The Regressor's Ice Is Golden - Chapter 39

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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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039.

I was dragged off the ice before I could process what was happening, staring down at my legs in bewilderment.
The searing pain that had shot through me the moment I landed.
But this now……, there’s something I don’t understand.
“It’s the left side that’s the problem, right?”
“Yes.”
The coach removed my left skate and rolled up my leggings.
Left, left.
‘Not the right……?’
Usually, between both legs, the right one tends to suffer more.
It’s the landing leg for jumps, and in my case, it bears even more strain because of the Connected Loop.
More than that, even.
“Alright, I’m going to press here, and if it hurts, I want you to yell out loud. Let’s start with the knee.”
“…….”
“No? Then the sole of your foot.”
“Ow!”
It wasn’t even the knee that had been bothering me from growing pains.
The coach furrowed her brow and began massaging my foot.
“Ah, this looks like Plantar Fasciitis. Don’t worry, it’s a common injury—some Taping and physical therapy should do it.”
“Where……?”
“We have the company now, don’t we.”
“Oh, right!”
Cha Jin-hee blinked and clapped her hands together.
But the discomfort on her face didn’t fade.
She didn’t even sit beside me, just hovered awkwardly, gauging my reaction.
And for good reason.
“Aren’t the two of you supposed to be leaving the country in a few days?”
“Right.”
The Grand Prix Final’s sixth leg in Japan was in four days.
We were scheduled to leave tomorrow around lunch.
Which meant I had at most two days—today included—to figure out a solution.
I might have to compete with this pain still lingering.
And if that happened, qualifying for the Grand Prix Final could become difficult.
I clicked my tongue and pulled Cha Jin-hee down beside me.
“Don’t worry. I’ve been dealing with growing pains for months now. This is nothing.”
“Still…….”
“If it comes down to it, so what.”
I interlaced my fingers and rested my chin in my hands.
“I’ll just have to lower my Composition if I need to.”
I opened my status window in my peripheral vision for a moment.

Strength: C+
Precision: C

No Debuffs or status anomalies in particular—just stats that had dropped. If this was a genuine injury that occurred naturally, I could simply get treatment and farm points to restore them.
What mattered was applying them where they counted.
The silver lining was that my right leg—the one that had to land the jumps—was still in decent condition.
I could keep the Connected Loop as is, or swap it out with the Triple Lutz to aim for higher base points.
After the coach finished her call with management, she returned.
“They want to see you at the herbal clinic tomorrow after school. Just in case, let’s consider using a Composition from the Education Board Tournament.”
“Understood.”
While we were murmuring over the iPad, Cha Jin-hee said hardly a word.
The way she hadn’t sat down and kept watching for my reaction earlier said it all.
I could tell she thought the injury was somehow her fault.
‘If I place, I’ll use this for the Gala Show anyway.’
I’m not fragile enough to fall apart over a Gala Show choreography.
After the Taping was done, I focused on drilling just the choreography and Non-jumping Elements before heading home.
“Are you really going to be okay……?”
“Oh, it’s fine.”
I’d thought everything would be okay as long as we made it until I dropped Cha Jin-hee off near her house and we got back.

