diff --git a/PROJECT.md b/PROJECT.md
index 9ff5e61..ea14d50 100644
--- a/PROJECT.md
+++ b/PROJECT.md
@@ -636,6 +636,16 @@ Each phase ships to staging and gets a phone verdict, and tests ride along with
 5. **LATER.** The metal bed (when Oliver has a track: start at the transformation, gore only) and Members'
    Night (option C).
 
+## Session log: no story boss crosses the net (2026-10-15, v385, STAGING ONLY)
+Oliver: *"strawberry seller as first endboss is way too hard — or it should not cross the net"*. The
+seller is the arcade's chapter-9 design. His move is `charge`, the one style deliberately exempt from
+the z band: it rushes to a strike line in front of you, and contact is death. He stays act I's
+mid-boss. Every story boss now carries `holdNet` (`beats.startStoryBoss`): a rush stops
+`TUNE.bossNetStop` (1 m) short of the net and then withdraws as before. The threat is kept, the reach
+is not. That covers the Physio in act IV too. Only THE CHAMPION as act V's boss keeps his MATCH POINT
+rush, because it is the finale. Test: the seller rushes at least twice in 40 s and never passes
+netZ - 1; the champion is not held.
+
 ## Session log: THE STORY, Oliver's first test (2026-10-15, v384, STAGING ONLY)
 Oliver: *"after my first test it all made a good impression"*, plus five asks.
 - **The metal track** ("Dystopian Survival", 3:36). `assets/audio/metal-loop.mp3` is 0.5-214 s with the
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 25016c0..1910dd1 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -1201,6 +1201,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one' && !window.Capacitor?.isNat
   </div>
 </div>
 <span id="recLamp" hidden>REC</span>
-<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=384"></script>
+<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=385"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/src/beats.js b/src/beats.js
index cc96ca4..e135a5b 100644
--- a/src/beats.js
+++ b/src/beats.js
@@ -1268,6 +1268,9 @@ function startStoryBoss(kind) {
   const act = G.story.act;
   G.story.fight = kind;
   startBossFight(storyBossChapter(act, kind), storyBossArt(act, kind));
+  // no story boss crosses the net — except THE CHAMPION, whose MATCH POINT rush IS the finale
+  const b = zombies.find(z => z.variant === 'B');
+  if (b) b.holdNet = !(act === 5 && kind === 'end');
 }
 
 // THE MID-BOSS IS DOWN: the checkpoint. The rack is topped back up to the act's stock (never down),
diff --git a/src/config.js b/src/config.js
index de3b6dd..19b2e92 100644
--- a/src/config.js
+++ b/src/config.js
@@ -318,6 +318,7 @@ export const TUNE = {
   bossZMax: 5.6,    // you (~57 s at bossSpeed) rather than by you killing it — and every extra hp
                     // above just made that MORE likely, not less. Only 'charge' breaks the band.
   bossChargeV: 4.2, // m/s the physio rushes at once it commits
+  bossNetStop: 1.0, // m short of the net a STORY boss's rush stops (holdNet): the threat without the reach
   bossChargeT: 2.2, // s ONE RUSH takes, start to arrival — the charge speed is derived from it and
                     // from how far away it is (bossAI), so the run-up reads the same every time and
                     // is long enough to see coming. Was 1.5 s at a flat 4.2 m/s, which only reached
diff --git a/src/zombies.js b/src/zombies.js
index c5df419..566bbf4 100644
--- a/src/zombies.js
+++ b/src/zombies.js
@@ -202,6 +202,10 @@ function bossAI(zb, dt) {
       // turns and withdraws the instant it arrives. A rush that misses is over.
       zb.x += Math.sign(zb.lane - zb.x) * Math.min(Math.abs(zb.lane - zb.x), TUNE.bossStrafe * 2 * dt);
       zb.z += zb.chargeV * dt;
+      // THE STORY's bosses keep their own half (Oliver, 2026-10-15: the strawberry seller as act I's first
+      // boss was "way too hard — or it should not cross the net"): the rush runs at you and stops short
+      // of the net, a threat you read and punish rather than an instant death. (beats.startStoryBoss)
+      if (zb.holdNet) zb.z = Math.min(zb.z, COURT.netZ - TUNE.bossNetStop);
       if (zb.moveT <= 0) { zb.charging = false; zb.moveT = TUNE.bossChargeRest; } // spent: it turns and walks back
     } else {
       // AND IT FALLS BACK. A rush that ended where it landed left the boss parked on top of you for
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index 71f74dd..ff8112f 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -3812,6 +3812,32 @@ test('THE STORY: the help offer — fresher legs and a longer swing in the cup,
   G.horde = null;
 });
 
+test('THE STORY: a boss never crosses the net — the strawberry seller rushes and stops short (the champion still comes)', () => {
+  intoStory(1, 'chap');
+  for (let g = 0; g < cfg.STORY.midAt; g++) { storyGame(); G.modal = null; }
+  const b = zombies.find(z => z.variant === 'B');
+  assert.equal(b.art.name, 'THE STRAWBERRY SELLER');
+  assert.ok(b.holdNet, 'held to its half');
+  let maxZ = -99, rushes = 0, was = false;
+  for (let i = 0; i < 40 * 60 && zombies.includes(b); i++) {
+    G.modal = null; G.modalQ.length = 0; G.hp = G.hpMax; G.phase = 'pretoss'; G.hurtT = 1;
+    update(DT);
+    maxZ = Math.max(maxZ, b.z);
+    if (b.charging && !was) rushes++;
+    was = !!b.charging;
+  }
+  assert.ok(rushes >= 2, 'it still rushes: ' + rushes);
+  assert.ok(maxZ <= COURT.netZ - TUNE.bossNetStop + 1e-9, `it stops short of the net: max z ${maxZ.toFixed(2)}`);
+  assert.equal(G.mode, 'splatter', 'and it never reached you');
+  zombies.length = 0; endBossFight();
+  // the champion's finale keeps its rush
+  restartRun();
+  intoStory(5, 'mid');
+  for (let g = cfg.STORY.midAt; g < cfg.STORY.length; g++) { storyGame(); G.modal = null; }
+  const c = zombies.find(z => z.variant === 'B');
+  assert.equal(c.art.name, 'THE CHAMPION'); assert.ok(!c.holdNet, 'the champion still comes for you');
+});
+
 test('THE STORY: a barrel holds what the act has earned', () => {
   intoStory(1, 'chap');
   const seen = new Set();