The Regressor's Ice Is Golden - Chapter 56

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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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056.

The next day: women’s singles junior Free Skating.
Aside from the Gala Show and Awards Ceremony, this was the last main event of the competition.
I breathed in the air of the Ice Rink slowly.
It was especially dry and cool.
The same air every skater would inhale today, just as they had yesterday.
The announcement for Group 3 warm-up echoed through the building.
Six skaters glided onto the ice together and began skating.
“Already taking it off?”
“Yes.”
Whether it was a human brain or a machine’s, things worked better when cold.
I stripped off my jersey and blade guards together, handed them to Coach Park, and headed out.
The red hem of my skirt fluttered in the breeze.
Today’s Free Skate layout wasn’t as demanding as the Grand Prix.
It was the original composition I’d designed before landing the Triple Lutz-Triple Loop—lighter by today’s standards.
In worldly terms, a recovery program.
‘Alright, let’s go.’
After yesterday’s Short Program disaster, I’d decided not to expect a perfect Clean run today.
Combining what Lee Ji-soo and Choi Ji-hwan had told me, the message boiled down to this: don’t get caught in your head—find your composure.
Focus only on your current condition and the technical layout you’ve brought to the ice.
My toes and the soles of my feet control the skate edges.
My calves and knees support the landing of jumps and the rotation axis of spins.
My thighs and hips grasp my center of gravity as I glide.
My spine, shoulders, arms, and hands express the grace of posture and choreography.
The ice quality was better than yesterday.
Since we were Group 3, they’d just resurfaced and we started right away—the ice was much cleaner.
I seized the openings and began working through the crucial jumps one by one.
Triple Lutz into Triple Toe Loop, followed by Double Toe Loop and Double Loop.
The Flying Sit Spin I’d botched yesterday.
“Your conditioning looks good. Just watch that you don’t bend forward at the waist.”
“Got it.”
When warm-up ended, all the skaters except me left the ice.
I set down the water I’d sipped and pressed my clasped hands against my forehead.
Coach Park wrapped his hands around mine.
“Nothing’s decided yet. Just do what you can, that’s all.”
With a soft kiss, warm-up was over.
“I’m going.”
“You got this.”
The announcer introduced the competitor as scattered cheers rang out.
I stood in the center and took my starting position.
The grand orchestra from the opera Turandot swelled through the air—a sound I knew by heart now.
My body fell into the choreography I’d practiced countless times without thinking.
What I needed now was sensation.
Something I’d cultivated for years and would never stop refining.
The blade cuts through ice—whisper, whisper—then suddenly I’m gliding backward, reversing.
My outside edge deepens like a brush stroke in calligraphy, and at just the right moment, my toe pick strikes.
Into the Triple Lutz—
‘One more!’
Snap—my left toe pick came down again, spinning me into the next rotation.
Triple Toe Loop!
My blade landed a touch early, kicking up shards of ice.
I must have been short on rotations.
But the music kept flowing, and the choreography moved on.
Entry via Mohawk Turn—Triple Flip!
“Wow!”
A clean landing brought the crowd’s energy roaring back.
And then came the timing for one more flight into the air.
I drove my upper body into a hard rotation, using the recoil to kick both my right and left legs back up.
A Flying Sit Spin entered in a difficult form.
To meet the spin level requirement, I counted eight rotations, changed position, and spun three more.
Then I extended my leg outward and altered my position once more.
Three more rotations like this, and when I released the spin, the Level 4 Flying Sit Spin was complete.
‘Done.’
I smiled faintly and danced steadily through the first half choreography.
I landed the remaining jumps that followed.
A solo Triple Loop, and then a Triple Salchow.
The Loop I’d always been confident with, and the Salchow is an easier jump anyway—
Crash!
“…….”
Well, there it was.
I pulled my aching body up and scrambled to my feet.
No matter what, since my comeback I’d never landed a clean Salchow.
And so the first half dragged to its end, and the second half performance began.
Once more I put weight on my skate blades and picked up speed.
This altitude is high, the air pressure is low, and breathing comes fast here.
Could I manage a combination jump placed in the second half in a place like this?
That would be determined by the Choreography Sequence I was about to perform.
The choreography, marked by grand arm movements, merged with rapid skating.
In story, it was a scene of a prince and princess debating a riddle.
A tale of a prince determined to solve the puzzle and win her favor by any means, and a princess kept awake by thoughts of him.
The ice I was carving through felt unusually narrow.
I leaped, spun in circles, and hurled my arms and legs through the air.
Burning away the reason to worry about what remained, leaving only sensation.
So that from the second half onward, no one could watch while murmuring anything.
I caught a glimpse of someone standing beyond the barrier.
Coach Park had his breath held, his fists clenched tight.
The next element was a combination jump I hadn’t practiced in a long time.
I turned around once more and took my takeoff position.
Triple Lutz, Double Toe Loop, Double Loop!
‘Oh.’
As I landed the Double Loop and came down, my left blade scraped the ice with a faint sound.
With that, the final Loop became a two-foot landing.
It would be so natural that anyone not watching closely would miss it.
But because of that, the performance didn’t break.
From then on, I dispatched the remaining elements as though I’d never stumbled at all.
Double Axel, Triple Toe Loop.
The final Toe Loop’s rotation count is subtle, but actually better than the opening jump.
Coach Park, too, wasn’t thinking of anything—he was simply counting my rotations along with me.
Change Foot Combination Spin.
‘One, two, three…….’
Position change, three rotations; foot change in the middle, three more rotations.