“Huh? Ha-seol, why’s your leg like that?”
“Wait, Kim Ha-seol got injured?”
The trouble started the next morning when I went to school.
Some kid in my class saw the taping on my leg and jumped to conclusions on his own.
Thanks to that, the rumor swelled as it passed from mouth to mouth among the middle schoolers until it reached here.
‘Kim Ha-seol suffered a serious injury!’
So every single person I vaguely knew made a point of asking me about it whenever they passed by.
“Where does it hurt?”
“You’re competing, right? You okay?”
“Can you still do jumps?”
I just smiled faintly and slipped away without saying a word.
I was grateful I wasn’t using crutches.
If I had been, I’d probably have drawn real attention, and someone might’ve grabbed them as a joke and never given them back…
‘I want to go home.’
Thankfully, Park Ji-ho came by during break and chased the others away.
“Oh! Ji-ho!”
“Hey, don’t do that to someone who’s hurt! Can we borrow Ha-seol for a bit?”
Right after first period ended, I was led by Park Ji-ho’s hand to get a canned drink from the vending machine.
His friends looked at me curiously, but they didn’t pry or ask me anything like some people would.
Did a one-year age gap really make that much of a difference?
“Um, but what did you need from me?”
“Oh, you just looked like you were in a tight spot, so I thought I’d pull you out. You did the same thing for Cha Jin-hee, didn’t you?”
So that’s where he got the reference.
Park Ji-ho stuffed a few thousand-won bills into my pocket and made a half-joking remark.
“Go buy something else with her later, you two.”
“Ugh, Park Ji-ho, you’re such a guy.”
“This bastard, seriously.”
“What! Shouldn’t you all be looking after her?”
Still, watching them banter like that, they were unmistakably middle schoolers through and through.
I smiled faintly and glanced at the wall clock.
“Thank you. Do I have your permission to stop bothering you now?”
“Oh right, see you later!”
Park Ji-ho and his group headed back to their floor, chattering noisily again.
I crushed the empty can and returned to the classroom.
I appreciated the concern, but if a popular second-year kept coming to the first-year classroom, who knew what rumors might start spreading.
And given my title, it could put him in an awkward position too.
‘When should I eat lunch?’
So I had no choice but to wait quietly until the morning classes ended.
Starting just before the fourth period ended, the kids began pulling their feet away from their desks.
Then came the chime signaling break time.
“Waaaaagh!”
I watched the middle schoolers scatter like a pack of wild dogs, then slowly made my way to the cafeteria.
And there I spotted Cha Jin-hee, moving in exactly the same way I was.
“Your… your leg okay?”
“Yeah.”
Just seeing her face made it feel like I could breathe again.
“I really missed you, Jin-hee. I really did.”
“Um, yeah… Let’s go. Today’s menu is jjajangbap.”
We got in line, received our food, and sat down at a suitable spot.
Cha Jin-hee sighed and began mixing her rice.
“Your foot… is it really okay?”
“Why do you keep asking? Did I look that fragile to you?”
“No, that’s not it…”
I placed a piece of kimchi on my rice without much enthusiasm.
“After coming to school, my leg actually feels better than I thought. If things go well, I think I could stick with my original routine…”
But if you look at me like that, I’m going to feel guilty for reassuring you.
“Be careful. If something goes wrong, it’ll be really serious. I retired from a foot injury… though honestly, it was because of my parents that I retired in the first place—”
“What? You two are eating here?”
Without warning, someone suddenly sat down in the empty seat beside us.
Not that we’d invited her, or ever would.
Cha Seo-hee grinned and picked up a spoon.
“I’m a little hurt, you know? You’ve been eating together in secret this whole time? What were you two talking about?”
“Come on…”
“We’ve been eating together since first semester.”
I interrupted Cha Jin-hee before her expression could darken any further.
“You were in Canada back then, so you weren’t here. You don’t think we were avoiding you on purpose, do you?”
“No, I mean—I thought you two were having fun without me.”
Then Cha Seo-hee’s attention shifted back to her twin.
“Jin-hee, couldn’t you choreograph a Gala Show routine for me too?”
“What?”
“You made a Short routine for her, right? A Gala Show would be easier, so…”
While the twins launched into their one-sided conversation, I discreetly worked my spoon and shoved rice into my mouth as quickly as possible.
At this point, the only sensible move was to finish eating and escape.
Cha Jin-hee caught my eye and gave a subtle nod—we were executing our exit strategy.
Just as Cha Seo-hee’s attention swung back toward me, Cha Jin-hee quickly grabbed her spoon.
“But your ankle—is it okay? Aren’t loop jumps going to be hard? Shouldn’t you lower your Composition?”
“Don’t worry. It’s not the left ankle itself that’s the problem, just the joint. Your knees take just as much punishment doing Triple Axels.”
“Come on, I always land light and clean! With the Loop, you have to manage your Edge properly. If you’re going to skate figure skating for the long haul, lowering your Composition really would be the smart move, wouldn’t it?”
“I appreciate the concern, but I’m pretty sure I’m not at the point where I need to lower my Composition. You’re the one doing high-difficulty jumps, so you need to take better care of yourself.”
In the middle of this tedious back-and-forth, Cha Jin-hee managed to finish her meal on schedule.
Without anyone saying it explicitly, we both stood up with our trays.
“Well then, see you in Japan. We’ve got to run.”
“Wait, hold on!”
We slipped away at a brisk pace and headed toward the school courtyard.
Now that I thought about it, I’d almost forgotten—there was something in the pocket of my gym clothes.
I pulled it out: crumpled thousand-won bills that Park Ji-ho must have slipped in.
I smoothed out all the wrinkles carefully.
“Park Ji-ho said to grab a drink from the vending machine.”
“Oh, okay.”
“I’m not planning to drink anything anyway, so you take it.”
I handed the straightened bills to Cha Jin-hee and collapsed onto the ground.
A cool breeze drifted through the shade where the midday sun couldn’t reach.
“You’ve been staring at my ankle this whole time. It’s not that serious.”
“Still…”
“Don’t blame it on your choreography.”
But Cha Jin-hee’s expression remained troubled.
“I have some responsibility in this too. When we were at the Athlete’s Village, I was so focused on my right side that I neglected the left.”
“…”
“So I’d really appreciate it if you’d stop worrying like the world is ending.”
“Don’t say things like that either.”
…?
I turned to find Cha Jin-hee folding the bills glumly in her hands.
“Even so, just because you’re focusing on your Short Composition and Non-jumping Elements now…”
Then she stood up and washed her face with cold water.
“Honestly, I’m still worried. Sometimes I think you believe I’m some kind of scatterbrain who doesn’t understand what’s going on.”
Ah.
I looked away.
“…I’m sorry about that.”
“That’s enough.”
I had nothing left to say, but I wasn’t ready to go back to class either.
So we simply sat there a while longer in the breeze.
The afternoon was cool without being cold—perfectly gentle and refreshing.
After that, I spent the rest of the afternoon avoiding all attention and counting down to dismissal.

