The Regressor's Ice Is Golden - Chapter 70

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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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070.

The Layback Spin was level four.
And the Triple Salchow Jump came out clean.
The final combination spin was……, level three.
The broadcast didn’t show real-time scoring details on screen.
Still, knowing what I could, I managed to follow along.
As the skater took her final pose, applause rippled from the speakers.
{Yes, that was the performance by Cha Seo-hee.}
{She executed her opening Triple Axel cleanly today. Even though one of the combination jumps in the middle broke, she handled it with composure.}
“Wow, she’s really good.”
Cha Jin-hee clapped along with Park Ji-ho’s friends, though without much enthusiasm.
It was clearly an apparent clean, so why did it feel so solemn—no, I didn’t understand. I simply didn’t know.
The skater on screen sat in the Kiss and Cry, smiling awkwardly.
Her total score was 207.88.
Subtracting the short program score, her Free Skating alone came to 138.71 points.
She’d already lost points on the Step Sequence level, so the component score seemed a bit generous.
“You okay?”
Park Ji-ho handed her an unopened bottle of water.
Cha Jin-hee took it without answering and drank it quickly.
“I don’t know. She’s up next.”
“Right.”
The next skater was already appearing on screen.
The real purpose of today’s gathering.
A skater with her hands pressed together to her forehead, and her coach wrapping those hands and kissing them.
Then the skater immediately stepped out onto the ice.
{Next up is our skater. From Songol Middle School, Kim Ha-seol.}
“Oh, it’s her?”
“That short hair is pretty. It’s striking.”
At the girls’ comment, both boys turned their heads at once.
“Oh, it really is. So you made that?”
“Looks like a traditional hanbok.”
“No, it’s more Chinese-inspired.”
“Come on, really. Go, Kim Ha-seol!”
Park Ji-ho waved his fist energetically, trying to lift the mood.
Meanwhile, the skater moved to the center of the ice.
A medley from the opera Turandot.
Cha Jin-hee twisted the cap back on her water bottle and quietly clasped her hands together.
Three seconds of silence stretched like an eternity before the music began.
Then the grand orchestral music flowed out, and the choreography unfolded.
The skater built up her speed, preparing for the jump.
{Now, the first. This is the important jump.}
At those words, everyone in the room held their breath.
The skater, having turned and set her position, immediately drove her blade downward and launched into the air.
{Triple Lutz, Triple Loop! Clean!}
“Ooh, that’s fantastic.”
“She could land it that smoothly?”
“Wait, that’s really hard, right?”
While Park Ji-ho joked around, the skater prepared for her next jump.
A Triple Flip entering through a Mohawk Turn!
“She does that really beautifully too.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
Cha Jin-hee watched the screen in silence.
And the skater threw herself into the air.
A Flying Camel Spin entering through a difficult setup.
It was choreography I already knew.
It was a layout and technique I’d seen before—the only addition was a Step Sequence to comply with senior rules.
Whether or not I’d designed it myself, the same went for Cha Seo-hee’s program.
And yet, there was something that made me focus on this skater’s movements with particular intensity.
After finishing the spin, there were two solo jumps ahead.
A Triple Lutz and a Triple Toe Loop, respectively.
No matter how she thought about it, the latter seemed too good to leave out on its own, but what could be done.
Including it in a three-jump combination would strain Kim Ha-seol’s stamina too much.
And then came the Step Sequence.
Along with the fluid upper-body choreography, all manner of curves traced themselves across the ice.
‘…If she did a Mohawk turn there…’
Wouldn’t it be prettier if she swung her arm like this?
It was only after that thought crossed her mind that Cha Jin-hee realized something.
In truth, she’d left the Free Skate choreography revision for the president’s cup rankings and the national championship entirely in Coach Park’s hands.
With midterms approaching and performance evaluations keeping her busy, she simply hadn’t had time to visit the Ice Rink.
But watching it now, she felt like she might die from regret.
‘I could have done it…!’
Of course, the performance evaluations were important, but seeing what she’d missed made her irritated.
Of course, Coach Park respected her academics and had genuinely given her the opportunity.
Yet childish spite crept into her heart regardless.
If only he’d encouraged her a bit more, she thought.
In any case, after the Step Sequence ended, another crucial jump came.
{Yes, the first jump of the second half.}
The skater, having spun backward with a Mohawk Turn, launched upward while striking the right toe pick.
{Triple Flip, Single Euler, Triple Salchow!}
The skater on screen executed the three-jump combination cleanly, but most of the viewers seemed bewildered.
“Wait? Wasn’t that a mistake?”
“It’s a connecting element.”
“That’s strange. It looked like a mistake.”
{The original follow-up jump was also a Flip, but she performed it excellently even as a more stable Salchow Jump.}
