The Regressor's Ice Is Golden - Chapter 27

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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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027. The Scales of Three and Eight (1)

I’d heard she was diligent, but I never expected to see her out here at this hour.
For reference, it was currently five-thirty in the morning.
The sun was just beginning to rise.
“You came out to train?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Mm.”
Choi Ji-hwan didn’t reply further, just opened his Water Bottle and took a drink.
I set my bag down carelessly and glanced across the Training Ground.
Even so, there were quite a few people out at this hour.
Some were running in the distance.
“How many laps are you planning to do?”
“Not sure. Maybe I’ll do as many as you do?”
“Burning too much stamina before practice might not be ideal for you.”
But I didn’t press the matter further.
Once I finished my warm-up, the jogging Choi Ji-hwan started was unhurried.
The pace of someone holding back just enough for a long-distance run.
So despite what I’d said, it didn’t feel particularly taxing.
There was even enough breathing room to make conversation and break the awkwardness.
“How’s life at the Athletes’ Village treating you, senior?”
“Hmm?”
“Well, this is my first time here, but you’ve been here before, so…….”
Of course, I wasn’t really asking because I didn’t know—but the atmosphere was so awkward that this was about the only topic I could think to broach.
Somehow, every time I find myself alone with this senior, the mood turns into something like this…….
“It’s kind of like living as a hermit, I suppose. Not hard, just quiet.”
Oh.
I could feel his voice loosening up a bit.
Maybe it was because I’d mentioned something he was familiar with.
“Especially since this is an Intensive Training Camp. The whole schedule is set, so there’s no real need to worry about time management. The coaches handle whatever individual attention each athlete needs.”
“I see.”
“The food’s actually quite good too. Though athletes on strict diets don’t really have much reason to go to the dining hall.”
The soft explanation continued, punctuated by the rhythm of jogging footfalls—thud, thud, thud, thud.
“But junior, how are you getting along with your coach?”
“What?”
“Well, since we’re in an intensive camp, you get feedback from different coaches during practice.”
Choi Ji-hwan paused for a moment before speaking slowly.
“Our discipline is individual, so we have it easier than most. But sometimes when I watch the speed skaters or short-track training…….”
Ah, so that’s what this was about.
“They run things pretty ruthlessly? Strict discipline?”
…….
It wasn’t surprising.
Physical training fields had always passed down rigid discipline from one generation to the next.
Even if things had improved since the 2000s, the Athletes’ Village itself was such a closed-off space that one could never be sure.
The law of tyranny conservation applied to any place where people gathered.
“Don’t be startled if other coaches start shouting.”
With that, Choi Ji-hwan fell silent, and I didn’t press further.
Well, I was used to superiors barking down at their inferiors, so I’d be fine.
By now, the morning sun had climbed above the ridge of the hills.
The air was beginning to warm.

