step by step

The next day, at four o'clock in the morning, Alex woke up to the sound of an explosion.

He didn't panic; in fact, he kind of expected it to happen sooner. He slowly opened his eyes and sat on his bed, "so it all begins."

He was still collecting his thoughts about the previous night's events when his bedroom door banged open, and a shadow ran to him in the bed.

"what is it, Emily?" asked Alex in a sleepy tone while yawning.

"what is it? Didn't you just hear the explosion sound?" said Emily and then took Alex's hands and pulled him out of bed, "hurry, we have to leave now or else an explosion might…."

Alex stopped her and sat back on his bed, "it's nothing, Emy. Just ignore the sound; you will soon get used to it. Right now, this hotel is the safest place in the city. We are safe here."

Emily looked at Alex and, after seeing the serious look on his face, calmed down a little, "can I sleep here tonight?"

"yes, sure," said Alex and opened some for her to sleep beside him.

Emily didn't say anything and just lay down on the bed next to him and closed her eyes.

Not long after, another explosion sound was heard, and Emily jumped up from the bed, ready to run.

"it's ok, Emy. don't worry, just sleep." Said Alex and then called the system, 'system, how much does it cost to put a soundproof barrier around my bed?'

DING

"Calculating the cost of a soundproof barrier for a 2*3-meter area."

"Calculation complete."

"it will cost one million INBs to put a soundproof barrier around the designated area."

"do you wish to proceed?"

"yes/no."

Alex chose yes and then called the others telepathically, 'are you awake, guys?'

'yes, what was that? The kids are scared,' said Max.

'my sister won't stop screaming; I don't know what to do,' said Leo, who was living with his parents and his one-year-old sister.

'what was that scary sound, man?' asked Sid.

'we are awake,' said Parisa and Paria simultaneously.

'me too,' said Reyhan.

'me three,' said Ryan.

'I'm awake too,' said Kate.

'alright, if the kids are scared from the sounds, just ask the system to put a soundproof barrier around their room, and when they slept, come here.' Said Alex and disconnected.

Max and Leo did as Alex said, and fifteen minutes later, they were all gathered in Alex's living room.

"what was that sound?" asked Leo.

"that was clearly an explosion sound, but no small explosion makes such sound. It must have been a big one," said Kate.

"It was; I believe that it was the central bank not too far from here that exploded." Said Alex.

The central bank was the first place that exploded in the city in his previous life, and it was all over the news, so Alex clearly remembered it, That feeling of dread and fear from the unknown.

Many believed it was a terrorist attack, but it didn't take long for other explosions to happen all over the city in the following days.

"The hotel will officially be on lockdown from today, and we can't go out. Tell your family members not to leave the floor under any circumstances." Said Alex.

"What if a bomb goes off in the hotel?" asked Ryan.

"it won't happen; I put a small detection barrier around the hotel that will let the guards know if any bomb gets into the hotel's vicinity."

"what about the electricity and food?" asked Reyhan.

"you don't need to worry about that either, Mr. Jones; the hotel owner spent almost a quarter of his money getting ready for this. Why do you think the hotel has been going through renovations for the past week? Almost all the windows have been replaced by solar panels. We don't need to worry about food either; he bought and froze enough food to last us more than two years." Alex assured them.

He had already asked Mr. Jones to lock the elevator so that only personnel could use it and also closed the staircase so that the kids couldn't go there while playing.

"what now? We only sit and do nothing?" asked Sid.

"not at all; while we will be going on hunts and quests, I have prepared a vacation spot in the second reality for your families to enjoy.

They all must have at least a hundred million INBs in their accounts. That's enough to make an avatar and go to where I said. You can also go on hunts with them whenever you are free and carry them to level 20; that way, they would have a lot more freedom."

Everybody nodded in agreement and then left Alex's room and went back to rest.

Alex was sitting in the chair, thinking about whether to take Emily to the dungeon or not, when the door to the suite opened again, and Max stepped in, "do you have time?"

"sure, what is it?" asked Alex.

"about these bombs, how sure are you that we are safe?"

"99% sure; the other one percent is just because you can't be 100% sure of anything."

"good," Max said and sat down, "do you really think the government will crumble?"

"I don't think I'm sure of it."

"isn't there a way to help the people in the city at least? There are a lot of innocent people being sacrificed. If it wasn't for you, I don't know what would've happened to my family too; I really want to help the others to have…."

Alex didn't let him finish, "look, Max, I know where you are coming from; believe me, I do. But we can't help every one of those people; we can only look out for ourselves and those we love. If we pick up a stone heavier than we can bear, we are doomed to fail, sooo ….."

"I get it; it's just that I have a bad feeling about being safe when many other innocent people are going through this…."

"that's why I said I want to build a place where everybody could be happy. right now, I don't have the power, but with your help, it won't take long before reaching our goal."

"what can I do to help? I'm just a regular guy."

Alex wanted to tell him that he wasn't just any guy, but he couldn't. he wanted to tell him that he was the most extraordinary guy he had ever met, but still, he couldn't.

He couldn't tell him all this cause he knew that the current Max wouldn't believe him if he said all that, so he just took a deep breath and said, "just help me build a guild for now. After that, we will discuss the next steps. Step by step, my friend, step by step."