The rest of the night shift went by in a haze.
Soon after, a cab pulled up at the junction of the street leading down to the red-bricked apartment complex Nick resided in.
Nick paid the cab driver and got down, opting to walk the rest of the way.
Past midnight, the moon was out, the sky was devoid of stars, and the streets were empty and cold. The few streetlights that worked were dim, and constantly made that annoying buzzing noise. Cars were parked here and there, while trash filled the corners of the roads. In the shadows, stray cats, dogs, and rats roamed about, giving other night crawlers like Nick a pause from time to time.
Calmly and cautiously, he walked up the hilly path as the cold, gentle winter breeze blew past him.
Halfway to his destination, Nick briefly halted, let out a deep sigh, and continued with slower pace, reveling in the serenity and tranquility of the night.
Nick was finally back at the apartment not long after. He sat down on the corner of his bed and rubbed his face, his eyes blankly gazing downward.
He didn't expect to open the Top Idol app and see that his v-points balance had increased—not tonight. This time, he had failed.
However, it was only 4 v-points; Nick could put that behind him.
What he was truly despondent about was who he was becoming. He was desperate, yes, but he didn't have to be so blinded by it.
Nick lowered his hand and raised his gaze.
'I failed the task and unlike myself, so what? It has already happened.' Nick forced a corner of his lips up and spoke with a bit of cheer, "Well, you win some, you lose some."
'Yeah, that's it. I've brooded long enough, it's time to move on. All I can hope for, for now, is that other pointers on the leaderboard fail at least a task and an optional task too.'
Nick wanted to believe the chances of others failing a few tasks in the next two weeks were high, so he thought about the task he had received earlier to draw up a possibility. However, he couldn't think of any reason to doubt the capabilities of strangers and was instead drawn to a different possibility.
'Hmm, in the future, I'm sure I will be given tasks like this. I can't afford to fail again. I guess I'll have to stop neglecting my looks and charisma attributes then. They are essential for more uncomfortable social tasks…' Nodding thoughtfully, Nick sought to learn from this failure instead of letting it break his spirit.
"Disgusting creep."
Nick's smile gradually faded as that phrase echoed in his mind.
He let out a heavy sigh while rubbing his temples, his displeasure still unquelled.
Just then, Nick's phone lit up with a notification from Top Idol.
Nick steadied his mind, raised the phone, and entered the app.
From the profile homepage, the three-line menu icon had a red '1' subscript, so he tapped on it. The red subscript indicated activity on the Marketplace tab.
Entering the tab, Nick's eyes widened, seeing the subscript settle on the chat icon at the bottom right of the screen.
'Someone has messaged me.' Nick didn't waste a breath and immediately viewed the message.
[Pointer9C1E: How does 180 v-points sound for "Location of Pandora's Box"? You won't find anyone with 300 v-points to spare here.]
Nick raised an eyebrow at this brief message, sensing the underlying subtext.
It was not news that this marketplace only had pointers of the Irregular class. He had priced the information at 300 v-points because it took a lot of time to earn (of course), but it also narrowed the buyers down to the Irregulars who were like veterans and more learned about Top Idol, serving as a proper deterrence to newer Irregulars.
Now, this individual was telling Nick he wouldn't be able to find anyone with 300 v-points to spare; however, Nick saw right through his ploy and quickly replied:
[Pointer4879: Do you have information on Pandora's Box?]
Nick waited for over thirty seconds, but there was no response yet. He scoffed.
This pointer had ignored his note in the description, which was meant to deter individuals without information on Pandora's Box, and went with the normal price as gospel, aiming to use it to set the bedrock of confusion in Nick's mind, allowing for easier manipulation.
'It first starts with doubt; he wants me to doubt the conditions I set, and then he will probably add something in addition to provide a sense of balance. Heh, I can't underestimate my fellow pointers,' Nick thought, amused.
At that moment, a reply came in.
[Pointer9C1E: I have a tier-3 consumable and tier-1 collectible I can offset that with. And I'll increase my offer to 200 v-points.]
Nick read the new message and a smile played on his lips.
"As expected," he muttered. "What a clever way of saying, 'No, I don't.'"
Nick had countered the pointer's attempt at misdirection with that question, and seeing that Nick had done that, he switched tactics and offered more.
Quickly, another message entered.
[Pointer9C1E: As I said, you won't find anyone willing to pay 300 v-points; most will offset the balance with something else.]
Nick sighed. To the inexperienced mind, they would start to feel unsure and begin to see this as an opportunity to earn a trove of v-points, a collectible, and even a tier-3 consumable.
He responded:
[Pointer4879: Sorry. I'm only going to deal with pointers who have the information I requested. Since you don't have it, our conversation has ended.]
The deal offered by the opposition wasn't bad per se, but Nick didn't just want the information on Pandora's Box; he needed it, meaning, he couldn't just fall for any compromise.
[Pointer9C1E: Wait! Tell you what, I'll make it 225 v-points, but I can't go any higher than that!]
Nick just shook his head and sent "Goodbye," before clicking the reject button at the beginning of the chat.
"He's right though. I won't get any better offers like this."
Nick clicked the boost option of his listing and spent the 2 v-points he earned today on it, raising the listing's number 201 to 45 in an instant. That was where it would be for the next 5 hours.
Moving a listing higher would cost more v-points per time. For example, a v-point lasted 2.5 hours for the 45th place, while the same amount would last only 1.5 hours on the 25th place, and 30 minutes for the 5th place.
It was late in the night, and that might not be a good time to advertise a product, but Nick didn't believe it mattered. There were different time zones all around the world, so it wasn't necessarily night for everybody.
The day had been long, in an attempt to think up a plan on what to do when Boss Falco returned, Nick didn't even know when he slept off.
…
The morning arrived quickly.
Nick twisted and rolled countless times under the sheets. He felt he hadn't slept enough, but then his brain unconsciously recalled what he was doing last night and groggily grabbed his phone.
Nick, with squinted eyes, entered the Top Idol app.
Suddenly, his eyes shot open, and he frantically rose from his bed.
And then, he rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing clearly.
Right there on his phone, the subscript beside the chat icon of the Marketplace tab was… '18'!