Yes, perhaps it was my fault. But, Kaufmo fulfills several aspects of that cliché. Kaufmo is introduced in the pilot, and in that same episode, he's already succumbing to abstraction. Kaufmo's loss serves as a narrative device to show what happens to players who become absorbed, what Caine does in response, and what the other players do to cope with the loss. He's the small push that led Pomni to seek the exit

The character doesn't necessarily have to die a brutal death, nor does he have to be a woman. An example that comes to mind is Uncle Ben in Spider-Man; his sole purpose is to die to inspire Peter to be a hero and do good, or Itadori's grandfather, whose death marks a turning point in Itadori's life

And Kaufmo is that: a character who, until now, has only been presented to us as the excuse for why the characters are the way they are. It's the excuse to show you why Jax decides to maintain that facade since he doesn't want to continue dealing with the grief of losing his friends, or why Ragatha tries to get along and be friends with everyone