The Regressor's Ice Is Golden - Chapter 47

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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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047.

“What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
Cha Jin-hee reached for a tissue, looking a decade older and weathered. Her face was soaked from crying.
The tears had left their mark everywhere.
Fortunately, neither of them had been escorted out, though the receptionist at the information desk was giving them decidedly suspicious looks.
Either way.
“How many skaters are left?”
“Including Cha Seo-hee… four. She’s provisionally in sixth.”
On the screen, the third competitor’s program was entering its second half.
Vivian Megreze from the United States.
Park Ji-ho watched the performance with a grimace.
{Triple Flip. Clean execution.}
She was a skilled skater, but right now Park Ji-ho could only feel petty resentment.
“I wish she’d fall…”
“That won’t happen.”
Cha Jin-hee was right. The American skater surpassed Kim Ha-seol’s score.
Total points: 189.43. Second place.
Kim Ha-seol dropped to third.
And then.
{And now, another skater—the one we’ve been waiting for. South Korea’s Cha Seo-hee!}
The skater on screen forced a smile, but despite her bright costume, her expression was dark.
Tension radiated from her.
Small wonder—the three competitors immediately before her had all executed clean programs with flawless precision.
If Cha Seo-hee wanted to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, she’d need to outperform every single one of them, no matter what.
So Cha Jin-hee simply set her bag down between her legs and said nothing.
She couldn’t cheer. She couldn’t curse.
She just put the headset back on, folded her arms, and stared at the screen.
Park Ji-ho, aware of the weight pressing down on them both, didn’t speak either.
The skater took her opening position at center ice.
{She earned 65.95 in the Short Program—a respectable score.}
{Yes. And at the third Grand Prix event in Azerbaijan last season, she won the silver medal. South Korea’s Cha Seo-hee.}
{The music is from the film Magpie and Cat OST.}
A bright, playful melody filled the rink.
Korean percussion and wind instruments led an orchestral arrangement.
The skater began with composed choreography, gradually building speed from the opening movements.
She was preparing for her first jump.
The Triple Axel—the most difficult jump in the triple family.
Having prepared the transition, Cha Seo-hee planted her left foot and drove her right leg powerfully into the air.
Whoosh!
“She… she landed it.”
“No.”
Unable to contain her anxiety, Cha Jin-hee bit her lip.
‘She didn’t get enough rotation.’
It had been a split second, but it was unmistakable.
At minimum: Under Rotated.
A red mark appeared on the scoreboard.
The skater’s face went sheet-white, but the program wasn’t over yet.
{And here comes another crucial jump.}
Cha Seo-hee turned, tilted her edge sharply, and launched into the takeoff.
{Triple Lutz—though she was supposed to have a connecting jump after this.}
Park Ji-ho turned to look at Cha Jin-hee.
“Hey, is she…?”
Cha Jin-hee just nodded without answering.
‘Her head’s completely gone.’
The audio was already garbage, the ice wasn’t great either, and she’d clearly felt deep down that her Triple Axel rotation was short. Now her mental composure was cracking apart.
One Spin alone had dropped so far that it fell to Level 3, losing a grade entirely.
She’d barely landed the standalone Triple Flip and Salchow in the opening section, and even those weren’t earning the base points they normally would.
Despite four crucial jumps still waiting in the second half.
That dancing star in the night
shines for our darkness
watch us dancing here below
there’s no reason to give up, is there?
Yet beneath the bright melody and encouraging lyrics, Cha Seo-hee’s expression betrayed no ease.
She performed the Choreography Sequence with all she had left.
Swift, flaunting flexibility—the Spiral.
The next element was one of the second half’s critical jumps.
Triple Flip paired with a Double Axel combination.
She sprang upward with a light pop, landing the Flip cleanly enough.
But from the first Double Axel that followed, her body wavered.
{Another Double Axel—she’s holding it together.}
Having barely managed to stick the landing, Cha Seo-hee pushed her speed higher still.
{The athlete appears to be running low on energy now, but we hope she finishes strong.}
Yet Cha Jin-hee sensed it immediately.
Only two more jump attempts remained in the second half.
Since she hadn’t been able to attach a Triple Toe Loop to the earlier Triple Lutz, both would have to be landed as combination jumps.
{Another combination, then—Triple Loop, Double Toe Loop. She’s holding on.}
The years of watching as family had taught her to trust that instinct.
