by XJH
Silas Ward wakes in another world with nothing but a ruined workshop, a handful of tools, and seven days before something comes to destroy the only shelter he has. Outside the workshop, the world is filled with anomalies—places where reality follows deadly, incomprehensible rules. Steel cannot kill them. Strength cannot overpower them. Surviving means observing, testing, and understanding how they work. Fortunately, Silas Ward is a craftsman. Once he understands an anomaly well enough, he can do something no one else can: take it apart—and forge what he extracts into equipment. There is only one problem. Learning the rules of an anomaly often means risking a human life. Then ten strangers suddenly appear at his workshop. They call themselves players. They think they have logged into the most realistic closed beta ever made. They chase secrets, test mechanics, ignore warnings, and treat death like part of the game. To Silas Ward， they may be the manpower he desperately needs. To the players, this strange world is an unexplored game. And to the anomalies waiting beyond the workshop— they are fresh test subjects. Observe the anomaly. Learn its rule. Survive it. Dismantle it. Forge something stronger. Seven days remain.
