Die Now Episode 7 Recap
> Die Now Recap
Xia Chi awoke injured in a hospital room, where he was met by a team leader from Duan Nao Security Company, dressed in a dark suit. The leader apologized for their failure to provide timely support, assuring Xia Chi of his current safety. According to the security company's investigation, Xia Chi was being targeted by mercenaries hired by another computer player.
While the motive, possibly revenge, remained unconfirmed, the company could not take proactive action due to Duan Nao regulations prohibiting direct attacks on other players. The leader revealed only that the opposing player employed desperate individuals who would do anything for money. Xia Chi was enraged, questioning if he had to allow his pursuers to act with impunity.
The leader explained a Duan Nao game rule: any player who kills another outside of game periods, regardless of method, will face severe punishment, even the deprivation of life. Xia Chi angrily concluded that security would only act if he were dead, a point the leader was vague about. Meanwhile, Stone Kuan, in black clothing, discussed Xia Chi's narrow escape with three other individuals in a car.
Stone Kuan noted their advantage: Duan Nao security would not actively attack them, and he was determined to settle both old and new scores with Xia Chi. Xia Chi then inquired about his bodyguard, only to be told she had been replaced. Insisting on knowing her whereabouts, Xia Chi was led by the leader to a dark interrogation room.
There, his female bodyguard, clad only in tight black clothing, knelt with her hands suspended, her body covered in injuries from a flogging. She pleaded with the leader for another chance to continue working for Mr. Xia, accepting her punishment. She had already received seventy lashes and offered to endure two hundred more, vowing to learn from her mistakes and protect Xia Chi with her life. The leader denied her request, ordering the remaining twenty-plus lashes.
Xia Chi, distressed by her bleeding, protested that she had done very well and tried to intervene but was restrained. He then demanded her specifically as his bodyguard. The leader stated he could specify a bodyguard's gender, age, and build, but not a specific individual. Xia Chi, noticing Morse code displayed on her hand, recited her height, measurements, and age. Despite recognizing their covert communication, the leader, to save Xia Chi's face, permitted the female bodyguard to resume her duties.
Once the leader left, Xia Chi anxiously asked about her injuries. With glistening eyes, she thanked Xia Chi, deeply moved by his kindness and protection despite her failing to prevent his injury. She revealed her name was Seventeen, an orphan bought at the age of three and perpetually trained as a bodyguard since then. Her life was a living hell of relentless training.
Upon becoming a professional bodyguard at eighteen, a rule was implemented to preserve their hard-earned skills: if unemployed, they would be frozen and unfrozen every four months for a week of intense recovery training. Seventeen described each cycle as a painful, tearing experience, akin to death. Though physically twenty, she had undergone over a hundred such four-month-and-one-week cycles, making her actual age over fifty. Due to societal distrust of women's combat abilities, female bodyguards struggled to find employers.
Xia Chi's lack of specific requirements led to her random selection by the security company, a moment of immense joy for her that Xia Chi was unaware of. Back in the hospital room, Seventeen, after checking for cameras, whispered to Xia Chi to keep the player pursuing him a secret from others. Xia Chi awoke at 4 AM, pondering the nature of player relationships and the permissibility of competition.
He observed Seventeen cleaning her wounds, then pretended to be asleep when she noticed him. Upon waking again, Xia Chi found Seventeen at the window, using binoculars to watch outside. She informed him that the player across the street was his pursuer. Xia Chi looked through the binoculars and confirmed it was Stone Kuan. His phone then rang; it was Stone Kuan, who threatened to end Xia Chi's life within five days.
Determined not to passively await his fate, Xia Chi asked Seventeen to elaborate on the rules regarding player-on-player killings outside of games. She explained: first, any action, intentional or not, that results in severe injury or death to another player incurs the same punishment for the aggressor. Second, if a player's life is clearly threatened, their counter-attack is considered self-defense and exempt from punishment.
After drinking a glass of water, Xia Chi devised a plan to eliminate Stone Kuan that very day. Stone Kuan, convinced Xia Chi was a coward who would only emerge if frightened, saw Xia Chi leave the hospital as expected. Stone Kuan dispatched one subordinate with mercenaries to storm the hospital and verify if it was truly Xia Chi, another to report to base, and a third to follow Xia Chi and await an opportunity.
Inside the car, Seventeen praised Xia Chi, suggesting his abilities could make him Duan Nao's top player. Xia Chi wryly responded that he hadn't even grasped the game's mechanics yet. Stone Kuan's operatives closely followed Xia Chi's vehicle. After a stretch, Xia Chi's car stopped, and someone exited, but it wasn't Xia Chi. Suddenly, Xia Chi's "actual" car sped past, taunting the pursuer about missing the optimal killing moment before disappearing in a cloud of dust.
The mercenaries gave chase but discovered they were pursuing the wrong vehicle. Meanwhile, Stone Kuan finally caught up to what he believed was Xia Chi's car. He opened the door with a gun, only for A-Jin, who had been shot in the head, to tumble out. Stone Kuan then clutched his throat and collapsed, a consequence of the game's punishment. Xia Chi and Seventeen watched the entire scene from nearby.
It was revealed that Xia Chi's vehicle license plates could be remotely swapped. He had used this stratagem to trick Old Six Stone Kuan into mistakenly killing Old Seven A-Jin, thus triggering Stone Kuan's punishment. At the base, a mysterious woman in front of a monitoring room was informed of the events. This woman was Jia Li from the Computer Science department, who instructed her subordinates to leave Xia Chi to her.