Cha Seo-hee would not land the Triple Toe Loop.
And indeed.
{Final jump—Triple Lutz, Triple Toe Loop, and—…}
That instinct became reality.
Though she somehow spun through the rotation, Cha Seo-hee ultimately fell hard, unable to complete the Triple Toe Loop.
Yet the final element—the Spin—still had to be performed.
Take all the world’s applause in our hands
and lay it in your night and mine
this fleeting moment, unbroken even by eternity!
All elements were complete. The music ended.
The audience erupted in applause as the athlete took her closing pose.
It was tinged with uncertainty and concern.
{Yes, that was Cha Seo-hee from South Korea.}
{Her opening Triple Axel showed insufficient rotation, and the performance began to falter from there. Ultimately, the Triple Toe Loop combination ended in a fall, bringing her performance to a close.}
Cha Seo-hee came off the ice and collapsed into her coach’s arms, shoulders trembling.
With that, the broadcast cut to a replay of the jump in question.
In the interim, Park Ji-ho noticed the shift and texted quickly.
[Why’d the Triple Axel come up red?]
[Not enough rotation. Should’ve re-done it.]
Cha Jin-hee watched the replay with a heavy heart.
Her right leg launched into the air, three and a half rotations.
But when her right Skate Blade touched down on the ice, it was angled slightly away from the direction she’d taken off.
It was as if she’d needed to land facing twelve o’clock but instead landed facing five.
Though she hadn’t fallen, depending on the judges’ assessment, it might well have been marked a Downgrade instead.
When the replay ended, the camera cut to the athlete and coach sitting in the Kiss and Cry.
Cha Seo-hee’s eye makeup had smudged and run, while her coach was busily pulling tissues from a box.
It was clear she’d taken the botched program hard.
When Cha Seo-hee’s Free Skating score was announced, it was… devastating.
[121.08]
Her total score came to 187.03.
For reference, Kim Ha-seol’s total was 187.12.
Cha Jin-hee let out a long sigh and uncrossed her arms.
“She’s fallen behind.”
“The deduction is brutal…….”
Though in fact, considering there was a one-point Penalty, the deduction wasn’t as steep as it might have been.
The Program Components Score total looked rather high—they’d clearly tried to salvage what they could.
If just one of the Technical Elements had scored slightly higher, she might have edged out Kim Ha-seol.
Nevertheless, Kim Ha-seol had won.
By 0.09 points.
The exact opposite of the qualifying round.
Park Ji-ho blinked and pulled off his headset.
“Wait, so what does that mean……, how does this work out?”
“There are two skaters left right now. Since it’s the final group, it won’t be easy, so if they’re saying they’re going to count both of these two.”
Cha Jin-hee blinked quietly.
“At least for Cha Seo-hee, the Grand Prix Final is going to be difficult.”
If only the medal from Azerbaijan had been gold, there might have been a chance.
But with seven more competitions still to come, the odds of results favoring Cha Seo-hee were low.
In any case, once the final two skaters finished their performances, their rankings solidified at third and fourth place respectively.
Cha Jin-hee nodded quietly and began gathering her things.
“Let’s go.”
Park Ji-ho, who had been clapping silently, opened his eyes wide.
“You’re not watching the medal ceremony?”
“It’s fine, the broadcast station will upload the whole thing later.”
Now that she thought about it, the timing was cutting it pretty close.
Time for Cha Jin-hee to get to the academy.
The empty library felt desolate, stripped of all vitality.
The desk clerk gave them a sidelong glance before stifling a yawn.
The two of them left the library in silence, not uttering a single word as they walked.
It would be more accurate to say they couldn’t.
Cha Jin-hee was troubled, and Park Ji-ho was reading the mood.
‘I don’t want to go home.’
The moment Cha Jin-hee sat down on the bus, she rested her head against the window without strength.
Her own blood relative had lost to the skater she’d choreographed.
She knew it was possible, but now that it was actually happening, it weighed heavily on her.
“……Are you okay?”
Park Ji-ho ventured to speak.
Something hot rose up inside her, and she wiped her face with a dry hand.
Crying without tears.
“I don’t know.”
She couldn’t even tell if this was sadness or joy.
Of course, Cha Jin-hee had only choreographed the Short Program, and it wasn’t we who competed.
If it were Kim Ha-seol and Coach Park, they would have gratitude for standing on the Podium because of it.
When the season ends, skaters wanting Cha Jin-hee’s choreography might reach out to her.
But someone would surely say that Cha Jin-hee had beaten her sister.
Like her parents, for instance.
She was afraid of that uncertainty, afraid both to go to the academy and to go home.

