I drifted into sleep. Into an almost surreal place, and I suddenly found myself standing in a spacious room. It wasn’t mine, but it felt familiar. Just then, I saw myself, Jun, but he was much younger, in the hands of an old lady. She aided him in walking and placed him in front of the window.

The old lady sighed. “Just stay here, I don’t even know why the lady adopted such a child. For sure, these rich people think differently”, she muttered, leaving the room without another glance.

Jun didn’t even bother to look back and kept staring outside the window. I wondered what he was so fascinated about that he didn’t bother about anything else. I found myself frowning—was this what the previous Jun was like? So blank? It looked like he didn’t have a soul but just an empty vessel.

Just then, the younger Jun looked at me. Sending a shiver down my spine, could he see me? This was getting creepy.

But what happened next was even more peculiar, he dropped to his knees and bowed to me, his forehead touching the ground. “The owner has arrived; my work has been completed,” he said in a monotone voice. Then he completely vanished, carried away by the wind.

I suddenly snapped awake, my breath ragged and a cold sweat clinging to my skin. My head throbbed as certain images flashed in my mind. I swiped my hands through my hair, confused as to what was happening. I saw that clearly, right? It wasn’t a delusion. I scoffed, to think such a miracle could occur maybe that stat of 7 in luck was helping me.

I couldn’t help but smile; this body was now mine completely. But I wonder why Jun called me, the owner. Was it because I’d taken over the body? I sighed, nothing in this world was simple.

But on the bright side, I could be the perfect Jun, and deceiving everyone would be too easy. I just had to act blank and be quiet like him. The previous Jun was an orphan who was adopted by the mother of Takeshi.

Takeshi and Jun also didn’t get along because Jun never said a word after coming to the villa. He just sat there like a doll, staring at the Tower every chance he got. But I remember a moment when Takeshi said he didn’t like Jun because he looked like a woman and not like a man.

But Takeshi wasn’t aware that Jun slept next to his father, comforting him as a kid. Jun was really like a doll he didn’t react to anything whenever Takeshi’s father touched him. He was soulless.

Then, the third wave of monsters arrived, which shattered Takeshi’s family. Even though it was a large clan filled with martial artists. The adopted mother decided to send Jun to the newly made pavilion in the slums in the disguise of a woman to stay hidden to attend to the customers. And Takeshi was sent to the Training Towers to become a soldier. This was a decision made by the whole family as they knew Jun was blind and would serve no purpose at the Tower. Additionally, every family was required to draft a child to the Training Tower for the better of the empire.

If Jun was a soulless being and he suddenly started talking back, it would be a bit strange. I just have to remain quiet; it’s not so bad. Easier than I thought…

But the problem is the individual who made me the courtesan I am today. I have to be on the lookout for the individual.

“Jun-sama, let’s get you ready,” the maid entered the room.

I turned to look toward the door and realized I was blind again. Great, this was going to take a while to get used to.

I sighed and forced myself through the whole routine again. It was frustrating to know that the time loop could start again if I failed. I would die if the regressor died…if the regressor was starting from the beginning of the Tower, he would be at the tutorial very soon.

I had to make sure to arrive at the same time when Yu Daewon was summoned for the tutorial. For that, I need to train with these new skills for a while and resolve everything here as quickly as possible.

But what kind of world would the regressor start from now, since the novel's 19th regression was not written about? This might be a variable created because of me.

While in thought, I had arrived at the stage again. I started leaping and turning instinctively. I will never do this again, mark my words! I internally fought as I smiled effortlessly.

A few minutes went by, and the routine finally came to an end. I could finally sigh in relief; then, I was guided off the stage with the help of my maid. “Thank you,” I muttered quietly to the maid.

I could feel the grip of her hands tighten on my shoulders. I wonder why? I saw this maid in the memories she was always taking care of Jun as a child when he was abandoned; she chose to leave with him. She was extremely loyal.

I could make use of her, I thought, returning her smile.

“Master Jun, your usual patron, has arrived to meet with you. He’s waiting in the private room”, she said, clearing her throat.

Usual patron, huh? But the words that came out next truly caught my attention. “He’s the one that comes to play chess with you, Master. He’s the strange one from all the patrons; I think he just comes to pass his time”, she continued.

I nodded. “Lead the way”, I said.

We continued towards the private room, but I continued to prob the maid for information if she’d know anything about the clients Jun had been meeting with. “Can you tell me about all the clients I’ve met? My memories are a bit blurry”, I asked softly.

“Yes, Master,” the maid replied. “You’ve had three usual customers, but one was permanently banned from here after injuring you. The Pavilion Master also approved of this. The second one always came to play board games with you; he must’ve admired your wisdom, and the third one came here for…pleasure. But I know that Master Jun hasn’t gone all the way with him otherwise, your identity would’ve been revealed”.

A lot of toys were visiting Jun, weren’t they, I thought, smirking. But the meek Jun wouldn’t have retaliated if anything happened to him. All of them are suspects.

You can only become a high-ranking courtesan if one of the clients is someone of high nobility or someone who holds influence.

“We have arrived, Jun-sama,” the maid announced as we reached the door. She guided my hand to the doorknob, opened the door, and then led me to a seat in the room. “I’ll be leaving now, please call me if you need anything, Jun-sama,” she said, leaving the room.

“You’ve come. I thought you might not show up after what happened with Shiro. He’s one of my men, so I apologize for that”, a raspy voice said sincerely.

The voice sends shivers throughout my body. This man must be the sponsor of this body, my intuition says so. I could hear the man shifting in his seat and the noises of the sword on his back.

“It’s alright,” I said meekly. Ah, I realized that Shiro was the other client I often saw, the one who always lusted at me. But this man made my instincts flare; I knew he was dangerous, and from the memories, I remembered his name was Ryuji. Since Jun couldn’t see, I don’t recall how he looked.

“You spoke!” Ryuji said, a bit taken aback.

I tilted my head, feigning confusion. “Is something wrong?”.

“It’s nothing,” Ryuji replied dismissively. “You don’t often speak whenever I call for you before.”

“Well then,” I continued, a faint smile on my lips, “shall we begin?” I gestured, pointing at the chessboard laid out in front of me, the pieces already set in their starting positions.

“Yes,” Ryuji agreed eagerly. “Don’t mind if I go all out like last time.”

“But before we do. How about a bet?” I interrupted. It wouldn’t hurt to make the game a bit fun.

“What kind of a bet?” Ryuji asked, intrigued.

“You will have to help me out when I’m in need. Just once”, I said.

“…Fine”, Ryuji agreed faster than I thought.

It’s been a while since I’ve played chess, it’s indeed a good game. Since I couldn’t see, it put me at a disadvantage, but I just had to visualize the board in my mind. But the game wasn’t about how I played my pieces but about how Ryuji was going to play them, how he controlled them and exploited my weaknesses.

The game began, and Ryuji's opening moves were aggressive, direct, and forceful. “Pawn to E4”, he muttered with confidence.

I listened carefully and made my next move. “Pawn to E5”, I responded.

“Knight to F3”, Ryuji continued.

“Knight to C6”, I countered smoothly, processing the positions of the pieces in my mind.

“Bishop to C4”, he said.

“Bishop to C5”, I replied.

I knew my strategy was working. I know better, so I didn’t confront him but lured him into a trap, waiting for him to fall for it each time.

As the game progressed, I could sense the man’s confidence growing. He probably thought he had the upper hand, but he was only seeing what I wanted him to see. “Rook to E1”, Ryuji said.

I paused for a moment, and considering my options, I moved my next piece. “Queen to H4”, I said confidently.

A moment of silence followed.

“Checkmate”, I said calmly.