If I recall correctly (someone correct me if I'm wrong), it was mentioned that Doha and Se...

I found weird that too. Yongtaek said that Jaseob and the goofy guy couldn’t handle anymore and took out their tapes. But looking at Jaseob this chapter, it looks there is more in their story.

i posted this as a reply to 2 comments with the same question:

okay so the "him and hyungshin supposedly gave up during the early start of the game" info was from Yongtaek right? Im sure we can trust him but we also have to realize that in YT's and JS's "testimonies", when theyve had their tapes inserted, both point to the fact that SC manipulated/crossed them. So this means that the info from YT about HS and JS removing their own tapes could be misleading. Its possible that SC made YT believe that they removed their tapes bc they couldnt take it anymore when in reality SC was the one who removed their tapes in the first place.

SC in everyone's pov so far:
- YT's pov: SC used Bada to convince YT to insert a tape (to become a player again)
- from SC himself: he tricked Doha and removed his tape to secure his own survival
- JS's pov: SC removed his tape
- and us reader's pov: he ejected Bada's tape just so he could mess with Doha

the point is, all of these lead to SC being a manipulative antagonist. and also about "i just dont understand why jaeseob wants hyungshin's and yeontaek's tapes"... dont forget about what the first thing that JS did and said when he got his memories back. he hit SC and said "if seongchan's your enemy, im glad to be here". clearly he has a grudge on SC and that his comrades (maybe allies should be the better word here?) are HS and YT, maybe thats why he wants to get their tapes. i mean i dont really know how else to explain it, but if i were in JS's shoes id also become protective and make sure my trusted friends are safe/doing good. id also want to get their tapes back to "revive" them to ask them what happened after my tape was removed

I dont think Doha was complicit. I dont think he even knows bc iirc they would always clash and they had a falling out. they played separately. it was only when Doha had the idea of using Bada to play for them when they agreed. but still they played separately--seongchan killing himself in the early part of the round by triggering a death flag while doha continued to play by pretending to be an npc

I agree with the explanations in your first comment how YT's narrative may be narrow because he could've been manipulated by SC. However, I do think it doesn't make sense for Doha to not have know because if both JS and HS gave no prior indication that they wanted to give up, it would definitely have raised Doha's suspicions (especially since he's quite sharp) that they had been turned into NPCs. Therefore, even if the timeline you said was true (that SC took their tapes after the falling out), Doha would've realized that SC used underhanded tactics to take their tapes.

With regards to Doha's motivations, I'm realizing that this is sort of answered already from this chapter. JS states that Doha became quite volatile throughout their runs, it's also been indicated he preferred going on his own. Thus, it might be that he realized SC took out their tapes but didn't want to do anything about it because he thought they were hindrances or their contribution as his teammates were insignificant.

hmmm your do have a point. but then it would also support my theory that Doha and SC are somehow conniving. This is from my post earlier: https://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/20694796/

DOHA AND SEONGCHAN DEFINITELY KNOW MORE ABOUT THE GAME THAN EVERYONE ELSE
we know from earlier chapters that Doha and SC constantly clashed and they had a falling out right? If we recall YT's and SC's revelations on the early gameplay, it goes like this:
- HS and JS removed their tapes because they couldn’t handle the endless deaths
- Doha, SC, and YT continued playing
- YT also eventually decided to remove his tape (the white one)
- Doha came up with the idea to make Bada insert a tape
- Doha and SC pretended to be npcs
- SC used Bada to convince YT to insert a tape (black tape)
- as they approached the true ending, SC feared only one player could escape the game so he removed Doha's tape to secure his survival. It can also be assumed that SC stopped YT's black tape.

now here's the part that doesnt add up: If JS is right that SC was the one who removed his tape… then why didn’t SC remove Doha’s tape earlier? Why target JS (and probably HS and YT) but not Doha? One of the commenters here suggested that JS mustve found out SC's real motives and took him out before he could alert others. But if that was his concern, why was Doha's tape also not ejected? If we were to compare them all, wouldnt it be Doha who's the sharpest and most capable person to stop SC with his motive?

this is also why i find it weird. if they did indeed constantly clash, why was SC putting up with Doha so much so that he didnt remove his tape? (also vice versa, why didnt Doha remove SC's tape). the only time SC decided to remove Doha's tape was when he "needed to secure his own survival". Wouldnt that mean that, up to that point, they needed each other? Badly enough to overlook their conflicting personalities and work together despite all the tension. But why do they need each other? For info? What kind of info tho?

okay not really conniving but at least using each other