[Resolved] Pagination redirect to 404

Background of the issue:
I am trying to implement pagination for recent blog posts on my site hidden link using the following PHP code: <?php

$title = get_sub_field('title');
$sub_title = get_sub_field('sub_title');
$content = get_sub_field('content');
$section_link = get_sub_field('section_link');
$visability = get_sub_field('visability');

?>

<section class="container-wrap recent-blog-posts recent-blog-posts-pagination<?php if ($visability == 'hidden') { echo ' hidden'; }?>">

<div class="container-custom">
<div class="recent-blog-posts-wrap">
<?php if (!empty($title)): ?><h3 class="title"><?php echo $title; ?></h3><?php endif; ?>
<?php if (!empty($sub_title)): ?><h2 class="sub-title"><?php echo $sub_title; ?></h2><?php endif; ?>
<?php if (!empty($content)): ?><div class="content"><?php echo $content; ?></div><?php endif; ?>
<div class="recent-posts">
<?php
$paged = ( get_query_var( 'paged' ) ) ? absint( get_query_var( 'paged' ) ) : 1;
$posts_per_page = 3;
$args = array(
'posts_per_page' => $posts_per_page,
'post_status' => 'publish',
'post_type' => 'post',
'orderby' => 'date',
'order' => 'DESC',
'paged' => $paged,
);

$recent_posts = new WP_Query( $args );

if ( $recent_posts->have_posts() ) :
while ( $recent_posts->have_posts() ) :
$recent_posts->the_post();
?>
<div class="post-item">
<?php if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) : ?>
<div class="post-image">
" title="">
<?php
$thumbnail_id = get_post_thumbnail_id( get_the_ID() );
$title = get_the_title( get_the_ID() );
$img_url = get_the_post_thumbnail_url( get_the_ID() ) ?: 'https://cdn.wpml.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Vector.png';
?>
<img src="<?php echo esc_url( $img_url ); ?>" alt="<?php echo esc_attr( $title ); ?>" title="<?php echo esc_attr( $title ); ?>">
</div>
<?php endif; ?>
<div class="post-content">
<div class="post-category">
<?php
$categories = get_the_category();
if ( ! empty( $categories ) ) : ?>
term_id ) ); ?>">
name ); ?>

<?php endif; ?>
</div>
<h3 class="post-title">
">


</h3>
<div class="post-excerpt">
<?php the_excerpt(); ?>
</div>
" class="read-more" title="">



</div>
</div>
<?php
endwhile;
?>
</div>
<?php
$total_pages = $recent_posts->max_num_pages;
if ( $total_pages > 1 ) :
?>
<div class="pagination-wrap initial">
<nav class="navigation pagination" role="navigation">
<div class="nav-links">
<?php
echo paginate_links(
array(
'base' => str_replace( 999999999, '%#%', esc_url( get_pagenum_link( 999999999 ) ) ),
'format' => '?paged=%#%',
'mid_size' => 1,
'prev_text' => __( '' ),
'next_text' => __( '' ),
'current' => $paged,
'total' => $total_pages,
)
);
?>
</div>
</nav>
</div>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php else : ?>
<p>No posts found.</p>
<?php endif; ?>

<?php wp_reset_postdata(); ?>
</div>
</div>
</div>

</section>

Symptoms:
When I click to pagination page 2, I am redirected to hidden link but the content is for 404.

Questions:
Why does the pagination redirect to a 404 page?
How can I fix the pagination issue on my site?