"Haah." Mark sighed and swirled the tumbler in his left hand. The glass was half filled with rich grape wine. He stared down at the city from his vantage point in the skyscraper, so high that he could see many smaller high-rise buildings below.
"They probably still have my possible respawn locations under watch," he said, then sighed again.
It was now about four months since the whole ordeal. In this time he had not logged into Terrium Nexus even once. He remained completely within the hotel as well, not stepping out even a single time. He harbored suspicions that they must have learned his appearance by now. If they had, it was not safe to walk around in the open. At least not yet.
"But I'm already bored out of my mind," he groaned.
He spun around and walked toward the white, oddly shaped table that was the centerpiece of the huge living room. Three white couches surrounded it: one long three-seater and two smaller ones, along with a netted chair. He walked toward the three-seater where his laptop sat. He picked it up and placed it on his lap. The moment he opened it, the screen turned on, resuming from hibernation.
"Where's that damned controller again?" he muttered, looking around.
"Here," he heard.
He looked back to find a black-haired girl with amber eyes walking up with a white controller in hand.
"You again?" he asked with a frown.
"Yes, me," she grinned.
The girl also wore a bathrobe, one shorter than his and seemingly intentionally so.
"Wait, how do you keep having access to this room? I already told you to leave, didn't I?" he said.
She rolled her eyes, then sat on the netted chair across from him and crossed her legs.
"That again? You clearly know why,"
Being stuck in this building for three whole months alone made him bored out of his mind and extremely reckless. That was why the moment he received the hotel's VIP privilege offer, he indulged in it right away. It was all for the novelty of it, just to have some fun. Well, he did have his fun alright. Just that when he woke up, he found her going through his phone. That was when he realized he fucked up.
"You don't have to keep using that excuse. I already said I canceled the plan. I don't need a refund. You can have the money for all I care. Just get out of here," he said.
She made herself even more comfortable on the chair.
"Calm down, Mark," she said with a mischievous grin, which pissed him off even more. "You know you can't get rid of me even if you wanted to."
Mark stared at her for a while, then placed his laptop to the side and interlocked his fingers, moving to sit upright.
"Name your price," he said. His eyes were cold.
"What?" She tilted her head in what appeared to be confusion.
"Name your price. That's what you are after, right? Money. So name your price," he spoke calmly.
She unfolded her legs.
"You can't afford me."
"Yeah, and here you are. Let's not drag this out anymore. All I want is your silence, and for you to leave me be. So name your price," he said.
She stared at him for a long while, then stood up. She walked over to a mini wine cellar in the far corner where she picked up a light blue wine with the name "Venus" on it.
"One billion," she suddenly spoke.
Mark frowned. "What?"
"One billion dollars. That's what is being offered to anyone with information on Endless," she said, sauntering back with elegant sways of her hips.
"What? You have got to be kidding me." With widened eyes, Mark stared at her in disbelief.
He had only made roughly ten million, and they were offering one billion to find him. Why? Was it because of the damn book?
"So?" She smiled, now sitting beside him on the three-seater. "Do you still think you can pay me?"
Mark stayed silent in deep thought.
She stared at him for a while, then brought out a phone that was obviously hers. With a few scrolls and taps, a page opened on a browser, which she showed him.
"Three of the biggest guilds in all of Starfall are on the hunt for you, each offering enough money to make even a brother betray his brother," she said, showing him the article. After that she pulled it away from his view. After a while she shared her screen once again. "This is just one of my many accounts. I think this should make it clear. You can't afford me," she said, showing him the balance of her bank account.
"A hundred and fifty million? This is impossible. If you have that much paper, then what the fuck are you doing here?"
It was now that he finally grasped the severity of this situation. Apparently the one-night stand he paid for turned out to be filthy rich.
She took a sip of her drink, her ring and index finger between the thin stem of the tumbler from which she swirled the blue wine.
"What am I doing here?" she asked, then laughed. "Well, I own this hotel. That's why," she answered.
He stumbled and fell off the couch, his shock growing by the second. This whole thing was a complete mess.
"That's impossible," he said, now realizing that her being here that night might not be a complete coincidence.
"Look, at this point I gain absolutely nothing from lying to you. I already know who you are, and just how much you even have, so why would I bother lying?"
Mark sent a hand through his hair, then looked at her sternly.
"I paid for company, and you showed up. Why?" he asked, realizing that panicking at this point was just stupid. If she wanted to expose him, she would have done that long ago.
"Oh, is that why you don't believe me?" Her eyes widened slightly and she nodded. "You probably think I'm some slut, huh?," she said, then crossed her legs again.
Mark remained silent, waiting for her reply.
"The thing is, this hotel doesn't give any VIP privilege nonsense."
"What?"
"Yes, you were intentionally given that offer," she added.
"What? So you were watching me all along?" he asked with widened eyes.
"I was, actually. From the first day I saw and recognized you. This whole setup was just to get a closer look and confirm if it's really you. You were alone for a whole three months. I know how the mind of a hormone-driven youth works. There was no way you wouldn't entertain the idea of satisfying your desires if you could afford it. Not that you even got to, anyway." She laughed.
"So nothing happened after all," he squinted his eyes.
"Come on, you didn't think I would just sleep with anyone, did you?" she grinned.
He remained silent for a while, then walked backward until he was leaning against the glass wall.
"Why did you do all this? What do you want from me?" he asked, staring straight at her.
"As for why, well, let's just say from the very first day I saw you in this building, I remembered what you did to US, Endless."