As the white light faded, I found myself in the center of a town. Yes, this was a town, but it wasn’t an ordinary town. Rather… it looked like a medieval town from a fantasy video game. The roofs were thatch and straw, and the houses were built from cheap wood. The pathways were made of dirt. I saw horses in front of various buildings and even a few riding them, and everyone was walking around in really grungy-looking villager clothing. One or two people had armor on, and I even saw a few weapons in sheaths. Where was I?

“Where am I?” I asked out loud.

“Eh?” A passing big sister with large breasts stopped as she was walking by. “You’re in Chalm, a village in the corner of the Aberis Kingdom.”

“Ah…” I said, scratching my cheek.

Where was Chalm, and where was the Aberis Kingdom? Well, I wasn’t going to ask this pretty big-breasted woman such questions. I’d start to look crazy. What was going on? Was this another world? Had I been taken to an isekai world, just like those web novels I read?

“Um… in that case, do you know where I can get information?” I asked.

“Wouldn’t the best place be the Adventurer’s guild?” She offered with a pleasant smile.

She was pretty nice, so it instantly gave me a good impression of Chalm. I really wanted to bury my face in her chest. However, those kinds of actions would probably be frowned upon. I figured I had two options. One option, this world was fake, and I was in some sort of dreaming state. In that case, there were no consequences to my actions, and I should just enjoy myself. The second option was that I was in another world for real, in which case I could die really easy. That was kind of frightening. Either way, I wouldn’t step out of line until I knew which it was.

“Can you show me the directions?” I asked.

The girl pointed in the direction of a larger than average home with a sign in the front that I couldn’t read. I decided to head there after giving her thanks of appreciation. She smiled and gave me a wink in return. I found myself blushing slightly as I stumbled to the building. If she wasn’t busy, I might have been hoping to flirt with her a little more. Well, I still didn’t know if this world was real. I didn’t really have the confidence to do that sort of thing, so it was left for just my perverted fantasy.

As I walked down, I noticed more of the people around me. Some of them had tails and ears that came out of the top of their head. Would these be animalkin? I had never seen a catperson or dogperson before, but the buff looking guy who just passed me totally looked like he had cat ears on his head. This place was quite cool.

Entering the Adventurer’s Guild, it resembled any other adventurer’s guild one might expect. It had a man upfront. There was a bar to the side with tables. It smelled of sweat, alcohol, and something that might be blood. I walked up to the front counter, where a beautiful woman was standing and doing her nails.

“I’m new to Chalm,” I said awkwardly. “Where can I make some coins?”

Unfortunately, I was still wearing the clothing I had come to this world in. My body was still my typical fat self. There was no new handsome body nor impressive upgrades. I was still a chubby teenage boy, through and through. Thus, when the lady looked up, she saw me precisely for what I was. I had been dismissed by enough women to recognize that look. She wasn’t at all nice like the girl outside. My opinion of the Adventurer’s Guild went down.

“It’s one gold coin to join.” The woman behind the counter spoke as if she was disinterested in my presence. “The guild gives out assignments. We take 70% of the awards.”

“70%!” I let out a cry of surprise.

The girl sniffed. “Not only do we set up the assignments, but we also protect adventurers. We won’t give you more than you’re qualified to take, and we insure you and your equipment. The least we could do is take 70%!”

No… actually, that seemed rather intrusive, I decided to ask more. “How am I insured?”

“Naturally, if you die, we will cast a resurrection spell on you.”

I let out a cough, my eyes widening slightly. This world actually had resurrections? So, insurance was literal life insurance. If I didn’t come back from a mission, someone could theoretically bring my life back from the dead. Suddenly, 70% did seem like a pretty good deal.

“Of course…” The girl spoke on. “You can be one of those crazy people who choose the dungeon life.”

My excited expression froze a bit. The dungeon life? That’s the name of the game. That meant that’s the direction the game expects me to play.

“What is dungeon life?” I asked cautiously.

The girl shrugged. “You try to tackle the dungeons. No one will insure you. If you die in the dungeon… you can’t be resurrected. One life.”

I gulped. Of course, I’d get only one life.

..........

“You’re a support class?” The girl shook her head. “I’ve never heard of it. What job do you have?”

“Eh… White Mage?”

Whispering kicked up behind me while the woman gave me a look of disbelief. “White Mage? I’ve never heard of that either.”

“Really? Who casts healing spells?”

“Healing? So, you’re like a priest?” The girl’s eyes widened. “How can you be a priest and not be associated with the church?”

I let out a cough, realizing that my harmless line of questioning was starting to bring a lot of eyes on me that I didn’t want. I clearly needed to understand more about this world, and given the chatter behind me and the weird looks, I was in a bad position.

“Ah… about dungeons, is there any dungeon around?” I decided to change the subject.

The girl shrugged. “Without any combat prowess, there is no chance you’ll be able to make it in a dungeon. You might as well give up. You need to find a group of people willing to drag you around, but if all you can do is heal wounds, that is not something of value. I don’t see any party being willing to pick up a… what did you call it? White Mage.”

Seriously? Was I so entirely out of line that healing wasn’t valued in this world? Well, it wasn’t like I was planning on being teleported to another world in the first place. I was just trying to play a game. In that case, I was utterly screwed over if I had a job I couldn’t even use. Before I could say another word to the woman, there was a bell that started ringing. The bell wasn’t localized in the Adventurer’s Guild; instead, it was something that rang throughout the entire city.

The girl blinked. “Perhaps you’re luckier than you look? Your services might be needed soon enough.”

“Eh?” I asked as the Adventurer’s guild suddenly exploded into action.

People started running around the room as if in a hurry. Some were grabbing their equipment and arming up. Others were passing messages. I looked around in confusion as the bustle seemed to grow. A glance out of a window revealed it was the entire city that appeared to have gone nuts. A single ring from this bell and now everyone was running around. People were ducking indoors and closing windows while others were running out with weapons drawn.

“Excuse me…” I finally got notice of the girl once again. “Can I ask what is going on?”

The girl shot me a look of disbelief but then shrugged a moment later. “The city is under attack. That is a call to arms. You should stay back here and heal the adventurers that return. Based on how many you heal, you’ll be paid accordingly.”

As soon as she finished explaining these things, she grabbed a bag full of equipment and headed out to deliver it to the front lines. Most of the other people also left too, heading for wherever the front lines were. Within a few moments, I was standing in the Adventurer’s Guild completely alone.

“Well… this wasn’t what I expected.”