Author's Note: This is a self-insert fic, yes. I've read plenty enough to understand how many aren't well-liked, so I will try to keep this from steering in Gray-sue/Mary-sue territory as much as possible. I will try to establish just how dangerous the RWBY-verse is and how screwed my SI will be, and if I fail to do so, don't be afraid to review and let me know.

Prologue: A Day in the Life

To an outsider, this scene would've looked chaotic.

The forms of men and women rushing to and fro with ingredients and tools to fill out specific orders. Voices of varying volumes, the rapid thumps of knives on chopping boards and the clattering of plates all merging into one. A tempest of activities carried out by a group of dedicated people to ensure the smooth operation of a vital part of one larger system. An outsider would've been overwhelmed by the sheer chaos taking place and would've let themselves out as soon as they could. But if they remained behind longer, they could've seen the order behind the chaos. How everything came together as one well-oiled machine through the chaos.

One man left the pantry with a basket full of vegetables, onions and meats and placed them on a table. A woman rushed past, picking up an armful of assorted ingredients and returned to her station. There, she worked with two others and swiftly reduced the ingredients into countless pieces of various sizes and shapes that were then organized accordingly to type, size and shape in bowls. A man then grabbed a handful of chopped onions and threw them into a small wok, sizzling as they came into contact with hot oil. More ingredients were thrown in, vegetables and then meats, and slowly a strong, delicious scent began wafting up. He worked the small wok with one hand to flip its contents over once, twice, keeping it steady with a spatula in the other. After the scent became overwhelming, the man flip the contents of his wok once and carefully transferred it into an empty dish waiting next to him before handing his used wok to an assistant who handed him another, freshly cleaned, wok for use.

I wiped the sweat off my face with my sleeve as I oiled and heated up my wok in preparation for the next dish to cook. The sounds and chaos of the kitchen had been overwhelming when I first came here, frightening even. Now, I let the noise wash over me, join the chaos as one of their own, and grin as some of the older chefs glanced at me, impressed.

"Table 17's order, ready!" I said.

"Got it." A man came by and placed my cooking on a tray. "Order from table 6, the Franklin Special."

The recipe for that dish came to me instantly, nodding to the departing man as I grabbed the chopped onions and threw them into the hot oil. The noise and chaos engulfed me once more, washing away my thoughts as I began working the wok and threw in more ingredients. The heat from the stove washed over the skin of my bare forearms and face, making me sweat. I winced as I felt the skin of my hands and fingers burn where they accidentally brushed against the hot steel of the wok.

But I didn't care. I wouldn't trade this for anything.

I let myself fall on one of the chairs of the employee's lounge after I changed out of my work clothes and into my casual ones. My shift had just ended and the evening workers were coming in, changing into their uniforms quickly as to relieve the chefs still at work. I had wanted to do some overtime so that I could get more experience, but the head chefs and a few of my seniors had turned down my request.

"Kid," the large man who had been my boss for the better part of three months said. "There is such a thing as working too hard, ya'know?"

"At the rate you're going, we should just hire you now and save the bosses some annoying paperwork." One of my seniors said, a middle aged woman with blonde hair, smiling. "And besides, I'm beginning to like having you around."

"A bit rough around the edges, but that's how most great cooks start. A bit more polish, and before you know it, you'll be even better than Ramsey!" said another, a man with bright green eyes. "Next time, I'll teach you a few of my personal recipes! They're great, I promise!"

"Yeah, at giving food poisoning!" his friend chuckled. "Your food tastes like shit!"

"You take that back, asshole!"

The room shared a laugh, myself included, as I punched in my card and slung my work bag over a shoulder.

True, this might not have been the best of work places for some, as evidenced by four of my fellows resigning after a week. Out of the 5 trainees assigned to this particular hotel, three had left after a week and the fourth after another two. All of them claiming that they 'were wrongfully insulted for things they did not commit'. In the end, I was the only one who could take the insults the chefs hurled at everyone and thus ended up as the last trainee left. Sure, I had to pick up from where the other four drop outs left, but that was fine. More experience for me.

"Well, you guys can keep at it. I'm going home." I smiled and donned my favourite snow cap. "There's a nice, warm bath waiting for me there and I'm itching to hear about my performance review tomorrow."

The head chef looked at me and smirked, nodding once and waving me out. I did not like that smirk. It usually foreshadowed terrible things and I did not like such things as they often kept me up at night when I really needed the sleep. But still, my current boss was a good man and he knew better than to dash my hopes at a potential job after putting up with his shit for three months. Even I had my limits and if I found out I didn't qualify for the job, I'll buy a new knife just to carve him up with. Either that, or mix arsenic into a dish and feed it to him. Both were viable, cheap and well within my ability. All I had to do was to put it into effect.

Making my way down to the parking lot, I swiftly located my bike and donned my helmet. Slowly and carefully, I walked the vehicle out of its parking space, started the engine and then mounted it in preparation for the short, five minute trip home following the evening rush. As I sped on the highway and past the slow moving cars, I took a moment to reflect.

Ever since I've graduated from accelerated cooking class, life's been relatively good. I enjoyed the job I was working, I was good at it, I had friends there willing to vouch for me and my skills, and best of all, I had the potential to go even farther. A chef could go places if he or she put all their effort in it and can become celebrities in their own right. Just look at Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver. They didn't become world famous overnight. They started out like me, on the bottom of the food chain and slowly made their way up. It will take effort and a lot of patience, but then, life was never easy to begin with.

In no time, I had arrived to the apartment building I called home for the past three months and parked my bike into my allotted parking space. I waved at the landlord, a happily married man of 49 with a wife and a stunning daughter around my age, and after a brief elevator ride, unlocked the door to my apartment and stepped in. It was a small living space my aunt owned, lending it to me after I started my trainee course. It was a modest space, with one bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchenette and living room/dining room, all sparsely decorated. A stack of movies and animes were arranged neatly next to a second-hand DVD player and TV in the living room, a laptop sat unused on the coffee table in front of that.

Tonight, I'd pick up where I left off on the Silver Spoon anime after dinner. And if I'm lucky, I'd finish the anime just in time to catch the newest episode of RWBY airing on the web before catching some well-earned sleep.

As I sat there, munching on a bag of potato chips and laughing at the main character's antics, I couldn't help but wonder just how dull my life was. Sure, I had everything going for me at the moment, but then it still felt a bit… Lacking. Like there was some small part of me that wanted something more. Like an adventure.

Even as alone, I couldn't supress a snort. Yeah, like anything as outrageous as an adventure would happen to some no-name guy like me.

In hindsight, I should've kept my mouth shut.

And, that's the prologue. I hoped you enjoyed. Please leave a constructive review for me to work on by typing out a review and clicking that Review button down there.