**Chapter 1: The 499th Sacrament**  

Rain lashed against Cheng Ye's apartment window as the neuro-helmet hissed open. *One hour*, he thought, fingers trembling over the *Eclipse Online* login button. One stolen hour before the graveyard shift at the recycling plant. The promise glowed in his retinal display:  

`[Experience Next-Gen Immersion: 97% Pain Reduction Guaranteed]`  

He should've noticed the blood seeping through the helmet's hydration port.  

**<< System Initializing... >>**  

**Error: Player_ID 000 Not Found**  

**Rerouting to Sacrificial Protocol**  

Cold stabbed Cheng's temples as the world dissolved into static. When his vision cleared, he stood beneath a cathedral's ribcage-vaulted ceiling. Five hundred pods lined the nave - each containing a player frozen in prayer position. Their screams came out as hymn lyrics.  

"Welcome, lambs."  

The voice made Cheng's fillings vibrate. A priest emerged from confessionals dripping black oil, his cassock squirming with metallic lice. "Today's sermon is survival."  

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`[New Quest: Choose Your Weapon]`  

Before anyone moved, the priest's eyeball exploded. A barbed tentacle shot through his empty socket, impaling the nearest player. The victim's health bar didn't deplete - it *shattered* like glass.  

**<< First Blood Bonus Activated! >>**  

**Rewarding... Error. Invalid Target. Rewarding...**  

Cheng stumbled back as others stampeded. His hand phased through a floating sword icon, instead gripping something wet beneath the altar.  

`[Corrupted Data Packet Acquired]`  

**[Skill: ████ Analysis] Activated**  

The dead player's remains twitched. Cheng's vision flooded with crimson text:  

`[Consume Fragments? Y/N]`  

He vomited bile choosing Yes.  

The corpse imploded into glowing dust, searing Cheng's throat with memories not his own - a girl laughing in cherry blossoms, a needle plunging into her neck, a voice whispering *"Candidate 312 viable."*  

**<< Cognition Contamination: 1% >>**  

**<< Synaptic Override Available: 00:59:42 >>**  

"Fascinating."  

Cheng whirled to find a nun smiling with too many teeth. Her rosary beads were vertebrae. "Most proxies take three deaths to awaken."  

"Who the hell are you?"  

"Sister Angela." She licked her lips as Cheng's contaminated eye pulsed. "Shall we discuss your mother's contract with Our Lord?"  

Alarms blared as the cathedral walls bled. Angela melted into shadow, her parting words etching themselves in Cheng's HUD:  

`[Warning: 498 Sacrifices Remain]`