“Here we go—this’ll sting.”
“Mm.”
Thin needles pricked steadily into my foot, illuminated by the red glow of Infrared Light.
I lay in bed and photographed it, then sent a message to one person.
The recipient was Choi Ji-hwan.
[How have you been, senior? Thanks to your introduction, I’ve been getting some management support from the agency. The diagnosis of Plantar Fasciitis was correct, and it’s not a serious injury, so it should heal soon. I’m reaching out to express my gratitude and hope to see you soon.]
After sending that, I napped while Infrared Light was applied to my acupunctured foot.
The call came as I was heading to the Comprehensive Sports Complex after treatment.
“Hello?”
“How have you been, junior?”
“Well, thanks to you.”
“Mm.”
Hearing the pause in his voice, it seemed he was pleased with himself for doing something good.
I decided to ask a question first.
“It seems like I should’ve been the one calling you. Is something the matter?”
“Ah… Well, the thing is.”
He was building up to something—
“It’s not exactly good news……”
……he said.
What kind of not-so-good news would Choi Ji-hwan bother calling a junior acquaintance to relay?
“First… well, I can’t stay on the line long. Let me just say this.”
Coach Park was glancing sideways at me from next to me, gauging the situation.
“It seems they’ve been scouting you from their side. We call it being ‘marked,’ usually.”
“……”
“I called during your busy time because—”
“No, it’s fine. I have time to take your call, senior.”
This kind of thing is definitely better said over the phone.
“So who marked me?”
“Well… you know? Purple Company.”
A very familiar company name flowed from his lips.
The one Cha Seo-hee is signed with, the one that had approached me with a scouting offer.
I gazed out the window of the car, my eyes narrowing.
회귀자의 빙판은 금빛 39화
전자책 출간일 | 2026.06.05

지은이 | 코르카롤리
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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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