I woke up staring at a ceiling I didn't recognize.
Not exactly the dramatic reincarnation I expected. I expected to be in a classroom or a bed, but instead, I found myself in a hospital room, where the steady beep of a heart monitor, a dull ache in my chest, and the overwhelming brightness of the lights made my eyes hurt.
"Ugh… what the hell…"
I tried to sit up, but a knife of pain tore through my ribs. I winced and dropped back against the pillow, instinctively clutching my side. My fingers brushed against tight bandages wrapped around my torso.
I could feel every inch of my body screaming in protest, bruises, cuts, muscles I didn't even have back on Earth. The pain felt like I'd been tossed in a blender and glued back together by someone with shaky hands.
I heard the door creak open as I turned my head to the left.
A nurse stepped in, glanced at me, and instantly froze. Her eyes went wide like she'd just seen a ghost.
Then she bolted out of the room.
"Doctor! The patient's awake!" she called, her voice muffled as she vanished down the hallway.
Great. Five seconds in this body and I'm already in a medical emergency.
A second later, an older man in a white coat rushed in. A doctor. He looked like he hadn't slept in a while, but his hands were steady and his expression was serious. He flipped on a small penlight from his pocket and began checking me over, eyes, ears, and reflexes.
"Can you hear me?" he asked.
I nodded. "Yeah. Loud and clear. Kinda feel like my entire body was in a microwave."
His brow lifted slightly at the words I chose. "Well, if anything, whatever your body went through, I think that's the perfect response."
I blinked at him. "Okay, can someone tell me what the hell happened? Where am I?"
"You're in the Kingdom of Mistral," the doctor said, glancing at the monitor beside me. The hospital is here in Mistral's upper district. You were brought in five days ago, barely breathing. Internal bleeding, broken ribs, deep lacerations. And the venom in your system…"
"Venom?" I repeated.
He nodded grimly. "Before you passed out, you told the nurse it was a Scorpion Faunus who poisoned you. Your bloodstream was flooded with neurotoxins. You flatlined on the table. Dead for five minutes before we were able to resuscitate you."
Dead.
For five minutes.
I exhaled slowly, trying to process it. So, not only did I die on earth, only to transmigrate into a guy who was dead? Talk about a coincidence.
"Five days I have been out?" I asked.
"You've been unconscious, in and out of fever dreams. We didn't think you would wake up," the doctor informed me, surprised I was alive.
That made two of us.
I looked down at my hands, calloused and strong, nothing like my old barista-writer fingers. I flexed them slowly. I could feel the strength in them, the weight of years I hadn't lived.
Cassian Valehart.
The name of the body that belongs to a famous Huntsman who has been missing for who knows how long. He is the father of two and is supposedly quite a big deal around here.
And now… I was him.
"Right," I muttered, more to myself than anyone else. "Guess this is real."
The doctor gave me a concerned glance but didn't question it. "You should rest. Your body's still recovering."
"How long until I recover?" I asked since I didn't know how long I needed to stay here.
The doctor scratched the back of his neck. "Hard to say. Given your condition when you arrived, I'd say you're lucky to be conscious. Most Huntsmen and Huntresses don't walk away from injuries like that… assuming they walk at all. But with rest, nutrition, and honestly a bit more of whatever miracle kept your heart beating, you might be up and moving within a week or two."
A week or two?
It also helps that aura in this world makes you heal much faster than a normal person.
I sank back against the pillow and groaned. "Right. Perfect. Thanks, doc."
The doctor didn't reply, just nodded. Probably used to patients being a little out of it after waking from the brink of death. He scribbled something on a tablet, glanced at me, and quietly left the room with a mumbled "try to sleep."
That left me alone. Again.
Just me. And my thoughts. And the fact that I was now living in the body of Cassian Valehart, a name that sounded like it belonged to some fantasy light novel, but I needed to get started at this point, and what little I remembered from the Deadbeat Dad System's info dump wasn't too far off.
The system.
Right. That thing.
"System." I mentally said.
[DEADBEAT DAD SYSTEM ONLINE]
Welcome back, Cassian Valehart (Damien Cross)
Parental Affection Score: 0/100
Daughter 1 Status: ??
Daughter 2 Status: ??
