Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
The remaining contestants pass the displayed bodies of the doctor and guards before being told to choose partners. Gi-hun takes Player 001, Sang-woo pairs with Ali, and Sae-byeok joins Ji-yeong. Mi-nyeo is left without a partner and dragged away. Only after the pairs enter a recreated neighborhood do they learn the rule: each must win the other's ten marbles without using violence.
Sang-woo begins losing to Ali and persuades him that they can find another way to survive together. He substitutes stones for Ali's marbles, taking the real bag to a guard while Ali searches for the supposed opportunity. Sae-byeok and Ji-yeong spend most of their time talking about their lives. Ji-yeong decides that Sae-byeok has more to return to and deliberately loses their single deciding throw, allowing her partner to survive.
Gi-hun grows desperate as the elderly man wanders through streets that resemble his former home. He exploits the man's apparent confusion to reverse losing guesses in their odd-and-even game. With one marble remaining, Player 001 reveals that he understands the deception but gives it to Gi-hun anyway, invoking their promise to share as gganbu. He remembers his name, Oh Il-nam, before Gi-hun walks away. A gunshot and the announcement of Player 001's elimination leave Gi-hun believing that his partner has died.