11

"How do you know him?" John asked.

"Questions, questions, questions!" she said exasperatingly, rolling her big, purple eyes, "I do jobs and missions for him from time to time. Helps me make some points on the side."

"Yeah? What kind of jobs and missions do you do for him?" inquired John, curiously. At this, Ashley became a little uncomfortable.

"You know, a little of this and that. You'll see, I heard that Gudo has something exceptional in store for me. A special mission, which usually means a lot of points! If you help me, I'll give you a decent cut, John," she said, turning her head and putting a big smile on her face. This reassurance cheered him up.

"Okay, one last question, I promise. Why is it called the black market?" John inquired, wishing to learn more about the various establishments in the Tower of Mastery.

"Oh, that's just because of the discord with the outside world. You know, the Tower has a lot of power independent of the outside world. So, the black market sells weapons and drugs to countries where they are illegal. The black market has got its name from the disapproval of the world's governments," said Ashley, as if she was telling John something terribly normal and obvious. But it made John very nervous and skeptical. Why was Ashley taking him to a place shrouded in controversy, involved in smuggling with countries from John's world? Suddenly, he wasn't too sure about this visitation, but…his spirit-card was utterly empty, and his cash balance was not outstanding. Moreover, Ashley was his only contact, so far, in the colossal Tower; it would be unwise to sever ties with her. Musing over these facts, John flinched, when Ashley exclaimed, "we're here!"

Up ahead loomed a high-rise building whose façade dominated the sky. Cobblestoned space surrounded the base of the enormous building, with guards prowling all the corners. For John, who lived in a developed country and had seen many skyscrapers, the black-market building was somewhere between grandness and fanciness. But one thing was sure, the establishment was definitely powerful from the looks of the place. The atmosphere was suffused with authority, clearly indicating that this was not the place to mess around and that loiterers were unwelcome. On their way to the entrance, John saw that the guards were armed and dressed in fine tuxedos, crisp and ironed without any creases. They wore black sunglasses and slowly rotated their heads to keep everything in sight.

Entering the black market, John saw the marble floor stretching to cover a large area. Hoisted in the middle was a fluorescent board that said:

"Mission Assignment, House Auctioning Tickets, and Membership Request Registration."

A woman dressed in a maid's attire walked up to them, holding a circular tray with a few glasses on it. A paper umbrella and a slice of lemon decorated the drink as she offered one to John and Ashley, welcoming them to the black market. In fact, several counters and shops were lining the area, and everywhere, the serving was done by women in the same maid's clothes. After drinking the complimentary drinks, they explored the area…which had a lobby, a restaurant, and a bar. John noted to have lunch there if it wasn't too expensive. Roaming around, John found the girls in maid clothes everywhere he went. Finally, Ashley guided him to the first floor's most essential part, the two large boards on the wall opposite the building entrance. On the first board were listed the available missions, along with the cost of the assignment. Adjacent to the two boards was a counter with a long queue of people. The second board had rows listing out the names of missions and people assigned to those missions. John's heart sank as he looked over the first board carefully. The tasks cost money or points that John did not have. The range of prizes was from one to three points. As he was worrying over this, Ashley raised her hand, waved it, and called out.

"Mr. Gudo, over here."

Near the mission-assignment board was a man standing. He turned his head upon Ashley's summons. Immediately, John knew he was Mr. Gudo, the director of the Black Market. His appearance, exuding an aura of power and a commanding personality, clearly showed that he was the one who ran things around this place. He also wore a tuxedo, like the guards outside the vast building. But unlike the others, his suit was a mixture of black and white rather than just black. His bow-tie, pants, and shoes were black. But the rest of his tuxedo was white. Moreover, it was clearly woven out of the highest quality fabric. In John's world, only the wealthiest people could have afforded the suit that Mr. Gudo wore.

He must have been in his thirties. His face was thin and clean-shaved; he had high cheekbones and a strong jaw-line. With just one look at his eyes, it could be told that he had seen the world at its darkest, for his eyes shone with particular malice, a cunning intelligence that dared you to cross or offend him in any way. John found him a bit intimidating. But then he remembered what Ashley had told him. Mr. Gudo was a good man as long as you did his bidding and earned him money. So, all John had to focus on was doing the mission to make his points.

As he caught sight of Ashley, Mr. Gudo came over to them and smiled to reveal his flashing teeth.

"Ashley! Boy, am I glad to see you!" he exclaimed.

"Really?" she said, furrowing her eyebrows. Mr. Gudo emitted a burst of high-pitched laughter.

"Of course, dear girl! You know how…" but Mr. Gudo was interrupted by a voluntary cough from Ashley, who turned over to John.

"Mr. Gudo, there is someone I would like you to meet. This is John, he joined the Tower community yesterday."

Mr. Gudo gave John a casual look as he shook his hand.

"Pleased to meet you, John. Welcome to the Tower of Mastery and the Black Market," said Mr. Gudo by way of greeting.

"Thank you, Mr. Gudo."

"You know," began Ashley, "John here was awarded three points upon his registration yesterday!"

"What!" exclaimed Mr. Gudo, whose eyes began to bulge. He whipped back his head at John, carefully studying his face. John, on the other hand, was confused as to why Ashley would lie to Mr. Gudo. She had said three points when he had, in fact, been awarded five points.

"Yes! I saw it with my own eyes, Mr. Gudo," said Ashley.

"How very extraordinary! You must be something special, John," said Mr. Gudo, looking keenly at John, who didn't know what to say, shy and awkward as he was. All he did was to smile back modestly. But he kept wondering what Mr. Gudo's reaction would be if Ashley had told him the truth.

"He is, Mr. Gudo. That is why I brought him here because he is already out of points. We were looking around so that we can get a mission to…" said Ashley, but she was interrupted by Mr. Gudo.

"Oh, dear Ashley, forget about these small tasks," he said, wiping his hand at the board.