Mission: Rebuild Bonds | Survive | Don't Suck
Warning: Failure to form the minimal amount of emotional bonds within 30 Days will result in SYSTEM-INITIATED DEATH.
"Okay, well, that's horrifying," I muttered.
A timer appeared in the corner. 29 Days, 12 Hours, 17 Minutes.
Great. I have a month to go from complete stranger to loving father, or I'd die. Again. Permanently.
No pressure.
I took a long, shaky breath and closed my eyes. Not to sleep. It was too weird for that. But to focus. Because if I was gonna survive in this world, not just physically, but emotionally, I needed to figure out the following:
Who were these kids?
Who was she, the woman who wanted to rip my spleen out through my eye socket?
And just how much of a screw-up was the original Cassian that I had to fix everything with zero context and in the hospital?
I exhaled, sinking deeper into the hospital bed as my mind went blank. The room was too quiet, now nothing but the occasional beeping of the heart monitor kept me in reality.
A Scorpion Faunus poisoned me.
That's what the doctor said.
And not just any Faunus. There was only one Scorpion Faunus I knew from RWBY.
Tyrian Callows.
That deranged lunatic of a maniac who worshiped Salem like she were a goddess. Sadistic, unpredictable, loyal to a fault. The kind of guy who kills people for fun and smiles while doing it.
The kind of guy no one wants to run into.
If Tyrian was involved… then Salem was, too.
But why? Why now? I had just arrived in this world. Hell, I hadn't even gotten a full meal in this body, and already one of Remnant's deadliest assassins had put me in a coma for five days?
I pressed a hand to my temple. A headache began to form. A dull pressure, like something clawing at the back of my skull, trying to push through.
Then
Pain.
A spike of it. White-hot and sudden, shooting down my spine.
And then
A memory.
Not mine. But the original Cassian
I gasped as it hit me, vision blurring, the world around me gone in an instant.
-------------------
Moonlight from the broken moon. Cold air. A forest, quiet and roaring from Grimm. And the kind of wrong feeling that sets every huntsman and huntress instinct on overload.
The Original Cassian stood in the middle of a forest, blood trailing down his arm, his twin blades held tight and ready. He was breathing hard. Exhausted. Cornered.
A laugh echoed in the dark forest.
Tyrian.
He emerged from the trees like a shadow, golden eyes glowing with sadistic glee. His scorpion tail flicked behind him, twitching like a predator that smelled blood.
"Oh, Cassian~! You know you can't run forever!" Tyrian smiled in glee.
They fought.
Fast. Brutal. A blur of steel against steel.
Cassian was good. No, he was phenomenal. Movements are sharp, efficient, like instinct. But Tyrian was faster. Unhinged. Unpredictable.
Cassian landed a slash, and Tyrian responded with dual wrist blades resembling scorpion pincers, clashing with Cassian's twin blades.
Both blades struck simultaneously, and as sparks flew, the only difference was that Tyrian's eyes and hand turned purple at that moment. Seeing an opportunity, Tyrian disarmed one of Cassian's twin blades, sending it flying through the air before it landed on the ground. Caught off guard, Tyrian grabbed Cassian's left wrist, which caused his aura to destabilize.
Cassian was confused about what was happening with his aura until he recalled how Tyrian's eyes and hands turned purple earlier while he was using the tree to conceal his presence, intending to catch him off guard. It happened again when Tyrian grabbed his wrists.
"You crazy lunatic!" Cassian shouted, gritting his teeth as he figured out Tyrian's Semblance.
"Got you! HAHAHA!" Tyrian laughed as he immediately stabbed his stinger into Cassian's stomach.
But just then, Tyrian screamed as Cassian grabbed his tail and tried to pull it out. In a fit of desperation, Cassian decided to rip it out. Tyrian screamed in pain as Cassian kicked his leg, causing him to trip and fall. Now, Cassian was ready to completely rip Tyrian's stinger off.
Until.
The ground shook.
The memory jolted again as another monster of a man appeared from the left, tall, fists that hit like a truck.
Cassian couldn't move with the stinger in his stomach as he saw a huge man approaching quickly.
