Chapter 20: The free agent

​Snow Peak Community is one of the communities located at the heart of Everest city. It is a specific area where the city’s elite reside it is essentially a city within a city. It is fully self-contained with its own infrastructure and private services. Both the local government and the Brown family faction coexist here, making it one of the rare places where both powers operate without any friction.

​Inside a villa on the periphery of the Snow Peak Community, Smith, Jack, and Brian were sitting on one side of a sofa. Opposite them sat a middle-aged man who looked like a classic capitalist from a bygone era. He was fat, bald, and looked as if he couldn’t even lift a finger. However, no one was fooled by his harmless appearance: this was George, the man Jack and Brian had been talking about. He was a peak-expert-rank player who possessed a Silver Title Queen.

​Smith looked around as if he were in a new world; he had never experienced a place like this before. Servants moved everywhere. In the living room alone, at least four servants were attending to them; two were even massaging George as he sat on the sofa. One maid offered to massage Smith’s legs, but he declined. On the other hand, Brian and Jack readily accepted the offer. The atmosphere in the living room was exceptionally harmonious as they were served various drinks and refreshments.

​Suddenly, breaking the leisurely mood, George asked Smith, "How much do you know about the political structure and power factions of our current era?"

​Startled by the sudden question, Smith knew George wasn’t asking out of idle curiosity; it had to be important. During their car ride earlier, Brian had mentioned taking Smith to meet someone who could properly guide him, as Brian felt Smith needed more attention. That was how they ended up here.

​Smith realized that answering was largely a formality and that George didn’t expect deep insight, but he answered anyway. "From what I know,the city is ruled by the local government faction and the Brown family. I also know that Everest City is a second-tier city. As for the power factions, I only know that chess players are usually divided into the Brown faction, the government faction, and free agents. Beyond that, I don’t know much."

​George nodded. As expected, Smith was an ordinary person without deep knowledge of these matters. He began to explain, "Do you know about the relationship between individual factions and the government faction?"

​Smith replied, "As far as I know, ever since the first outbreak, cities all over the world have been ruled by both the government and individual factions. The two sides have always been at odds, competing in everything. Beyond that, I don’t know anything."

​George nodded again and said, "Okay, let me start from the very beginning. When the dungeons were stabilized, individual factions collaborated with the government to govern the people. That is the story you’ve been told since childhood, but that’s only the official version. Deep down, today’s government is just a collective of people who share the same interests. The president and mayors simply represent the collective interests of that group. They are no different from individual factions, except that the government pulls its resources together into a centralized structure. Essentially, they are two sides of the same coin; both parties have only one objective, which is to gain power.

​"While both sides are in fierce competition today, there are no open conflicts. Neither side can truly suppress the other, so they mind their own business. They compete, but they won’t exchange actual blows. You might think the government would unite to wipe out the individual factions, but in truth, the individual factions form alliances among themselves and exchange interests. Although they seem independent, they are bound together by private bonds, marriages, and shared stakes. You understand what I mean?

​"Now, let’s talk about the third party you mentioned: the free agents. Those who don’t want to join either the individual factions or the government usually choose to become free agents, acting as mercenaries for hire. Brian told me about your situation. Since you chose to become a free agent, it means you rejected both major sides.

​"To tell you the truth, the free agent option didn’t exist in the early years; there were only the main factions. Then, a powerful player emerged who belonged to neither side. That figure became the first free agent. Neither the government nor the individual factions had the ability to suppress or coerce him into joining a faction. Because that person was so powerful, they established the concept of the free agent.

​"From then on, the concept was officially recognized. Although free agents cannot compare to the two major factions in terms of wealth and resources, they have no binding rules forcing compliance. If a free agent is coerced into joining a faction and it gets discovered, the other factions will turn their blades against the offending faction. It was established early on that free agents must remain free and cannot be forced. Furthermore, there are still many powerhouses among the free agents. If they hear that one of their own is being coerced, that faction will be erased by the next morning, and no one will step in to mediate.

​"However, you must realize that as a free agent, the resources and connections you can gather individually are tiny compared to those of the factions. So how do free agents get connections and grow?So they introduced the concept of the Honorary Guest.

​"An Honorary Guest is a type of free agent who enters an agreement with a faction—whether the government or an individual faction like the Browns. While factions won’t lavish resources on free agents like they do on their own members, they can offer contracts allowing you to temporarily join them for a specific period or task. It is strictly a mutual agreement.

​"As an Honorary Guest, any task offered must be agreed upon by both parties. Other factions cannot directly hire you while you are under contract; they must go through the faction you are currently guesting for. Even then, you retain the final right to accept or decline the task. Furthermore, these contracts can be canceled at any time without penalty.

​"If a free agent grows tired of that lifestyle, they can eventually choose to join a faction permanently. Usually players remain pure free agents until they hit a growth bottleneck, at which point they choose to either become an Honorary Guest or join a faction permanently.

​"For example, I am an Honorary Guest for the Brown family. As for Brian and Jack, they have just hit the peak of intermediate-rank bottleneck, so they also plan to become Honorary Guests for the Browns. That could be your path forward as well. However, because your situation is a bit special, I plan to maximize your benefits first—but I need your consent."

​After hearing George’s explanation, Smith finally understood the reality of the situation. He didn’t have any strict demands, and since they had gone through the trouble of inviting him and giving him the freedom to choose, he didn’t want to complicate matters.

​"You don’t have to worry," Smith replied smoothly. "I’m satisfied with whatever you suggest. I just don’t intend to get caught up in complicated politics, so I’m fine leaving everything to you. As I told Brian and Jack, since you are their senior, I trust you."

​Satisfied with Smith’s polite and humble attitude, George smiled. "Kid, to tell you the truth, I really like you—you’re very teachable. I promise that whatever I do will be for your utmost benefit, and I will give you the best outcome I can provide with my resources. Since you trust me, here is what I plan to do..."