Park Ji-ho rode partway with Cha Jin-hee and dropped her off at the academy.
Then he bought a bottle of water at the convenience store and drank it.
His chest felt just as heavy.
‘Things turned out well for us.’
But looking at that troubled face, he couldn’t say it out loud.
Still, he decided to do what he had to do.
The situation was worth celebrating no matter what!
Today, he would just take on Cha Jin-hee’s part for her.
Park Ji-ho picked up his phone and started texting.
Sure enough, just as Cha Jin-hee had said, the medal ceremony video was already up on YouTube.
He grabbed the thumbnail and posted it to his SNS story.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Medal congrats!!]
He sent a text to Coach Park and himself.
Since she won a medal, there would definitely be interviews!
“Well then.”
Back on the bus heading home, Park Ji-ho alternated his gaze between the calendar and clock on his phone.
Tomorrow there would be the Gala Show, and the day after that the team would be flying home.

***

We made our way back to the accommodation quickly and efficiently as soon as all the interviews were done.
I was planning to return the Skate Blade that Chizuru had lent me after tomorrow’s Gala Show, and right now…….
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
I obediently extended my leg and picked up my phone.
The moment the tension released, the pain I’d been ignoring came flooding back, hot and sharp.
Only then could I truly grasp it.
The weight of the Bronze Medal still hanging around my neck.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s just…….”
Coach Park blinked and looked up at me.
Looking into those eyes, finding the right words felt impossibly difficult.
So my answer came only after a stretch of silence.
“It’s strange, now that it’s actually happened. I wanted this so badly, and we worked hard enough to deserve this result. But I don’t know how to describe it.”
I finally just collapsed onto the bed.
Reading the text Park Ji-ho had sent only made my confusion worse.
Coach Park didn’t press further and finished removing the rest of the tape.
“That’s how people are. When you suddenly gain something you thought you could never have, you get scared out of nowhere. And the same goes the other way—when you suddenly lose something you thought was yours.”
“Is that perhaps…….”
“If you understand, save your words. It’s just between us.”
Of course.
But living a separate life, I knew every word was true.
Someday, when placing at competitions became routine for me, maybe I’d panic if I didn’t make the Podium.
This medal was precious precisely because I’d thought I might never have it.
Perhaps something to be savored only in this moment.
Coach Park rolled up the torn tape and tossed it into the trash.
“All right, go wash up and get some sleep. You’ve got the Gala Show tomorrow.”
And so the 6th round of the Junior Grand Prix was drawing to a close.
A Skater’s Return: Golden Ice Chapter 47
E-book Release Date | June 5, 2026

Author | Korkarolli
Publisher | Heo Heung-beom, Park Gun-won
Published by | Poten

Address | [04783] 10F, 11-8 Yeonmujang-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Phone | +82-2-6320-8500
Fax | +82-2-6320-8585

UCI | G720:N+A101-20260514092.0047
Price | 100 won

© Korkarolli 2026

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

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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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