Hazel's punch landed square in his ribs, the sound of bones breaking like a tree splitting. Cassian flew through the air, crashing into a tree. The world faded around him. Blood pooled beneath him.
And just before he blacked out.
A voice appeared in his mind.
"Sorry, I'm going to have to borrow your body just a bit so you can survive a little longer." A woman's voice softly spoke.
"Who the hell—" Cassian's voice was abruptly cut off as he lost consciousness.
Cassian's body flinched as his eyes opened instantly, now golden, his pupils had changed, and looked like crosses. He got back up immediately and moved his hands quickly, making signs, and then brought them together as he spoke.
"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!"
And then darkness.
----------------------
I gasped awake, coughing violently. The monitor beside me spiked in response.
I clutched my side as the memory faded, my ribs throbbing with the phantom pain of that punch. Hazel Rainart. That mountain of a man had broken me. Literally.
That's why I was in this state.
I didn't just inherit Cassian's body I inherited the aftermath of a battle against two of the most dangerous people on the damn planet.
"Tyrian and Hazel..." I muttered, shaking. "Why the hell were they after Cassian in the first place?"
And if Salem's inner circle was targeting him this early in the timeline, then the timeline had already gone off the rails.
No.
That meant Cassian was a threat to Salem's plans in the first place; she wouldn't have attacked Cassian if he weren't a threat, and what makes it worse is that the goddess had done something that would make Salem even more interested.
The goddess used a jutsu from Naruto, specifically Wood Style, which would have absolutely caught her attention and think it was magic unless Tryian had convinced Salem that he did poison me. That means I have some time to recover.
"Great," I muttered. "I'm not just a dad, I'm a target. I'm a dad with a bounty on his head."
I let my head fall back onto the pillow, breathing through the pounding headache and trauma. At least now I knew why I felt like I'd been steamrolled.
Tyrian started the job.
Hazel was the one who almost ended the job.
But what did they want? What secret was Cassian hiding that warranted a two-man takedown team from Salem herself?
I didn't have the answers yet, but I knew one thing for sure:
I needed to get out of this hospital bed soon.
Because if those psychos figured out I was still alive…
They'd be back.
And this time?
They would make sure there is a body.
I sat up again, slower this time, hissing through my teeth as my ribs protested.
"System," I muttered, "bring up the menu."
[DEADBEAT DAD SYSTEM – MENU ONLINE]
Welcome, Cassian Valehart (a.k.a. Damien Cross)
Parental Affection Score: 0/100
Threat Level: Elevated (Target of Salem's Inner Circle)
System Stability: 78%
Body Compatibility: 64%
Emotional Readiness: …Pending.
"Yeah, no kidding," I muttered. "You try waking up in someone else's broken ribcage and feeling like their body was just microwaved."
The system's menu felt transparent; it should be visible only to me. Since it followed my direction when I moved, similar to VR.
A soft bell noise rang out, and it showed the other options of the system as it appeared with categories:
Affection Tracker – See your children's emotional state and trust level.
Dad Sense Status – Monitor for emotional spikes, danger pings, or incoming trauma.
Quest Log – System-generated missions to help improve bonds or survival chances.
Inventory – Access stored items and skills.
Guilt Meter – …Do you really want to know?
Cassian's Legacy File – [Locked – 3 Affection Points required]
"…Wait, I have to earn access to my own backstory?" I blinked.
Affirmative. System access to Cassian's full memories is restricted until a minimum baseline of paternal bonding is achieved.
"Let me guess," I sighed. "So I won't run away?"
...Yes
Of course. Not like I was going to anyway, since if I do, I would die anyway in a month.
I tapped the Quest Log, knowing I would need it often. The quest log displayed a quest that was already present.
NewMain Mission: I'm Back with The Milk!
Objective: Meet your daughters, you horrible human being!
Time Limit:29 Days, 12 Hours
Progress:0%
Failure Penalty:Soul Deletion
Bonus Reward for Completing your main quest:Permanent Skill Unlock, [Unknown Perk], and… a Father's Day card.
Side Quests Available: "Let's Try Not to Suck":
Objective: Survive your first conversation with people that your predecessor knew.
