The air beneath the canopy of the giant tree suddenly felt suffocatingly dense, as though all the oxygen around them had been sucked away. Davin did not immediately retreat. As someone who had spent half his life grappling with other people's memories and psychological manipulation in isolation labs, he knew full well that panic was the beginning of defeat.

Before him, the young boy’s small body began to tremble violently. His pale skin slowly softened, melting like wax exposed to high heat, before finally evaporating into a thick plume of black smoke. The smoke swirled in the air, rapidly re-solidifying to form a tall, sturdy humanoid figure.

The creature wore a long, dark-hooded gray cloak that obscured half its face. Yet, most striking was the expressionless white mask it wore—a flat mask carved with an hourglass and quill symbol on the forehead, the signature emblem of the record-keeper faction.

The Archivist Guild, Davin thought, narrowing his eyes. His memory instantly traced back to the fragments of information he had absorbed earlier from the stone monument. They were not native inhabitants, but dimensional overseers tasked with ensuring that the memory cycle within this simulated world ran without a flaw.

"Out-of-bounds intruder," the masked creature's voice echoed, sounding dual-layered and mechanical, blending a human adult’s voice with the static hum of a radio wave. "Your presence in Oakhaven is an anomaly. You carry an information virus that contaminates the sanctity of this eternal record."

Davin slowly rose from his semi-crouched position, calmly brushing the dirt from his knees. He stared unflinchingly at the shadow overseer, even managing a faint, cynical smirk at the corner of his mouth.

"Sanctity?" Davin let out a low snort, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You call this tedious, repetitive cycle where villagers are forced to repeat the same day endlessly 'sanctity'? This place isn't a village, friend. It's a digital graveyard rotting from the inside out, and you're keeping it spinning like a broken cassette tape."

The masked shadow creature took a single step forward. The air pressure around them pressed tighter against Davin's chest.

"You do not understand the order of the cosmos, Architect," the Archivist replied coldly, his tone laced with suppressed fury. "Oakhaven was created to preserve consciousness fragments from collapsed civilizations. Every smile, every step, every repeating second is the result of perfect calculations to ensure those memories are not swallowed by the void."

"But those memories are already dead!" Davin snapped, his voice rising, cutting off the overseer. "They aren't human beings experiencing real joy anymore. They're just empty echoes programmed to suffer in an eternal lie! You're preserving them not for history, but because you're terrified of facing the reality that your experiment has failed entirely!"

"Enough!" the Archivist barked sharply, echoing across every corner of the hillside slope. The expressionless white mask shifted slightly, revealing a dim red glow flashing from beneath the hood's gap. "We are the keepers of the archives. Our duty is to eradicate any virus that threatens the stability of this world. And today, your history in this place will be permanently erased."

From beneath his gray cloak, the overseer raised his right hand. The air around his palm vibrated violently, summoning sharp, blood-red blades of data-transition light, poised to tear through Davin’s consciousness.

Davin did not stand idly by. Though he had yet to fully master the power of The Ledger or his Echo ability, his combat instincts as a former lab prisoner frequently threatened with execution immediately took over. He focused his attention on the hourglass symbol on the back of his hand, preparing to absorb or deflect the energy attack.

"Let's see how strong your archives are against reality," Davin whispered sharply, staring straight at the overseer.

Yet, right before the Archivist swung his red energy blade to execute Davin, the ground beneath their feet suddenly rumbled violently.

Boom!

A heavy shockwave from deep within the earth made both of them stagger. Davin immediately lowered his stance, gripping the damp soil to maintain his balance. Around them, the giant trees that had stood so sturdy suddenly creaked loudly, as though their roots deep underground were being pulled by a colossal force from below.

The Archivist halted his attack, turning in surprise toward the base of the nearby giant tree. His white mask shifted in confusion, losing control over the situation that had abruptly shifted drastically.

"What is this...? High-level systemic anomaly?" the overseer muttered in disbelief.

Before their eyes, the earth around the giant tree's roots cracked wide open. Instead of water or sap as usual, the soil fissures spewed thick, foul-smelling black liquid, resembling viscous ink mixed with stale blood. The fluid hissed loudly upon contact with the open air, releasing a poisonous white smoke that stung their noses.

The giant tree's roots, which had been fresh green and sturdy, turned pitch-black within seconds, softened, and then melted into a pool of thick mud that sucked in everything around it.

Davin looked up, his eyes widening as he stared at the tree canopy. The green leaves above fell simultaneously, turning into black ash scattered by the night wind, revealing the cracked night sky of the simulated world, exposing glowing red lines of code burning brightly behind it.

Oakhaven was collapsing from its roots.