The busy city of Tokyo, Japan, buzzes with life under the setting light of the sun. Neon signs flickered, showing their colors for people to visit their stores, and cars honked through the streets since there was more traffic today than usual nights.
Damien Cross stood in front of a vending machine with both hands in his hoodie pockets, staring blankly at the blinking red error message.
"Out of order," he muttered, squinting. "Cool. Because the universe clearly needed one more 'no' today."
Damien kicked it. Not a strong one, just enough to release the tiniest bit of stress without breaking his toes. It rattled uselessly, giving him neither the iced coffee he craved nor the satisfaction of something dropping due to the kick.
It had been a long day. A double shift between pouring overpriced espresso and writing dialogue for a fantasy webcomic that paid next to nothing, not even enough to cover rent. His brain was fried, his feet ached, and his only ambition now was to head home, turn himself into a blanket burrito, and binge-watch anime until the sweet, numbing embrace of sleep took him.
"Man," Damien sighed, starting the slow walk home, "Can this day get any worse? I think it's officially the worst. Nothing went right the way I thought it would."
He passed the same alley, the same graffiti-covered wall, same convenience store with the guy who always stared too long. This route was muscle memory, now simple, but way faster to get home. His body could walk it even if his soul had long since clocked out.
Damien passed the same railroad crossing he always did, walking through a small gravel path that ran alongside the tracks, a shortcut he'd taken a hundred times. He tugged his earbuds from his pocket, fumbling with them in the dark, trying to get one to connect to his phone. The ground trembled lightly beneath his shoes, but Damien didn't notice.
He had known that the train no longer passed through this track at night, as there was no longer a passageway for the train. However, it seemed he was mistaken. He was so focused on trying to connect his earbuds to his phone that he didn't notice anything else.
That was probably why he didn't hear it until the last second.
A horn. Loud. Sudden.
A screech of metal on metal, like the world was slamming on the brakes too late.
Damien blinked, disoriented. His legs were already on the tracks. Tracks?
He turned his head left.
"...Oh god," he whispered, eyes wide.
The train was right there. Too fast. Too loud. Too late.
"It's truck-ku—"
Everything went white.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
There was no pain. No sound. Just darkness, that's all he was seeing.
Damien's body was gone. No weight, no limbs, no heartbeat. Just a flickering little flame, suspended in a void that felt both endless and claustrophobic since there was no end in the bottom of where he was floating.
"Okay…" Damien's voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere at once, "So this is either a dream or I got isekai'd in the dumbest way possible."
The little flame he was now had to be his soul, if he had to guess. It wasn't comforting. It wasn't terrifying. It just...is this how it looks when people die, just an empty darkness until the flame runs out?
Then, without warning, a soft ding cut through the silence. A floating blue text box blinked into view, as if summoned by thought alone.
"What the heck?" Damien thought as he was wondering if he was hallucinating this right now.
Congratulations!
You have been SELECTED for Transmigration!
A second text box popped up underneath before he could say anything.
Installing The Deadbeat Dad System…
Please stand by…
"…Excuse me?" Damien said flatly, If you could see his body, you would have seen his eyes deadpan. "What kind of gacha hell is this?"
Damien wanted a reroll. The Deadbeat Dad system wasn't on his wishlist. He would rather have something else than be hated for something he didn't even do.
More text scrolled in, as if the system were entirely ignoring his complaining.
You have been assigned the following role:
Name: Cassian Valehart
Age: 29
Occupation: Huntsman
Status: Presumed Missing
Family Ties: 2 Children (Twin Girls)
Relationship Status: Disastrous. (You are a horrible human being.)
Affection Rating: [ 0 / 100 ]
Threat Level: Moderate to High
Objective:
BECOME THE DAD YOU NEVER WERE SINCE YOU BROUGHT BACK THE MILK.
Failure to bond with your children will result in immediate soul deletion.
Have a nice day!
Damien's soul sputtered in disbelief.
"What do you mean by 'immediate soul deletion'? I didn't ask for this! I didn't even sign anything!" Damien shouted in anger since he didn't ask for this kind of thing.
Another message dinged into place, polite and unbothered and possibly making fun of his existence.
You have been chosen as a test subject for the Deadbeat Redemption Program by the Goddess of Life and Love!
Success = Happy Family + Redemption Arc + Cool Dad Power Rewards
Failure = Eternal Nonexistence (and probably shame to your entire bloodline)
Good luck, Cassian!
Damien stared at the screen, or at least felt like he was staring, because what else was there to do? His soul-spark dimmed slightly in exasperation.
"So let me get this straight… I died. Probably from a train. I get yeeted out of reality. And now I'm being shoved into the body of a deadbeat dad with kids who might not know me, and possibly the mother who I left, maybe hates me, and if I fail to win them over, I get… erased?" Damien mumbled to himself while rereading the mission that the system gave him.
He paused.
"…Is this karma for calling that one anime protagonist a crybaby for not hugging his kid?" Damien thought as he wondered if Karma really existed in the world, and it just happened.
He didn't know what to do, but he remembered that a goddess had given him this opportunity, according to the system.
Damien then decided to be bold and speak to the goddess, wondering if she was even listening at all.
Before he could even speak, the text box flickered and showed a symbol of an incoming video call.
[Incoming Divine Transmission...]
