The shopping spree

Leaving the hideout of the two kids after saying goodbye to each other, temporarily hopefully, I decided if it wasn't too late yet, I would go and see one of those black market shops Eliza highlighted on the map.

Seeing that it was 4am by now, and that the sky was faintly starting to turn brighter, I resolutely gave up on that idea however.

Going back to my own apartment building, an odd 10 steps away from the backdoor, I picked up my trash bag with the evidence. Doing the simplest thing ever, I opened a nearby manhole and tossed that garbage in there. Nobody's ever finding that stuff with this.

Convinced that my evidence hiding capabilities were top notch and impeccable, I went back to my room. As expected, nobody was yet up and about in the apartment. Making my way to my room like that, I leisurely walked in, humming a tune I remember from my previous life. 

Pausing my entire body mid air, my pupils shrunk to the size of a needle tip. My breathing getting faster and faster, I suddenly heard a million voices screaming to the sounds of a guitar and drums. 

My frozen body, as if possessed, threw itself at the computer, turning it on with bloodshot eyes, mania burning brightly in them. 

As soon as the pc booted, like the conductor of a grand orchestra, my mouse flowed with one perfect movement to the shitty Mozilla Firefox copy of this dimension. 

And then, like the greatest pianist of this world, with flowing movements I started typing the names of band after band, of musician after musician. 

Having come up with hundreds of songs I remember well, whether it was due to me having been part of a band at one point, mostly for fun, or cause they were too catchy... I realised I wasn't completely clueless about how I could get enough legal cash to swim in it. 

Taking a deep breath, I added 'become the greatest musician of this world, or maybe even of this universe' to the list of things I wanted to do in this life. 

Relaxing slowly after that, having set yet another goal for me to pursue whether it's for fun or for profit, I turned off the pc and threw myself into the shower. 

Then, finally relaxing with an energy drink in hand, I parked my ass on the couch. Turning on the TV so I can listen to some noise for a while, I looked at the system interface. 

1 skill point available 

1 stat point available 

4/1200 for the next level

Seeing that it went to 1200 instead of some godly number, i asked the system what was up with it not increasing exponentially or something, since i expected it to be at around 2700 required. 

<The 300 system is not designed to be balanced with progressively more difficult level ups. More specifically, since this a cheat, you will frequently up early on. And so than that, the actual thing should worried about are gun upgrades, as those cost kidney, lung, an arm and leg, each. For now, costs increased by instead of exponentially>

Hearing the reply, I understood... Somewhat. 

"Then, why don't you just allow me to get everything early on for free if the actual thing I need to worry about are the upgrades?" 

<No can do. No fun for me.>

Reading the reply, I went speechless. Am I just a monkey in a zoo for it? 

<Yes. >

"... Sigh", considering the system didn't bully me extensively by messing with me, I decided to accept the verbal bullying with open arms. 

Putting my skill point into <Deadeye II>, I decided to, for a change of pace, throw my stat point in strength for now as I wanted to see why the system recommended me strenght. 

Boy... Did I not regret that. 

Noticing the massive difference in strength, I jumped up fron my couch. Yet the difference was... Shocking. Not sure how much stronger I was, I decided i would check tomorrow at a gym. 

"System, when you said strenght is the best stat..."

<Thats correct. The system isn't designed to turn you into a boring guy sitting behind the lines. It's for be mobile tank that can take any and all punishment before retaliating in horrific manner.>

Stupefied, i asked the system another question after some thought, recalling the one skill in the shotguns tree, <shotgunners armor>

"... When the <shotgunners armor> thing is said to scale exponentially with strenght in its description , how strong is its exponential scaling actually. Since, it was the only thing i saw that had the word" exponentially" in its description. "

"At 0 strength, your entire body and whatever you wear becomes bulletproof against 9mm and similar calibers." the voice of the guy who reincarnated me resounded in my head, instead of the system he was the one replying. "At 10 strenght, rifle bullets are nonlethal but can still pose a risk if under prolonged fire as the tiny injuries would accumulate, think of a mini gun or similar. At 20, you are virtually immune to sniper rifle shells, your entire body including the eyes being protected. And yes I should say this just makes your body have uniform hardness so even your eyes stop being a weak point, and no they can't be softened up by prolonged punishment either. At 25, tank shells wouldn't damage you or your clothing. Needless to say, this only works on normal clothing, so if you wear any sort of armor it won't apply to it as it would be considered a no fun cheat. Oh and obviously, if you take some of the advanced perks that get unlocked, you can also add fire immunity, radiation immunity and other things to the mix to become nigh invulnerable. You're still far off from that though so until then you need to be careful. Anyways~ todalo~."

