Sam came back to his senses and looked at Kartikeya with an embarrassed expression. The fight he fought is nowhere near a real fight. He has fought Kartikeya completely taking advantage of the rules of the game.
From damaging Kartikeya bit by bit and his last onslaught like a mad fiend, all of them are his tricks to take advantage of the rule and he did this knowing full well that the other party is going easy on him. Just like the Monkey King did.
"Don't feel bad, I also broke some rules I set for myself, but your performance is better than I expected, at least you can play the game and mold the rules to yourself."
Kartikeya spoke and waved his hand, Sam felt all his mental fatigue recover and sighed in relief. There was too much pressure from this game and he had died sixteen times in total. At least, he avoided the pain and torment and committed suicide most of the time by jumping off the stage.