'Hm? I can level up?' Max's eyes lit up.
After he clicked on the Physical, Spiritual, Harem and Harem Points sections, absorbed the related information and recalled the system's remark about making a harem and becoming supreme, he became sure that the system didn't merely allow him to make a harem but could also make him stronger.
'Since everyone else is ordinary human and now there is no threat of nuclear bombs left, once I level up enough times to face a tank, wouldn't I be invincible in the world?' His breathing became a little rushed at the thought.
What man didn't want authority and control? Since he could now see the path to achieve both, it was only natural for him to become excited.
After a moment, he reigned in his emotions and focused on his status panel.
Currently, the only method he knew to level up was through the Harem Points. As long as he had enough Harem Points, he could level up.
Each level up would increase his Physical and Spiritual stats by two points until he reached level 10. At that point, this configuration would change and the points would increase, as for how many, he would only find it when he reached level 10.
Also, if he wanted, he could increase the Physical and Spiritual stats with Harem Points without leveling up.
Another important point to note was that Harem Points could not only help him level up and increase his Physical and Spiritual stats, they were also the currency through which he could buy the things from the System Shop.
As for how he could earn these precious Harem Points, well, it was not too difficult. All he needed to do was to create a harem, add women in it and do harem related things.
Suppressing his surging excitement at the thought, he opened the system shop interface and immediately saw three items listed there.
1. Fresh Water (10 Liters/1 HP)
2. Nutritious Bread (1 Piece/3 HP)
3. Anti-radiation Potion (1 Dose/10 HP)
'Why are there only these three available?' He raised his brows in contemplation but he didn't get an answer, so he decided not to think about it too much and closed the system panels.
Then, he got out of the bed, took out the lighter from his pocket and lit the candle on the table, illuminating the room.
Carrying the candle, he walked out, went to the room next to his and pushed open the door.
The house he lived in was a medium sized villa. It had a large courtyard at the front and a garden and a swimming pool at the back.
It was a two floored building. On the ground floor was a large open hall and dining area, kitchen, and the master bedroom where his father and step-mother lived.
On the first floor, there were six rooms. He, Sophie, his elder step-sister, and Natalie, his younger step-sister occupied the three, one was a permanent store room and other two were guestrooms and were also used as storerooms.
The room he had entered was Natalie's room.
As the candle light illuminated the room, he saw a delicate, petite, young girl dressed in a pink t-shirt and blue shorts scrunched up on the bed, hugging her shoulders.
Her shoulder length hair was disheveled, her face was pale and lips were parched.
Seeing her condition, Max felt a pang in his heart.
When everything suddenly went down, they had gone to the basement to save themselves in case a nuclear missile landed in their city.
However, no such thing happened so a day later, they emerged. For the next week, apart from the inconvenience of not having the electricity, they didn't face much trouble because there was enough fresh water and food stored in the house.
But a week later, they ran out of food and there wasn't much water left. His step-mother, Emily, had suggested they go out and find something to eat but then they noticed things had become too chaotic outside as almost everyone in the city were facing the same problems.
For the food and water, the desperate people had even begun killing each other. Some had tried to break into their villa, but fortunately, they couldn't break down the thick steel gate and they didn't bother to cut the barbed fencing wires.
Otherwise, they might have already died because people had become completely lawless. If they hadn't found any food, they would have forced themselves upon Emily, Sophie and Natalie to vent their base desires. As for him, if he was lucky, he would have died without facing any sort of torture.
All in all, the situation was truly chaotic and for the week, apart from some biscuits and chocolates they found here and there, the four of them hadn't eaten anything.
Worse, three days before, despite being as frugal as they could with their consumption, they had still run out of water.
While they could survive several days without food, without water three days was the limit and tonight, the three days were over.
This was also why Max was despairing a while ago—he could tell he wouldn't last until morning.
Natalie and others were in the same condition at this moment.
Suddenly, Max felt guilty about waiting over an hour to recover fully before coming to help them.
"It's alright. It's still not too late." He muttered and then a dark thought unwittingly appeared in his mind, 'They would appreciate it more right now and it wouldn't be nearly as difficult to make them mine.'
'Fuck, I'm the worst.' He cursed himself, shook his head and walked into the room.
Arriving beside the bed, he placed the candle on the table, sat on the bed and gently nudged Natalie, softly calling out, "Hey, Lily, wake up."
After a while, Natalie's eyelids trembled and she opened her eyes, looking at him with an unfocused gaze.
"Max…? What is it?" asked Natalie, her voice hoarse and barely audible.
"I have brought you food and water, babygirl. Come, sit up." said Max in a soft voice, his fingers gently caressing her dry cheeks.