Cha Jin-hee shrugged and glanced around the room.
Now that she thought about it, she’d been so focused on the TV that she hadn’t noticed everyone watching intently at the screen.
They looked much more at ease than Cha Jin-hee, but by the standards of laypeople unfamiliar with figure skating, their concentration was remarkable.
For the easier combination jump in the second half: Double Axel into Double Toe Loop.
The skater, bounding lightly like a butterfly, immediately began another spin.
A Change Foot Combination Spin.
While instinctively counting rotations and checking level components, Cha Jin-hee began growing increasingly anxious.
The program was nearing its end.
And after the spin came the Choreography Sequence.
Beginning with a Lunge, stretching her legs back and folding forward, the skater danced across the entire rink.
Following the grand orchestral music, a sweeping choreography flowed into the skating—breathtakingly seamless.
Then came the Ina Bauer tracing a long arc, and at its end, a Double Axel.
{Yes, all the final jump elements have been completed.}
“Wow….”
Behind someone’s exclamation, the skater performed her final Layback Spin.
The skater, who had been executing a Biellmann Spin through to her head, released from the rotation.
The music reached its climax and concluded with a finishing pose.
All Clean.
“Wow….”
“She really skates well.”
Only then did the middle schoolers gathered in the room begin clapping and talking over each other.
For what it was worth, Park Ji-ho was preening in the midst of it all.
His shoulders were practically about to pierce through the ceiling….
“Look, look at that. The outfit is so cool, the skater just looks like she’s flying, see that, see that.”
“Dude, you sound like some middle-aged guy.”
“Senior, how have you two been friends this whole time?”
“Ha ha ha ha….”
Cha Jin-hee turned her gaze awkwardly back to the screen, laughing.
Just then, a replay was beginning to air with commentary.
{Now, look here. Triple Lutz, and Triple Loop.}
{The connected Triple Loop requires a perfect landing on the previous jump to be attempted—because of that, it’s prone to under-rotation or falls. Yet she’s always performing such difficult combinations beautifully.}
{Yes, indeed. We can expect high Bonus Points this time as well.}
The moment to check the scores was drawing near.
Soon the TV screen showed the skater and coach sitting side by side in the Kiss and Cry.
Kim Ha-seol clutched the Owl Doll and waved with a sheepish smile.
“All right, now for the scores.”
At Park Ji-ho’s words, everyone fell silent, holding their breath.
“What score does she need?”
“I’m not sure. The Short Program score was already solid, but she performed really well this time too.”
Before she could finish, the broadcast continued.
{And now, the scores are being announced.}
{143.43 points! Her total is 212.74 points, securing a provisional first place.}
The skater on screen beamed and nodded in acknowledgment.
The middle schoolers in the room broke into applause all at once.
“Wow, first place!”
“Woohoo!”
“That’s amazing. She’s Jin-hee’s friend, right?”
“Yes! That’s right!”
“Pretty cool, huh? We totally put in the work for that.”
While Park Ji-ho was bragging, someone suddenly turned to Cha Jin-hee.
“So that means gold?”
“There’s still one skater left, so it’s only provisional first place. Silver’s confirmed at least.”
“Wow! Silver medal!”
“Give her a hand!”
Another round of cheers and applause filled the room.
“Man, that was great. Just like Yuna.”
The room gradually settled into a lull.
Some people went to the bathroom, others ordered new drinks or bought snacks.
But Cha Jin-hee hadn’t turned off the TV yet.
There was still one more skater she needed to watch.
{Now, the final skater. This is Lee Ji-soo of South Korea.}
{Yes. She’s built her career as the first star of the Yuna Kids Generation.}
Lee Ji-soo’s performance was flawless too.
No fallen jumps, impeccable spin levels, and excellent choreography and skating technique.
By just a fraction of a point, she claimed gold in this competition.
Only then could Cha Jin-hee finally release her tension.
“Ah, it’s all over.”
Park Ji-ho stretched with exaggerated relief.
“Is everything eaten?”
“I spilled some here. Can I get a wet tissue?”
“Tell her congratulations on the silver!”
The room was tidied up in an instant.
The middle schoolers headed to their next destination after leaving the Private Room Cafe, but Cha Jin-hee split off from the group.
She was going to the Reading Room.
“See you later!”
After seeing Park Ji-ho off, Cha Jin-hee made a call right away.
The recipient was obvious.
“Hello?”
“Congratulations on the silver medal.”
“Thanks.”
Kim Ha-seol replied with an awkward laugh.
“There’s no gala show, so it’ll probably be late by the time I get back inside.”
“I’ll see you at school tomorrow. Good work.”
“Thanks. You’re heading off to study, right?”
As if they’d made an agreement, neither of them mentioned the bronze medalist.
Well, why should they?
No matter how deep the blood tie, what good was it if you weren’t close like family?
‘And all because of someone.’
Cha Jin-hee chatted with Kim Ha-seol a bit more, exchanged some playful remarks, then hung up.
For some reason, she found herself smiling.