"Do They Even Know Where You Are?" (In Progress)
"All in the Family" (Warning: Needed for the future)
I groaned. "So, this system is basically a parenting simulator run by an emotionally passive-aggressive AI. Great, I got stuck with that one of all the AIs I could have received; why not choose an emotionless one?"
Correction:Emotionally supportive AI. We are here to guide, not guilt. (Also, seriously, you ghosted your kids. Guilt may be appropriate.)
"I didn't do that-." I just stopped talking since this was going nowhere.
I then exited the Quest Log and clicked on the Affection Tracker. Two names appeared with color-coded status bars.
[Daughter 1]: ???
Age:?
Status: ??
Aura Type: Red
Recent Emotional Activity: High curiosity. Very Tired.
Affection Rating: 0 / 100
[Daughter 2]: ??
Age:?
Status: ??
Aura Type: Dark Blue
Recent Emotional Activity: Happy, Curious, Excited to be with her Twin Sister
Affection Rating: 0/ 100
"Twins," I muttered. Their ages are unknown. Being at zero points makes sense since this body has never really seen them and just left before they were even born."
But it was strange seeing them like data. But also…Kinda unreal.
They didn't know me.
To them, I was a stranger who had no presence in their lives. I was basically a scumbag of a father that wanted nothing to do with that.
I wasn't their dad. Not yet.
A bell-like notification sound interrupted my actions, and a new pop-up appeared like an advertisement.
[Warning: Incoming visit detected.]
Entity Approaching: ??
Mood: Conflicted/ Angry
Estimated Arrival: 00:005
Ding!
Side Quest Activated!
Quest Title: "Apology Accepted?"
Objective: Survive your first interaction!
My eyes widened.
Wait. Someone is coming to this room right now!
The System gave a cheerful little digital ding.
You got this, champ! Remember:...Try not to die by a punch to the face.
"Oh, good," I muttered, "Because that's so reassuring."
I adjusted the hospital blanket, ran a hand through my hair, which was surprisingly long, and wiped the sweat from my brow. My ribs flared in pain as I moved, but I couldn't look like a total corpse for whoever was approaching.
This was it. First contact. First impression. I had one job: don't mess it up. The doorknob clicked. I held my breath. The door opened. In walked Qrow Branwen.
The man was taller than I expected, with spiky hair, and wore predominantly black clothing, wrapped in a red, tattered cloak. His face was tired, more tired than I'd ever seen him in the show. But his red eyes still burned with that piercing gaze, but it looked worse than when he wanted to kill Ironwood in volume 8.
He stepped in, glanced around like he half-expected this to be a prank, then locked eyes with me.
And for a long moment, he just stared.
A long, uncomfortable silence hung in the air.
"This is strange... I'm happy to see one of my favorite characters, but not with that murderous stare." I thought this could either go well or badly.
His hand curled slightly at his side, and for one second, I thought he might actually deck me across the jaw, hospital bed or not.
He sighed deeply, a sound filled with annoyance, and quietly closed the door behind him. At first, he didn't say anything. Instead, he grabbed a chair, turned it around backward, and sat down, crossing his arms over the back as if he were about to lead an intervention.
"I wish I could punch you in the face," Qrow finally said, voice low and rough, and he smelled like whiskey. "For leaving. For disappearing. For not saying anything."
I swallowed, keeping still, letting him speak. My ribs were throbbing, but I wasn't sure it was just from the wounds anymore.
No, it was from my heart; it felt like it was hurting...Was this guilt?
He looked away for a second, jaw tight. "They called my scroll when they found your ID in your pocket. Said you were in critical condition. Thought you might not make it."
He paused.
"I was halfway through a bottle when I got the message," he muttered. "Sobered up real fast."
His red eyes flicked back to me. "At first, yeah, I was gonna punch you. You earned it. But then I saw you in that bed on the first day, looking like someone used you for Grimm bait and forgot to collect the prize. So I figured I'd wait.
I felt like my heart was beating in my ears when he said that.
"So," Qrow said, leaning back with a bitter smirk, "How you feelin', Cass?"
I opened my mouth, then closed it again.
Okay Damien, I thought, don't screw this up.
"…Like I got hit by a train and was microwaved," I finally muttered, voice dry.
He blinked. "That bad, huh?"
"You have no idea."