And then the final jump element: Double Axel.
The program ended with a Layback Spin to finish.
I slowly released the foot that had been arched back above my head, unwinding the rotation.
Matching the music’s end with my finishing pose marked the end of the skate.
Roooaar!
A wave of cheers crashed into the Ice Rink.
I bowed slowly to the judges and audience.
Coach Park stood waiting by the barrier with blade guards and a jersey in hand.
“Well done.”
“Yes.”
A light embrace, I had the blade guards put on, then walked and sat down.
As always.
The whole time I sat in the Kiss and Cry, the coach watched my expression.
“You okay?”
“Yes, well…….”
I quietly watched the next skater enter the ice.
“I still can’t believe that was an actual competition.”
“It’s been pretty tough these past two days.”
Coach Park draped my jersey over my shoulders and handed me a tissue.
Shortly after, the scoreboard displayed the Free Skate results.
[114.87]
My total was 169.05, putting me provisionally in third place.
With two more groups of skaters still to compete, I’d likely slip out of medal placement.
“Thank you.”
We left the Kiss and Cry and made our way back to the waiting room at an unhurried pace.
There was no need to wait for the awards ceremony.
I’d be off the podium anyway.
The silence held while I changed clothes and packed my things.
There wasn’t much to say, and frankly, I couldn’t have said it even if there were.
But I didn’t feel particularly wronged by it either.
I got what I earned, nothing more.
“……shall we go.”
“Yeah.”
There was no reason to linger here any longer.
The detailed score sheets would be posted after all the competition ended today.
I could check them slowly back at the accommodation.
So I thought I’d just slip out of the Ice Rink quietly—or so I assumed.
I hadn’t expected anyone to have come all this way to watch the competition.
“Oh, Kim Ha-seol!”
Clear, native Korean—called out across continents and seas.
I spun around reflexively to find someone with a camera staring at me with wide eyes.
“Yes? Me?”
“Wow, I never thought I’d run into you here. You worked hard today.”
The person with the camera smiled sheepishly.
But that smile made it instantly recognizable.
So—from that Superintendent’s Cup competition.
“……Were you the one holding a baby back then?”
“Yeah, that’s right! You remembered!”
“My goodness. You came all the way here to watch the competition?”
Coach Park stepped forward gallantly with his own words of sympathy.
“I mean, airfare alone must have cost a fortune……!”
And realizing something was missing, he asked carefully.
“But what about the baby? Did you come alone?”
“My husband said he’d watch the baby, so I came right away, haha. But I was also asked to do something. Could I get your email address?”
“Oh, just a moment. Should I take a photo of it from your phone?”
I took the phone and photographed the email while asking.
“But what do you need the email for?”
“To send you the photos I took today.”
……!
“Photos?”
“Oh, I’m actually a photographer……. I decided to put my skills to use in my hobby. I’d have preferred to send them through your agency, but I’m glad I could meet you in person.”
So she had filmed me during my run-through, warm-up, and actual performance, and wanted to send me those materials.
“Is it really okay to use them like that?”
“That’s what I took them for, isn’t it?”
Anyway, I learned from her how to properly credit the source,
and heard all sorts of other fascinating stories.
She told me how she would edit the photos beautifully and share them on SNS, and sometimes even turn them into photo cards and merchandise.
She explained that these items would be distributed near the competition venues during domestic competitions.
In short: a home master.
‘I thought only idols had fans like that.’
Though honestly, when there are people who check off zoo attendance just to photograph pandas, you can’t really say figure skaters wouldn’t have them either.
But it seemed odd that someone who did this would attach themselves to someone like me.
……Especially after the way my performances these past two days had gone.
But before I knew it, I was signing the thick sheet of paper she’d offered.
She took back her phone and the paper, smiling warmly.
“I enjoyed watching your performance today. The way you skate with such seriousness is always beautiful to see.”
“Oh, really?”
For some reason, it was hard to meet her eyes.
“But today is a little—.”
“No, it’s separate from the medal.”
She pulled a candy and an envelope from her pocket and handed them to me.
“You’re only in your first year anyway. How could anyone be at their best every single time? But even so, I can see that you always give your absolute best.”
I slowly reached out and took the candy and the envelope.
“Since it’s over now, get some proper rest before you head back to Korea. You’re competing in the President’s Cup, right?”
“Yes? Yes.”
“Great! I’ll bring some other people to watch it then. Fighting.”
The woman with the camera waved goodbye gently, as if encouraging me to recover, and walked away.
I waved back, feeling a bit dazed.
“So she came all this way just to chat with me for fifteen minutes and give me this…….”
“Yeah, see? There are people like that out there, so cheer up. You know you’re good at what you do.”
Coach Park draped an arm around my shoulders roughly.
“Oof, that’s heavy.”
“That’s what I’m going for. We can open it when we get back. From the looks of it, it seems like a fan letter.”
Now that I thought about it, I’d been too overwhelmed keeping up with everything to look closely, but the envelope was quite charming and beautifully decorated.
Behind the envelope, sealed prettily with stickers, was written in round, bubbly handwriting:
[Kim Ha-seol ☆]
“……Let’s read it when we get back.”
“Yeah.”
We began making our way quietly back to the accommodation.
Something that had been weighing on me seemed to lift away.
My final placement that day was ninth.
The Returnee’s Ice—Golden 56
E-book Publication Date | 2026.06.05

Author | Korcarolli
Publishers | Heo Heung-beom, Park Geon-won
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ⓒ Korcarolli 2026

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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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