Yuuya wasn't sleeping again.
Not because he was hurting. That part, he could deal with. It was something else now.
He couldn't stop seeing the way the Archive Verge had twisted his memories. The ink-slick librarian, the whispering pages, the vision of his mother's smile that hadn't belonged in a battlefield. That had almost broken him.
Almost.
He sat on the edge of an old supply crate near the back of the outcamp. His gear was drying under a busted heater. His poker leaned against a barrel like a relic from a world that didn't make sense anymore.
[Level: 23] [True Learning: 98.1%]
Close.
So damn close.
He scrolled through his skill list again. Too many abilities for a diver his rank. Too many traits that didn't show up on public scans. It wasn't just ghost data anymore. His profile was actively rejecting system hooks.
Whatever was happening to him, the system wasn't in control.
That meant someone would be coming.
And soon.
---
The next gate appeared in Sector 6. Not a danger zone. A Bureau hub. That meant restriction. Tagging. Divers had to apply through official channels, wait for approval, log their request.
Yuuya didn't bother.
[Gate: Sleeper File - Tier: C to B-] [Restriction Class: High] [Status: Active Under Review]
The guards didn't even see him pass. They were too focused on the big names—silver-ranked diver squads, triple-A loadouts, Bureau-aligned hunters with glowing weapons and smug contracts.
Yuuya slipped through their shadow.
---
[Entering Dungeon: Sleeper File] [Security Override Detected - System Response Pending]
The first thing he noticed was silence.
Not the usual silence. This was absolute. Smothering. He couldn't even hear his own footsteps.
Then the message popped.
[Skill Trigger: Memory Lock Active - Auditory Suppression Neutralized]
Sound rushed back in like water. Mechanical humming. Clicking. Voices over distant radios.
He stepped into what looked like a data center crossed with a mausoleum. Servers blinked behind reinforced glass. The air buzzed with static.
[Zone: Core Memory Hall] [Threat Level: B-] [Enemy Detected: File-Walker - Level 24]
The enemy emerged like corrupted data. Glitchy. Staggering. It pulsed static and swung with jagged movements.
Yuuya ducked under the blow, slid forward, smashed its limb sideways.
> [Skill Used: Echo Counter Lv. 3] [EXP +108]
He moved deeper.
---
The fights weren't clean. The dungeon adapted quickly. Each new enemy used partial fragments of his own abilities. A flicker of Tempo Step. A warped version of Chain Grapple. The system was trying to learn him back.
It was almost funny.
Until it wasn't.
Room Twelve.
He walked into a chamber full of suspended red cubes.
Each one flickered with memory.
Not his.
[Warning: Dormant Diver Profiles Detected]
Inside the cubes: faces. Dozens of them. Frozen expressions. Fear. Shock. Grief.
[System Note: Diver Logs Classified]
And then the lights dimmed.
[BOSS ENCOUNTER - Sleeper Trace Activated]
The air split.
A humanoid stepped through. No features. No sound. Just lines of code burning across its skin.
[Boss Identified: Trace-Eater] [Level: 26] [Skill Archive Detected: "Mimic Protocol"]
It didn't roar. Didn't talk.
It moved.
And it moved like Yuuya.
---
He parried. Got slammed sideways. Landed hard against a wall of humming glass.
It struck again.
He dodged left, caught its leg, flipped it. Countered.
[Skill Created: Reverse Shell - Temporary Defensive Clone, 10% Stat Reflection]
He triggered it, and his clone took the next hit.
He followed up with a double-strike through its side.
[Critical Impact - Core Integrity -20%]
The Trace-Eater retaliated with Ash Pulse.
His Ash Pulse.
[Trait Reacted: Memory Killer - Prediction Rate Dropped]
He smiled.
"Nice try. I do it better."
He leapt high, spun mid-air, slammed down with his reinforced poker directly through the Trace-Eater's core.
[Final Hit Landed] [Boss Defeated - EXP Gained: 366] [Level Up: 24]
[Skill Gained: Mimic Protocol - Store and access up to 3 enemy skills temporarily] [System Unlock: ??? - True Learning Threshold Reached]
---
The world paused.
Not stopped.
Paused.
[TRUE LEARNING: 100%]
[System Override Detected] [Initiating Shift: Custom Protocol - "Overflow State"]
A screen appeared. Not like the normal ones. This was deeper. Etched in black and gold.
[Welcome, User: Yuuya - System Defier Classification Confirmed] [Overflow Tree Unlocked - Choose Your First Branch]
He stared.
[Branch: Path of Consumption] - Enhance skill replication and stat absorption. [Branch: Path of Resonance] - Chain skill interactions and combo-based progression. [Branch: Path of Anomaly] - Corrupt normal mechanics, break limits, act outside system rules.
He hovered over each one.
Then selected:
[Path of Anomaly - Confirmed]
The screen shattered like glass.
And then it began.
---
[Overflow Trait Gained: Ghost Framework - Immune to rank-based suppression. System cannot log your true level.] [Overflow Trait Gained: Code Scramble - Once per day, confuse dungeon AI for 10 seconds.] [Skill Evolved: Reflex Copy -> Echo Shift Lv. 1]
---
He stumbled out of the dungeon three hours later.
Covered in blood. Holding a single glowing cube of data.
The Registry didn't know where he was.
But the man in the coat did.
He watched the red dot blink off the map.
"Overflow Tree has opened," he whispered. "So it begins."
His assistant asked, "Should we move in?"
He shook his head. "No. Not yet."
"Then when?"
He smiled again.
"When he stops surviving dungeons and starts rewriting them."