Starting from the very beginning when he was thrown under the bus, OneManMedia had been a distraction and bait all along to divert the NPCs away from their hideout.
Although OneManMedia didn't know what happened while Xu Feng snuck into their hideout, he knew something must have occurred for them to change the tide of the battle.
Originally, the NPCs were fierce and frighteningly powerful— to the point that all his damages were pitifully low.
However, the explosive shockwave changed everything, causing all the NPCs to be no different than low-level mobs. As for him, his life and death were literally moments away.
If Xu Feng was any bit later, or if Rolph didn't have any intention of keeping him alive to extract information, then he would have received his first death.
An unjustified one at that, given he was never willing to be here from the start.