* * *

After waking early and finishing basic Stamina Training, there was Ground Training again following breakfast.
It was a session under the guidance of a specialist coach to develop necessary athletic qualities like Strength and Flexibility.
“We’ve designed your program around mat exercises, Kim Ha-seol, since preventing hip joint injuries is crucial for you. You can manage that, right?”
And so my training location was settled on a large Practice Room with mirrors lining one wall.
To be honest, Ground Training itself wasn’t much to speak of.
Since athletes from different disciplines trained together, there was a strong tendency for everyone to focus on their own work.
So it was during the morning ice practice that I truly felt the weight of Choi Ji-hwan’s words.
After each of us had completed our warm-up routines, the coaches gathered together.
“All right, everyone gather round.”
“Yes.”
A stern-looking middle-aged female coach pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
“For this morning, we’re putting jump practice on hold. No matter how spectacular a jump is, without solid Skating Technique fundamentals, you simply can’t execute it properly.”
As she spoke, another coach distributed paper and pens to each of us.
Every skater wrote down three Steps and Turns on their sheet, folded the paper twice, then returned it.
The slips of paper listing Step clusters went into the tissue box Coach Park was holding.
“You’ll draw one by one in order and practice your assigned element. Work for ten minutes, and the coaching staff will circulate to evaluate. Perform on both legs.”
“Come up and draw one at a time.”
The order of drawing was based on seniority, so the junior skaters with lower rankings went first.
The slip I drew when my turn came read like this.
[Connecting Loop—Tuck Toe—Twizzle]
“Hmm…….”
Not an easy start.
Who wrote this, anyway.
“All right then, take your positions and begin!”
The sound of ice scraping echoed across the rink from every direction.
Connecting Loop, Tuck Toe, Twizzle.
Taken individually, each element was manageable enough, but linking them together was another matter entirely.
At least the Tuck Toe in the middle was a blessing.
The change of foot gave me a brief moment to catch my breath.
After executing the sequence twice on both legs, I heard the scraping sound again—different now.
The coaches had paired off and were moving around the rink.
There was no point overthinking it.
Just focus on what I’m doing right now—
“Hey.”
……?
I turned my head without thinking.
A voice heavy with crushing pressure fell, and for a moment the entire rink went silent as if someone had dumped cold water across it.
That stern coach from earlier……, what was her name again, anyway.
“Lean deeper. I said deeper.”
Coach was standing in front of a junior girl who’d placed sixth in the preliminaries.
She tapped the girl’s boots with the long Pointing Rod as she spoke.
“Y-yes. Yes.”
“Your legs aren’t broken, so why are you holding yourself back like that? When you release tension in your legs, your arms just flail around like you’ve lost all control.”
……The atmosphere just turned chilling.
‘Ji-hwan wasn’t exaggerating, was he.’
I’d thought that even if Coach Park was on the lenient side, Ji-hwan’s coach was fairly exacting—but this was something else.
Compared to Coach Park, this woman was practically a saint.
One piece of feedback and she could turn the entire training atmosphere into a funeral.
Incidentally, this coach was a ruthless critic.
She didn’t cut any of us slack.
When she watched my Step sequence, for instance, this is what she said.
“Do you think you can just pound the ice with your Step like some kind of drum? Lighten your touch.”
She meant I should land more delicately when changing feet at the Tuck Toe.
“Why is your Twizzle trajectory like that? Your loop turn is passable, but when you’re spinning, do you ever actually think about what you’re doing? Your whole back is collapsing.”
She was saying I needed to pay closer attention to the trace I was carving into the ice.
Since a Twizzle is essentially a sequence of small loop turns, I needed to keep that in mind.
And there was also the feedback about keeping my spine upright.
I kept my eyes lowered and simply acknowledged each point meekly.
Fortunately, Coach finished her feedback there and moved on to the next skater.
The next person in line was Cha Seo-hee.
Listening in a bit, it seemed like she was about to get roasted just as badly.
‘I wonder if this harsh coaching method has been passed down through generations…….’
What amazes me is that despite speaking in such a crude, brusque manner, she somehow manages to coach effectively.
There’s a real risk that a skater could just take the criticism as a wound and never truly absorb it.
Of course, some athletes do need harsh words to snap them into focus, but still.
I caught a glimpse of Cha Seo-hee trembling and then returned my full attention to my own practice.
“What if you put more weight on your legs as you turn?”
“Keep the tension in your core all the way through. Don’t lose it.”
“Yes, yes.”
“That’s it.”
Thanks to Coach Park’s feedback, my ears were practically glowing.
The step practice ended around the time I’d nailed both feet clusters.
“Good work.”
“Thank you.”
I drained the water bottle Coach Park handed me and made my way to the Rink Side.
My knees throbbed with a dull ache.
I’d settled into the Athletes’ Village by now, but there was something I needed to check.
‘Status Window.’
A blue window materialized in the air immediately.

