Nick, still holding his phone up, walked to his small dining table, took out the chair, and sat down.
He clicked the notification and was led into the Top Idol app, specifically the Leaderboard tab.
[Leaderboard]
E-Chart Biweekly Rankings:
#1. Pointer4879 — 4 v-points.
#2. Pointer6F7N — 0 v-points.
#3. Pointer5692 — 0 v-points.
#4. Pointer7A9J — 0 v-points.
~
Daily v-points earned: 4.
Your rank: #1 (of 100).
Time left: 13 days, 21 hours.
"Oh… wow," Nick muttered unenthused, finding the entire thing a bit anticlimactic seeing that he was only ranked first because others hadn't gotten their tasks for the day.
It was the first few hours of February, and that was simply why the leaderboard was empty.
'Hmm.' Nick rubbed his chin and scrutinized the Leaderboard tab interface, briefly swiping down to see other pointers with the repeated zero v-points balance.
A slight curl formed at the corner of his lips. "At least, not only my alias sucks"
At the top right corner of the interface, to the left of the E-Chart Biweekly Rankings write-up, there was an icon of three trophies of gold, silver, and bronze, arranged on a winners' podium. Of course, Nick clicked it.
[Prizes]
1st Place: Gold Trophy & Mystery Box (Purple Neon).
2nd Place: Silver Trophy & Mystery Box (Blue).
3rd Place: Bronze Trophy & Red Packet.
Nick raised an eyebrow at this. 'Mystery Boxes? If they're above the Red Packet, does that mean they could give more cash?'
He rubbed his chin and unconsciously licked his lips. "It could be."
'This is another way for me to make money. If I can get either first or second place, I might be lucky enough to get enough cash to clear the debt installment; at least, if not everything, then quite a considerable amount,' Nick thought.
He got up from where he sat and walked into his bedroom while muttering as he stared at the prizes, "But now I'll need more than three days since it's biweekly. And there's the chance that it won't give me money but something else instead.
"It's risky but I can try. After all, all I have to do is complete the daily tasks."
Nick nodded, thankful that he convinced himself to perform today's daily task to hurt one of Boss Falco's men.
At the time, he didn't even realize it was a new month, nor did he know anything about what the leaderboard could offer. But now he was enlightened, and surely, so were other pointers too. The competition was going to be fierce!
"The optional tasks should be what breaks even between pointers." Nick made a bold guess. "Meaning, I just have to make sure I complete the optional tasks I'm given along with the daily tasks… within the next two weeks, at least."
Nick added at last phrase because he remembered the optional task of yesterday that made him strip for Johan and his friends. Certain optional tasks were going to be hard, but he had to just endure for two weeks so he could get a mystery box.
Having decided, Nick fell on his bed tiredly and faced ahead, staring blankly into the darkness.
'How can I make Boss Falco postpone the payment again? He'll kill me if I ask for more time…'
Nick racked his head, but he couldn't think of an answer at the moment. He still didn't know what he would do when Boss Falco returned a few days from now.
Though, for the meantime, Nick had a strong feeling Boss Falco wouldn't attempt any other stunt after his goons failed to capture him. Because the sly bastard was smart and cunning, he would surely act based on the tiny chance that Nick spilled the tea of his near-kidnap to the police or some friends. And if it was so, then the police would know who to look for when Nick suddenly went missing just a day or two after sharing the story.
Therefore, Nick had time, even though it was for a short two days. And with Top Idol, time was all he needed.
Outside the possibility of winning the leaderboard prizes, Nick had to make other arrangements.
And speaking of which, he went over to his gallery to check the photo he took of the vending machine.
Suddenly, his eyes widened and he immediately sat up from his bed.
The corner of his eyes twitched and his eyebrows gradually furrowed into a frown.
Looking right back at him on his phone screen was a glitched and broken image with scrambled pixels.
Nick remembered he only clicked the camera shutter once, regretting he hadn't taken more than one photo, and sighed.
"Though, I doubt the outcome will be any different," he voiced out tiredly. For something kept in such a remote place, guarded by the mysterious Mr. Stranger, surely there was no way he would let it get photographed and possibly shared.
Nick fell back on his bed and spread his arms, staring at the dark ceiling.
He thought back to the vending machine—where instead of a transparent glass showing a preview of the items sold within—the face of the machine was covered by a pink universe with the portrait of the retro-design, pop art lady with golden-curled hair in a short-sleeve blush dress and pearl jewelry on her ears, neck, and wrist.
Same as the lady he saw when he first opened the Top Idol app, she had defined eyebrows and striking blue eyes. However, they differed in clothing and the bright, red-lipped smile and pose she held on the face of the vending machine.
Nick remembered that above her, was the dark pink stylized title that was shown brightest: "Pandora's Box."
There was also a numbers dial pad that had 12 numbers arranged in a two-by-six grid.
"There is no way it accepts normal coins. Maybe v-points? But there was a coin slot too, so there's no way for that… right?" Nick considered asking on the marketplace but decided such an action needed deeper thought.
If knowledge of the Pandora's Box vending machine wasn't a common phenomenon in the Top Idol hemisphere, then Nick's knowledge of its location would be incredibly valuable… and sought after.
'If it's like that… then I can trade its location for information on how to use it and a sizable amount of v-points!'
…
[Rule #6: Pointers must not intentionally harm or engage in combat with each other outside an official match setting supervised by an admin. Minor scuffles or accidental contact may be excused, but any intentional physical harm will result in immediate disqualification.]