One of the most radical attributes of hypertext is its open-endedness. Books are literally bound, held together between covers. Such works have definite endings (even multiple endings are endings). A hypertext doesn't need to end. It can loop back into itself, link out into the global information network (the Internet), link into another hypertext world, or come to a final closing screen. Endings are possible with hypertext, but not necessary.
A networked hypertext can link to anything within the network. Some literary critics (Burbules, Landow) refer to the trope of "catachresis" (far-fetched uses of a familiar word) as being a defining trope of hypertext. That is, a link may lead to an example, a narrative continuation, or something quite unexpected. For our purposes, the idea that a link may lead to an ending (not the ending), or back into the text, or somewhere outside of the text serves to illustrate the open-endedness of hypertext.
But since hypertext allows multiple paths for the readers, unless the hypertext is specifically constructed to lead to a pre-determined ending, there's no guarantee that a reader will find the ending. This allows for the construction of hypertext games, with set goals (rescue the princess, find the treasure, etc). But a literary hypertext does not have such a predetermined goal. As in poetry, there is not some hidden meaning or hidden treasure that the reader must find. If you read a literary hypertext looking for the treasure, you're going to get very bored and frustrated.
Hypertext was developed not as a way of telling stories, but as a way to present information which didn't have or need a set linear arrangement. Instruction manuals, help guides, and the like were some of the earliest uses of hypertext. Have a question about Part#32? Click on the link to view a schematic. Rather than flipping through hundreds of fine-print pages, the user could immediately go to the appropriate information.
Such stand-alone hypertexts are technically bound (a set number of pages), but any reading of the text can roam through the information in any order (non-sequential) and for as long as necessary (no set ending). But a hypertext, now that we have the Internet, can become even more radically unbound.