The Next Level

Rob sat down his control with satisfaction.  He just beat the hardest boss on one of the hardest games that he has even played.  Roboman XII on Insane Mode.

He smiled, as he watched the credits roll.  He has beat many hard games before.  Beating one like this was nothing new to him.

However, after the credits, there was yet another level.  This level featured very hard platforming elements, with his HP set at 1.  Even worse, he only had 0 lives.  One hit, and he would be done.

As Rob made his first few jumps with his character, it didn’t take him long for him to die.  The words “Game Over” appeared on the screen.  No continues were there, either.

Rob sighed.  “It would be nice if I could have infinite lives to try that extra level out,” he said, sighing.

For Rob to access that level again, he would have to beat that entire game again on Insane Mode.  So Rob did just that.  About an hour later, he beat the game.  He then got to the extra level, and died again.

After trying this a third time, Rob had enough.  He hacked the game and gave his character infinite lives.  For posterity, he gave him infinite energy as well.  At the extra level, he turned the codes on.  After getting hit many times and falling into pits, he beat the level.

It then hit Rob.  The game designers actually designed that level to be impossible to beat.  Even the most skilled player couldn’t beat it with the way they designed it.  It didn’t matter to Rob, since he was finally able to beat the extra level, and see the true ending to Roboman XII.

______

©2012  K. L. Walker