***

“Then be careful getting inside.”
I lowered the phone, the call already disconnected.
Silver on my first competition as a junior skater in my first year.
With this, I’m one step closer to securing the National Team Quota for next season.
But that’s not the only thing that matters here.
“Hah…….”
I sighed and navigated to the Ice Skating Association website.
Even if the awards ceremony hadn’t happened yet, the competition itself had ended quite some time ago.
The Protocol should already be posted.

[※Required Condition Challenge]
[Achieve minimum +4 Grade of Execution Bonus Points on one Combination Jump]

There were three combination jumps in this Free Skate.
I just needed one of them to score Grade of Execution 4 or higher.
If I clear this, I can synthesize the Special Ability and unlock one more slot.
My hands trembled as I fumbled with the phone.
A PDF file was posted in the website’s notice tab.
[20XX National Men’s and Women’s Figure Skating Championship Ranking Tournament Day 4 Results.zip]
I tapped the file to download it and unzipped the archive.
I opened the first women’s singles PDF among the English-language files.
The Protocol for the skaters, written in English, appeared on the screen.
I gripped the phone tightly and closed my eyes.
‘Please please please please.’
Most of the other skaters had either gone home or left the waiting area.
Even though I’m alone in this room, why is my heart pounding so hard?
I opened my eyes, rattling off the names of every deity I knew.
The Regression’s Rink is Golden Chapter 70
E-book Release Date | 2026.06.05

Author | Corcaroli
Publisher | Heo Heung-beom, Park Geon-won
Publishing House | Potent

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Phone | 02-6320-8500
Fax | 02-6320-8585

UCI | G720:N+A101-20260514092.0070
List Price | 100 Won

ⓒ Corcaroli 2026

This e-book is a copyrighted work protected by copyright law.
This e-book has been published under a contract with the author and is prohibited from being reprinted, copied, distributed, or shared without written consent from 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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