she still staring at me instead of going about her business?
Cha Seo-hee gazed at me intently, then said something unexpected.
“You did a Triple Lutz-Triple Loop yesterday, right?”
“Huh?”
“It was so impressive! You picked it up after the Novice season ended? You must have been short on practice time.”
Cha Seo-hee’s expression was oddly complex.
She looked like someone who’d just discovered something fascinating.
Before the regression, my brain—worn down by part-time jobs and social obligations—interpreted that look in a different way.
‘She’s saying I got lucky with a technique I don’t have Consistency with yet, and I’m showing off.’
‘Just calm down. She’s only fourteen years old.’
Overthinking this would only drain my mental energy for nothing.
I smiled.
“Thanks. I heard you do Triple Axel too. I hope the Training Camp was worth it for you.”
As it happened, there was a trend among senior skaters returning from overseas training camps around this time losing edge quality on their jumps.
But I had no idea whether she’d picked up on the implication.
“Yeah! We trained hard, so let’s do our best in Free Skating too.”
Cha Seo-hee broke into a wide smile and extended her hand.
She’d simply understood it straightforwardly.
I grinned and accepted the handshake instead of saying anything.
There was no need to make it awkward here, and I didn’t want to anyway.
Actually seeing her, she was far younger than I’d anticipated.
Engaging in mind games with a middle schooler who was only fourteen, even if it was Cha Seo-hee, felt a bit much.
In any case, Cha Seo-hee glided off toward the Equipment Management Room and disappeared.
When I returned to the Waiting Room, the Coach had already unpacked my things for me.
“That was Cha Seo-hee you were talking about earlier, wasn’t it? What did you two discuss?”
“She said to do our best.”
“Mm, I see.”
I finished the stretches I hadn’t completed earlier.
And as I did, old thoughts surfaced.
The Triple Axel.
That technique, mistakenly known under the title “Lee Yu-na’s Triple Axel.”
Ironically, there was a jinx: no Olympic Gold Medalist had ever emerged from among those who performed the Triple Axel.
But Cha Seo-hee had shattered that curse at the Olympics she competed in.
So even with just a freshly acquired Triple Axel, she’d have respectable quality.
Then what could stand against her Triple Lutz-Triple Loop combination and Triple Axel?
“Coach, should we tweak our composition a bit?”
“Hmm?”
The Coach’s expression grew serious as I explained.
“You sure you’re up to it physically? There’s a reason we don’t throw the harder jumps first.”
“I got a little ambitious, I guess.”
Apart from that earlier rivalry, I didn’t want to lose.
What I’d changed was the order of the jumps.
A small thing, maybe, but an important one.
“We’ve done the conditioning work. Let me watch the other skaters, and we can think it through together. This is about Cha Seo-hee, right?”
“Yes. Should we go over the choreography on the ground once?”
“Sure. Let’s adjust the strategy assuming she lands it clean.”
The Coach grinned.
“But here’s the deal—the moment you start to panic, you go straight into the combination.”
“Got it.”
“When did you get so hungry to win?”
“Ha.”
“All right, let’s divide and conquer.”
I parted ways with the Coach outside the Waiting Room.
As I stepped into the Open Space Behind the Ice Rink, a desolate landscape greeted me.
It was a hidden corner, just slightly off from where the skaters were clustered doing their ground warm-ups.
I plugged in my earbuds and started to dance to the music, but—wait.
I almost didn’t notice; there was someone else here.
A tall, lean man recognized me.
“…Kim Ha-seol?”
Choi Ji-hwan pulled out his earbuds.
For a moment I was startled, but I composed myself quickly.
The men’s singles event was before the women’s, after all.
My social self bowed its head reflexively.
“Hello. It’s been a while.”
“You’re out for warm-ups?”
“Yes. You were the last group, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
The final warm-up group for the men’s singles Free Skating… thirteen minutes away.
회귀자의 빙판은 금빛 20화
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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