He let out something that might have been a chuckle or just a cough disguised as one. "You always were bad at staying dead. Figured if anyone could survive a run-in with people or Grimm, it'd be you."
I tried to laugh. It came out as a wheeze. "Yeah, well, survival's only half the story."
I pushed myself up a little more, ignoring the sharp stabs of pain in my ribs. The haze in my head was clearing now. The memory of Tyrian's manic laugh and Hazel's crushing blow still echoed in the back of my skull.
I couldn't stay here. If Salem knew that Cassian was still alive… they'd come back. They'd finish the job. And if they caught me lying in a hospital bed, I wouldn't have a second chance to even defend myself.
"I need to get out of here," I muttered.
Qrow's gaze narrowed. "Why?"
I met his eyes. For the first time, I looked at him with a serious gaze, my tone quiet, heavy, and urgent.
"The Queen has pawns."
No matter whether Cassian knew about Salem or not, I have no choice. It's either kill or be killed at this point. I don't have time to recover here like an idiot.
The words that I have spoken hung in the air like a guillotine that went off.
Qrow froze. His eyes, already sharp, became wide-eyed.
He didn't respond immediately, but I noticed a flicker of recognition in his eyes. The code name "Queen" referred to Salem, a fact that Qrow would eventually communicate to Ozpin during Volume 1, that Salem had pawns.
No one in Ozpin's inner circle was aware that Salem had pawns; now they would learn this fact a bit earlier than expected.
"…Shit," Qrow finally said, rubbing a hand down his face. "You're serious."
"I am, since I died for five minutes. Which, you know, I technically survived and am breathing at this moment." I said as I pointed at myself as an example.
He let out a bitter breath and stood up, suddenly all business. "You never lied about her before, Cass. You never joked about Salem. That's how I know this isn't you being dramatic."
I'm glad I made the right call, Cassian is a member of Ozpin's inner circle.
He paced once across the room, then looked over his shoulder. "Where do you need to go?"
"Anywhere not here," I said. "But if I had a choice… Vale. I know Ozpin's there. He needs to know what happened. What's coming?"
Qrow stared at me for a second longer, then gave a short nod.
"Alright. If this is as bad as you say, we don't have time to sit around. I'll pull some strings, check you out of this place." Qrow said, accepting my terms to leave this place fast. "But Cass…"
He paused, turning back fully.
"When we arrive in Vale, we're going straight to Patch. You need to be ready to talk, not just with Oz, but also with her. You can't move properly, so we must talk about it over there." Qrow said seriously.
I nodded once. "I will."
Qrow sighed, muttering something under his breath about insane missions and drinking being banned during emergency flights. He moved toward the door, grabbing the doorknob, then hesitated.
"You're lucky, you know," he said, glancing at me over his shoulder.
"How so?" I asked, not understanding what he meant.
"Most deadbeats don't get a second chance," he said. "Try not to waste it."
And with that, he was gone.
The door clicked shut behind him.
I slumped back against the pillow, heart pounding again, not from fear this time, but something else. Something like… hope?
Wait... He mentioned a patch where Summer, Taiyang, Ruby, and Yang lived. Oh no, don't tell me that Cassian might have slept with either Raven or Summer. He did, didn't he? Great, just great.
Well, I have thirty days to become a father to two daughters I'd never met.
I had a target on my back, a fake identity to live up to, and no idea how I was going to explain all this to Ozpin without getting myself locked in a corner.
But I was alive.
And I wasn't alone.
Not anymore.
[Side Quest Update: "Let's Try Not to Suck" – Completed!]
Survive a serious conversation with someone who knew the old you.
Triggered code phrase from the show! "The Queen has pawns."
Escape plan initiated.
Rewards Unlocked: [Symbol of the Inner Circle] – Inherited outfit of Cassian Valehart. +15 Stealth, +10 Charisma with Former Allies, Chakra unlocked.
+1 Affection Point with Qrow Branwen
Ding!
Side Quest Unlocked: "Welcome to Patch, You Disaster Dad!"
Well, at least that went well. Luckily, I wasn't punched in the face. However, I will have to explain a lot to Ozpin, won't I? Yeah, it's for the best since I have no choice but to go through with this.
God, I hope this doesn't go wrong.