"I've got to be honest."
"There are a lot of web novels and anime where the main character dies and gets reincarnated in a magical world, gains OP powers, and ends up surrounded by women who follow him for some relatively illogical reason."
"So when I, Lee Jakgaui, supposedly 'died' and got reincarnated, I would have expected the same treatment."
"Finding myself doing the 'Make sure the Plot Armor is applied' job wasn't exactly what I had in mind."
Lee Jakgaui and Banilla Taeyang finally found themselves standing in front of the Adventurers' Guild.
At first sight, the place looked like a simple tavern in some medieval European town. From the outside, they already had the feeling of déjà vu, as if they had seen this place somewhere in a fantasy story.
"Is this the place, Lee?"
Lee looked up at the wooden sign above the door. A huge "Adventurers' Guild" was written in red paint.
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure."
Lee began walking toward the guild entrance, and Banilla followed him.
The interior of the guild looked exactly like the classic setting where people could imagine bards and knights getting drunk and partying until evening. However, today was quite different. The Adventurers' Guild was pretty much deserted; everything was clean from top to bottom, the smell of beer or hot meals was absent from the air, and nine of the ten tables were empty.
Behind the counter, three waitresses were talking quietly, covering their mouths with their hands.
It wasn't possible to understand what they were saying, but one could easily guess the subject of their discussion.
At one table, there were four people, most likely a hero party, arguing loudly. The argument was between a young blond man in armor, who was apparently the leader of the party, and a boy with black hair and black eyes, about the same age as Lee and Banilla.
"Banilla," Lee said quietly, calling him closer.
"What are they arguing about?"
"There's a good chance our MC is about to be kicked out by his group."
"How do you know that? Did you read this web novel too?"
"Don't worry. I've seen this trope a hundred times."
Their chatter was interrupted when the blond knight rose from his seat. His appearance was perfect, too perfect. On the surface, anyone could already glimpse his swagger and the pride in his heart.
The knight pointed a finger at the young boy who was supposedly the MC of this web novel.
The role he played was easy to recognize just by looking at him.
He had black eyes, black hair, and dressed simply, like a commoner, as some noble would say. The boy had the youth of a sixteen-year-old, and just from that indescribable look, even his awkward stance screamed: "I am destined for greatness."
By Plot Armor's will, of course.
"You are officially kicked out of the party!"
"What!? But you can't do this to me!"
"Why am I being kicked out!?"
"Are you even asking you useless imbecile?"
A new voice, much calmer and more patient, coming from a brown haired and brown eyed girl dressed in a rather simple way, joined the conversation: that was the group's stable.
"Listen, Kiel, things haven't been going well for us lately. We're failing almost every mission, and it's not your fault-"
The shielder was interrupted without warning by the witch of the group. She was a short girl with brown hair and red eyes and was dressed like a witch who had just come out of a Halloween party.
"Your healing spells suck. I knew from the start that we shouldn't have allowed a healer to join our party."
The discussion began to get more heated. Insults were flying from right to left, and the argument could have turned into a fight at any moment.
At this sentence, Lee's eyebrows rose in surprise. He covered his mouth with his right hand to hide the little smile on his face.
I can't believe I'm hearing a conversation like this.
Plus…
What kind of idiot would fire the healer of the group? It's literally like… not bringing food on a hike because it weighs down your backpack.
Noticing the strange behavior of his colleague, Banilla tilted his head toward Lee. His face clearly showed how both bewildered and terrified he was by what was happening before his eyes.
Lee's grin froze. He faked two coughs and then immediately became serious again.
Banilla couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh. Then he began to head toward the hero's party.
"Wait!"
Realizing what his colleague was doing, Lee immediately stopped him by placing his hand on his right shoulder.
"What are you doing?"
"I just want to try to calm them down."
"We can't. The plot has to go this way."
"What? Are you serious?"
"Yes, I'm deadly serious. It's a plot trope."
"In this Web Novel: The MC is kicked out of the group because he's too weak. Then, somehow, he finds an OP superpower and forms his own party...of women who have a crush on him."
Banilla stood there unable to formulate any answer and then shook his head, basing himself on his knowledge of Lee.