[The Host has completed the Main Quest.]
[The Host has successfully accepted a formal private security commission and secured payment. Therefore, the System officially recognizes the establishment of the Host's PMC. Awarding Main Quest completion rewards. Please check your inventory.]
[Reward 1: One A-Rank Summoning Ticket.]
[Reward 2: 10 Reputation Points.]
[Reward 3: The System Shop has been unlocked.]
"No way..." Dominik muttered to himself in the dark, the faint blue glow of the System interface reflecting in his eyes.
He had been sitting in the quiet living room of the Bangkok villa, stressing over the bureaucratic nightmare of how to officially register a mercenary company in a highly militarized safe zone. But the System had just announced the mission was complete. It felt like a massive, life-saving pie had just dropped from the sky.
However, before Dominik could fully process his sudden stroke of luck, the door to the living room clicked open. He turned around, his hand instinctively dropping toward the scavenged Glock on the coffee table, only to relax when he saw Laura.
She was wearing an oversized t-shirt they had bought earlier that day, looking sleepy and rubbing her eyes with her left hand. In her right hand, she held out her smartphone.
"Dom..." Laura mumbled through a yawn. "That... Agent Kennedy is looking for you."
"Oh? Is that so?" Dominik quickly got up, walked over to his sister, and took the phone. He pressed it to his ear. "Hello, this is Dominik. What do you need, Kennedy?"
Through the encrypted line, Leon's smooth, professional voice echoed. "Hey, Dominik. Sorry for disturbing you and your sister so late."
"It's fine." Dominik sat back down on the edge of the sofa. "Is there... something important? Did something happen to the Professor?"
"Heh." Leon chuckled softly. "No, they're perfectly safe. I filed my after-action report regarding your extraction of Ashley. Senator Benford was briefed immediately, and he is immensely grateful that you kept his daughter alive. However, to keep the media and rival political factions completely blind to this incident, he can't have you on the official UEC books. He authorized me to prepare a $500,000 USD private commission for your silence and your service."
"Half a million?" Dominik raised an eyebrow.
"Tax-free," Leon added. "And as long as your requests aren't a national security threat, the Senator has instructed me to facilitate whatever favors your PMC might need in the future. Do you have an offshore account? I can wire the funds through a shell company."
After hearing Leon's words, Dominik couldn't help but think to himself, So that's how it happened...
He had originally thought he would need to find some secret, underground mercenary guild like in the movies—complete with a hidden door behind a smoky bar—to officially start his PMC. But simply by choosing to do the right thing and escorting Quaid and Ashley, he had inadvertently triggered a massive VIP rescue event, getting the US Government to officially recognize him as an independent contractor.
"Dominik? You still there?"
"Ah? Yeah, I'm here," Dominik said, snapping back to reality. "Listen, the global banking system is a mess right now, and I don't trust wire transfers. Can you get it to me in cash?"
"Not a problem," Leon readily agreed. "Liquidating that much cash discreetly might take a few hours. I'll have a courier deliver it to your location tomorrow morning. What's your current address?"
Dominik hesitated for a fraction of a second before rattling off the address of their new gated villa. Then, a thought struck him. "By the way, Kennedy... how exactly did you know my partner and I were operating as private military contractors?"
Leon was silent for a moment before answering smoothly. "When you arrived at the Green Zone checkpoint, that conversation you had with the Thai border Captain... we were monitoring the audio feeds from the checkpoint's security net."
"I see," Dominik said, his eyes narrowing.
A wave of lingering paranoia washed over him. It seemed that even during an apocalyptic outbreak, the UEC's habit of absolute surveillance remained intact. It was a stark reminder that in this world, big brother was always listening. Moving forward, he and Ghost would have to establish strict operational security protocols.
Leon cleared his throat, sensing the shift in tone. "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, Dominik. Ashley Graham is the daughter of the UEC's next potential Commander-in-Chief. We couldn't leave anything to chance."
"I understand," Dominik chuckled dryly. "Is there anything else, Kennedy?"
"No, that's it. You two should get some rest. You've earned it," Leon said.
"Alright. Thanks for pushing the commission through. If we ever run into each other off the clock, I'll buy you a beer," Dominik offered gratefully.
"Haha, absolutely," Leon laughed heartily. "Uh... by the way, is your sister free—"
"Sorry, I'm exhausted. Line is breaking up. Bye!" Dominik instantly hit the red 'end call' button, cutting the agent off mid-sentence.
Somewhere in a secure UEC compound, Leon S. Kennedy stared at his phone in bewilderment, muttering to himself, "What the hell? Guy is ridiculously overprotective."
"Sigh."
Dominik placed the phone on the coffee table, looking over at Laura, who had already curled up on the opposite end of the sofa and fallen back asleep. He grabbed a throw blanket and draped it over her, shaking his head helplessly.
There was no way in hell he was letting his sister get caught up in the "Kennedy Curse." Leon's interest was probably just piqued because Laura was the first girl in a week who hadn't immediately swooned over him, fueling the agent's competitive spirit.
Ensuring Laura was comfortable, Dominik leaned back and closed his eyes. System. Pull up my updated profile. And explain exactly how these Reputation Points and the Shop function work.
[Acknowledged.]
[Dominik Corvinus]
Shooting: 44
Reaction: 75
Combat: 45
Luck: 100
Special Skills: None
Health: Good
Points Held: 145
Reputation: 11
Shop: [Unlocked]
[The Host has successfully taken the first step in establishing a recognized Private Military Company. By rescuing Laura, the Host triggered the Hidden Mission to extract VIP Ashley Graham.]
[This event directly completed the Main Quest and earned the high-tier favor of Leon S. Kennedy and Adam Benford, establishing a powerful political and logistical safety net for the Host's future PMC operations.]
[Reputation Points reflect the Host's global renown within the UEC underworld and military circles. Currently, the Host is an 'Unknown Operator'. Upon reaching 100 Reputation Points, the Host will achieve the title of 'Rising Star,' and the System will reward 1,000 Points.]
[High Reputation allows the Host to influence the mercenary ecosystem. Elite Hidden Characters may actively seek out the Host for recruitment. Furthermore, announcing your PMC's name during a conflict may inflict a 'Psychological Deterrence' effect on enemy forces, potentially forcing surrenders.]
[The Shop allows the Host to spend Points to purchase advanced weaponry, gear, and vehicles from across the multiverse of sci-fi games and movies. The Shop generates 24 random items per page, refreshing automatically every 30 days. The Host may manually force a refresh for 10 Points.]
Dominik eagerly opened the virtual Shop interface, and his jaw practically hit the floor.
The 24 random items displayed were a staggering mix of the mundane and the absurdly lethal. There were standard, reliable firearms like Mk18 carbines and AK-103s.
Then, sitting casually in the third row, was the BFG-9000 from DOOM.
The prices, however, were brutally steep. A god-slaying, plasma-spewing weapon like the BFG cost a staggering 200 Points—meaning it was actually cheaper to just perform an S-Rank character summon than to buy the gun. But it made sense; the BFG could probably vaporize an entire UEC Carrier Strike Group in one shot. It wasn't meant for simple infantry skirmishes.
Dominik scrolled past the apocalyptic weaponry. What caught his eye wasn't the BFG, but a pair of sleek, tactical items listed near the bottom of the page.
It was the Cross-Com Integrated HUD Glasses and the Optical Camouflage Device from Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.