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When the broker loans the stock, the fee being charged is like the interest on a loan. What that interest rate is will be determined by your credit worthiness and supply-demand interest in the stock. The longer you (the borrower) keep the loaned stock the higher the cost to you as the interest builds up. So the "price" I referred to is not the target price of the stock but the fee you're paying for borrowing.

Normally, the broker wouldn't tell you it has to be returned by a fixed date, but as in the case of GME, the fees you pay on the loan may be variable so it becomes a game of how long can you hold your breath underwater. To use your example, if you borrowed a stock at $100 to sell, repurchased at $50 to close out the short your profit would be $50 less the fees you paid for the loan. Those fees could easily wipe out your "profit."