"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 maids were gossiping among themselves, 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, 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 looked about sixteen, and 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, came from a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl dressed in a rather simple way, the group's shielder.
"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 by the witch of the group. She was a short girl with purple hair and red eyes and was dressed like a witch who had just come out of a Halloween party.
"Your healing spells suck. You're holding us back so much that we would have completed twenty more missions if it weren't for you!"
The discussion began to get more heated. Insults were flying from left to right, 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, relying on his knowledge of Lee.
Kiel jumped up from his seat and slammed his fist on the table, rattling the dishes.
Tired of the insults he was receiving, he looked the knight right in the eyes.
"I'll show you what I'm made of. I'll go do Mission Z all by myself, and you'll regret kicking me out!"
"You're crazy. You won't come back alive."
The witch let out a soft laugh, amused by a thought that had now occurred to her.
"Actually, thinking about it... go on, no one will miss you."
After hearing these words, Kiel took his staff and simply headed to the exit while muttering some profanity to himself.
"Finally! Good riddance, weakling!"
The knight exclaimed with joy while the witch laughed like a madwoman. The only one who wasn't celebrating was the shielder, who watched powerlessly as Kiel left the Guild.
Lee and Banilla continued to stare, not saying a word. When Kiel headed their way, they simply gave way and looked each other in the eye.
"Lee, do you happen to know what this Mission Z is?"
Lee simply shrugged and crossed his arms, completely unaware of what the group was talking about. He had at most a few hunches or ideas, but nothing concrete.
"I don't know. Most likely a very dangerous mission or something, but I wouldn't bet too much on it."
There was a moment of silence between the two while the party and waitresses' voices provided background noise.
Disturbed by the constant chatter, Banilla turned his head first toward the party, then toward the counter. The very moment his eyes met the maids, his eyes shone as an idea came to his mind.
"Couldn't we, like, ask the waitresses for directions?"
Lee turned to the counter , the three women had stopped chatting and were returning to their work.
At the time, he had no information about Mission Z or where the plot would go after this. Furthermore, he also needed paper to activate his powers.
"This is a great idea. You ask?"
"You should ask, Lee. I don't know what to tell them..."
*Damn it, he's right...*
Lee let out a slight tsk. He wasn't very good at socializing, much less talking to a woman, God forbid!
"Alright."
He took a deep breath and walked toward the counter.