Was there ever a difference between the player and the shark?
PERMANENT INSTALLATION: 100% REALITY OVERRIDE: ACTIVE.
The fight lasted ten minutes. It was a ballet of teeth and terror. Leo lost an eye. He felt it go dark, the socket a throbbing crater. He lost a fin. He was bleeding, broken, on the edge of death.
The boss exploded into a supernova of red pixels.
And then, a message appeared, floating in the center of Leo’s vision:
“You’re just a surface-dweller playing dress-up,” Don Barracuda hissed, lunging.
He had beaten the game.