Still rooted to the spot, my heartbeat and my breathing having accelerated to unprecedented levels. 

Slapping myself out of that state, I went to bed for today with bloodshot eyes. 

Having gotten barely any sleep, I decided on my skill level up plan being different now. Originally I wanted to get the rifle tree skills but now... First, get the peacemaker. Then, rush for shotgunners armor no matter what. And dump everything into strenght from now on, no exceptions. 

First thing I did early in the morning was head to the gym to experiment with the strength increase. While it overall felt like it truly was 20% increase or so... The difference didnt stop at pure physical power. I felt unrestrained, as if I was permanently floating. 

Incapable of putting my finger on the feeling, of what it was or how it worked, after an hour of experimenting in the gym, I left the there and instead went for the second thing I planned for today...

 Find the illegal shops Eliza had marked for me and get even more guns and ammo! 

Having brought 5k in illegal cash, I headed to the location of the pawn store that dealt with everything ranging from information to guns. 

Heading towards Canarsie once more, i stopped not even 5 meters away from the gym I just left. 

Having remembered im loaded, I proceeded with calling a taxi, saving myself some time from being cooked in the sun. 

An odd 10 minutes later, i paid the driver and disembarked upon arriving at my destination, or more specifically, a block away from the illegal pawn shop. 

Walking the last bit until the finish line, I found myself in front of the illegal pawn shop that dealt with basically anything. 

As usual, the brick facade that I was so familiar with seeing greeted me, with only a one angled slanted roof that tipped to the left. Heading inside, the bell rang out as I opened the door, and creaks resounded as I walked on the wooden floor. 

Looking around, this place seemed to be filled with a variety of different things, whether it was masks lining the entirety of one wall, or guitars that lined the other wall, jewelry in some glass boxes in front of the clerk, or tools and antique weapons in the shelves in the middle of the store. 

Looking back at the clerk... A small man with ginger hair, square spectacles and freckles. If anyone had told you this guy was running an illegal store, you'd never buy it. 

"Welcome dear customer, how may I help you." the man rose up from his seat, putting the guitar that was making terrible noises, back behind the counter. 

Turning to look at him, i pointed at the back room. 

Understanding what that meant, the mans smile grew wider. 

Like that, in the back room where there were a lot of boxes everywhere, the man continued with the wide smile , "Ah, i didn't think I'd get a customer from that side, how may I provide you assistance?" 

"A super redhawk thats been tampered with already, so i dont have to mess with it to get rid of ballistics tracking, a few hundred rounds of 44 magnum ammo. Other revolvers as long as they are 44 magnum are also fine but I'd need to inspect them, them being untraceable is the mandatory part. "

"Hmmm... A revolver huh... Ah, i do have something !" 

Thinking for a moment, he suddenly went and opened a trapdoor leading underground. Jumping in, and returning after he was digging for five odd minutes, he brought out three different things. 

Closing the trapdoor, he continued while slightly exhausted . 

"Number one. As you requested, a ruger super redhawk. Untraceable obviously." he lifted the first gun that I was familiar with. 

"Number two. A colt anaconda, much better looking than the super redhawk if you ask me." he continued. 

"... I didnt pick the redhawk cause of its looks" I replied, the annoyance apparent in my voice. 

"Okay I understand dear customer, as for the last one. A Taurus Raging Bull. This one specifically is chambered for 44 magnum as well." 

Looking at the three, and hearing the price tags, I decided to become 1k lighter after going with the anaconda. For one, I wanted to try it in action as I heard good things about it as well, and if it didn't work for me it would just go into my collection. As for why it was only 1k instead of the usual 1.5k for its model, it was one of the benefits of the black market. 

Then, I asked about something else. 

"Pack that up and the magnum ammo, and let's go back and look at the guitars." 

"Understood dear customer!" happy that he made such a huge sale, he packed everything quickly before he returned to the front desk with me. 

Turning to look at the guitars, I started inspecting if there was any hidden gem in here. Maybe I would get lucky and find a priceless treasure that I could resell or use for myself. 

Inspecting everything on the wall, I failed to find anything that stood out, so I just bought myself a ESP explorer. 

The sharp, angular body made for striking visuals, while the solid mahagony made the damn thing feel really nice to hold. Seeing as it wasn't damaged at all, that was a huge bonus for me. The unchipped black paint covering it enhanced the striking visuals part of it. 

Grabbing one of the cheaper amplifiers a cable and the things I may need. 

All of that together cost me 1k additionally 

Being 2.5k lighter, from the anaconda, the ammo and the guitar stuff, I still smiled, as I would be earning plenty of dirty money tonight. 

Throwing everything into a taxi I called post haste, I headed home, ready for tonight's action.