Accept Video Call from: Goddess Seraphina
[Yes/No]
He didn't even have time to answer since suddenly, a figure appeared. It was a holographic projection of a beautiful woman dressed in an elegant dress. She had long, silky white hair, golden eyes with crosses for pupils, and was smiling at him as if she were amused by his misfortune.
Her smile was so radiant it could light up the void, but it was also unnervingly calm.
"Hello, Damien Cross. Or, should I say, Cassian Valehart."
Damien's soul-flame blinked.
"Okay. I have questions. First off, are you God of sorts or… some kind of cosmic HR manager?"
She chuckled.
"I am Seraphina, the Goddess of Life and Love. I govern reincarnation for troubled souls in need of… let's call it 'narrative closure.'"
"Awesome," Damien said dryly. "So I got isekai'd by a magical therapist that is a goddess."
"In a way. You are currently enrolled in the Deadbeat Redemption Program™, a divine initiative to rehabilitate absentee souls by giving them one final chance to rewrite their legacy," Seraphina replied, explaining why he was here.
"And if I fail, I get Thanos-snapped?" Damien plainly said.
"Essentially."
"Cool, cool. Love that for me." Damien sarcastically said, and if he could smile, he would to make it even more sarcastic.
He hovered in silence for a second, then asked, "So... this Deadbeat System. How does it actually work? Like, am I being scored? Is there a stat sheet? Am I leveling up? Is there, I dunno, a shop or something?"
Seraphina smiled, clearly pleased he was engaging now.
"You will have a visible Affection Rating, which measures how much your children and, to a lesser extent, their mother, come to trust and love you. This will increase through meaningful actions, emotional growth, and parental effort." Seraphina explained the basics of the system.
"...so no cheesing it with bribes?" Damien asked.
"You may try," she said sweetly, "but they won't fall for shallow gestures. Bonding requires sincerity. And possibly bandages to fix the cracks."
"Lovely. So I have to win over twins who I don't even know how old they are, while pretending to be a guy I've never met, and survive in a Grimm-infested world. Great." Damien laughed, but inside his soul, he was already done with this conversation.
"These are hand-selected from your personality traits and karmic potential," Seraphina explained. "One will be a skill, one may be a weapon, and one is... a wildcard. Choose wisely. They will form the foundation of your new self." Seraphina explained, pointing out what the cards are meant to do.
Damien stared at the cards, unimpressed.
"Can one of them be a 'Get Out of Fatherhood Free' card?"
Seraphina smiled, and for a second, Damien was afraid she might actually smite him.
"Pick, Cassian."
"Alright, alright. Here goes nothing," he muttered. "Let's spin the gacha wheel."
He hovered closer to the three glowing cards, each radiating with different colors: one blue, one red, one violet.
He pointed to the blue card.
"Let's see what kind of disappointment this one is." Damien said as he knows how bad his gacha luck is when it comes to pulling five-star characters.
The card shimmered, then he turned it over to see what he got.
[Skill Acquired: Echo Step]
Type: Movement / Combat
Description: Allows the user to create a short-range afterimage that mimics a dodge or strike, confusing enemies. Triggered by intense focus or fear.
Cooldown: Moderate.
"Huh," Damien said. "Okay, that's... actually kinda cool. Not bad to use since if I see something coming, and could use this to fake out my enemy."
He tapped the red glowing card next.
[Weapon Acquired: Sky Voyager]
Type: Blade / Ranged sniper Hybrid
Description: A collapsible twin-sword set that connects as a high-caliber sniper rifle. Once wielded by Cassian Valehart himself. Bonds to the user's soul and grows with them.
"Oh hell yeah," Damien said, his soul-flame flaring slightly. "Guns and swords? Not bad at all, could be used from far away for the sniper and the twin swords for close combat.
Finally, he turned to the violet card.
"Please don't be cursed. Please don't be cursed..." Damien pleaded in his mind since it had been a good pull so far.
[Wildcard Skill Unlocked: The Dad Sense]
Type: Passive
Description: A sixth sense for when your children are in danger, sad, lying, or about to make terrible life decisions. Cannot be turned off.
"…You know what?" Damien said, "That's actually way more terrifying than the other two."
"You'll find it very useful," Seraphina replied serenely.
"Yeah, great. I get spider-sense for emotional trauma." Damien proudly said.
The cards began to dissolve into yellow particles, entering Damien's flame. Meanwhile, Seraphina's form began to disappear.
"Your journey begins now, Cassian Valehart. Protect them. Guide them. Earn their love. And in doing so, perhaps... learn to love yourself." Seraphina softly replied.
Damien winced. "Ugh. That's so corny it physically hurts."
"Most healing is a process... But you must know that when you wake up, please be warned: it wasn't easy getting that body into a safe place." she said with a gentle smile.
Damien paused for a second and processed what she just said.
"What do you mean it wasn't easy? What happened?" He asked, not liking what she just said since it seemed like a bad thing had happened.
"You'll understand when you wake up, but just to inform you, I had to take over that body for a moment while he was fighting and used a magic move from a show. You'll recognize that move, even though it isn't exactly from that show you're going into." Seraphina giggled, enjoying Damien's panicked reaction.
The void began to twist. Gravity started to return. The void started to disappear, and light was starting to flash in Damien's vision
Damien's final words before everything exploded into brightness?
"Note to self: never trust a goddess smiling goddess again."