[Kim Ha-seol]
Age: 13 years old (Born February 27)
Height: 163cm
Weight: 46kg
Secondary Sexual Characteristics progression: 32%

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

[Biological Metronome] (D/Active)

Special notes: Reincarnator, unwavering determination
!Status Abnormality! Physical changes due to secondary sexual characteristics
[Points: 2]

There would still be points trickling in as I trained, but my earnings would soon blur past my account like water through cupped hands.
I had to compensate for the stats taking a hit, and I couldn’t rely solely on recurring quests—I had to juggle regular training too.
Even now, just looking at my current stats, Flexibility and Precision both had minus signs attached.
‘At least Artistry came with a plus.’
That stern coach might have a rough way of speaking, but his feedback was always dead-on.
“Hmm.”
“What are you thinking about?”
“How to maintain my level until the Grand Prix.”
“That’s thoughtful of you to consider.”
Coach Park took the water bottle and handed me the practice notebook.
“You were right about what you said before. You’ve grown taller, and lately your legs have been hurting too.”
“Should we focus more on non-jump technique?”
“And I’d like you to increase your ground training ratio a bit. There’s good equipment down in the Underground of Athletes’ Village that figure skaters can use—let’s make use of it.”
“Sure thing.”
“How are your knees feeling?”
Instead of answering, I plopped down on the bench.
Before, when my right knee would throb, it wouldn’t bear weight properly.
Now, apart from the muscle soreness, it wasn’t quite that bad.
“My thigh joint is pretty sore.”
“This is… ugh, taping is going to be difficult. Let’s prioritize the knee for now. Are you managing with Pilates?”
Coach Park clicked his tongue and rolled up my leggings.
He peeled away the tape wound around my bare skin and applied fresh tape.
“Now that I think about it, we should probably reorganize our jump configuration, Ha-seol.”
“Oh, right.”
“You gave me quite the shock at the qualifying round. You’ve got to live up to that.”
In about fifteen minutes, it would be jump training time.
The flower and highlight of figure skating!
For me, it was time to stabilize my consecutive jumps.
The coach finished taping and handed me a pencil.
“The Euler flip should go right after the Lutz, don’t you think?”
“Probably so.”
“Here, let’s look at the program we skated in the qualifier.”
He flipped back a page in the notebook.
The Free Skate Program we’d planned for the last qualifier looked like this:
[3Lz-3Lo, 3F, 3Lz-2T-2Lo, 3Lo / 2A-3T, 3S, 2A]
And here’s what we actually skated:
[2A, 2A-3T, 3S, 3Lo, / 3Lz-2T, 3F, 3Lz-1Eu-3F]
The triple Lutz in the second half, the single Euler, and then the triple Flip.
Going with the Salco might have been more stable, but back then I was fixated on chasing the higher point values.
‘But it worked out — I pulled it off, so it paid off.’
Being able to pack as many difficult jumps as the Judging Rule allows is a pretty valuable asset.
So today’s assignment from the coach was this:
“Land every jump except the triple Toe loop with a Connecting Loop and an Euler flip attached. If you make a mistake like last time, you’ll need somewhere to recover.”
“What should we start with?”
“The Connecting Loop.”
The coach grinned and took back the pencil and notebook.
“You can do it, yeah?”
Instead of answering, I smiled back at him.
I took off my Skates and stepped back onto the ice.
Calling up the Status Window in my mind.

[Points: 2]

I poured the remaining points straight into Precision without hesitation.
What mattered most in a Connecting Loop was how cleanly I could land the first jump.
“I’ll start with the Lutz.”
“Go ahead.”
I immediately began picking up speed down the ice.
The Reincarnator’s Rink — Episode 27
E-book Publication Date | June 5, 2026

Author | Korkaroli
Publisher | Heo Heung-beom, Park Gun-won
Publishing House | Potent

Address | [04783] 9F, 11-gil 8, Yeonmujang, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
Phone | 02-6320-8500
Fax | 02-6320-8585

UCI | G720:N+A101-20260514092.0027
List Price | 100 won

© Korkaroli 2026

This e-book is protected under copyright law as a copyrighted work.
This e-book is published under contract with the author and may not be reprinted, reproduced, distributed, or shared without the written consent of both parties.

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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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