"The bolt-action rifle sounds like the obvious choice," He spoke to himself, though he was also hoping to get the system's output on the matter. "I don't even think that any bastarding fish can handle two of its bullets? Right? 1,000 points of damage is a lot."
[It is a lot, but don't make miscalculations. There are plenty of creatures who can withstand the damage, even a few creatures that are as small as you. Durability and size aren't always relative, not to mention, magic plays a large lore in the equation.]
"Oh…" He held his head in frustration. "That's right, I've seen starfish wearing body armor before. I guess hard steel can withstand bullets quite easily, so let's hope that armor in general is rare. I wouldn't fucking know much about that, of course! I've been stuck in those mines for way too long."
Despite this input, Winston had already made his mind up. He wanted to rely on a strong weapon, because after all, it would be even worse if he faced an armored enemy, with this 9mm pistol of his. In that situation, a rifle that blasted a thousand points of damage per bullet, should give him a better advantage. A stronger bullet could bend steel armor, after all, which would at least shock his enemies, if not kill them. For that matter, he spent most of his system points, and bought the Brown Barreled bolt-action rifle. It was an intuitive decision.
[-700 system points]
[Total points = 130]
He didn't regret this pricey purchase, as he felt that it was worthwhile. Other than delivering high damage, the rifle had great aim and guaranteed accuracy, and these were statistics that he could not ignore. He was a novice in all-things-guns, so he felt comfortable depending on a gun that to some degree, compensated for his lack of skill.
Instinctively, he flicked both of his wrists, and so, the rifle appeared on his hands a second later, and replaced the 9mm Starfish Destroyer, which disappeared during the switching.
Shocked, he asked, "Where the hell did my pistol go?"
[It disappeared, since the rifle on your hands requires both of your hands to be free in order to use it properly. However, you can summon your pistol back whenever you'd like. Weapons Magic is just as the name suggests, it's magical. You don't need to carry your guns all the time in order to use them.]
"Oh, okay then?" He nodded. "I don't need it right now anyway. Pretty sure this lovely, big rifle would break my bones if I tried to take a shot with it using only one hand."
Loyal to its description, the rifle was a rugged, yet powerful-looking weapon. Most of its body was dark-brown, except for the bits of steel that held the rifle together. The rifle was almost as tall as him, so he even started feeling nervous about operating such a beast of a coral clearer!
He expressed, "The bastard's a bit bigger than I imagined it to be, but I guess it's okay. Bigger guns punch bigger holes, after all… against barracudas at least? The big fucker I just killed didn't have any armor on."
Winston couldn't even maneuver the gun because of the hole in the ground that he was hiding in. The head of the rifle kept bumping across the walls, so he had to flick it away, and make it disappear for a moment.
Afterwards, he climbed out of the hole that he was hiding in, and summoned the rifle again with the flick of his wrists. Once it popped up in his hands, he slapped its tail and loaded it instantly. The rifle had an internal magazine, so the bullets were stored inside the gun rather than in some normal magazine that most pistols had. It was different, surely better for hunting big game.
[-20 mana points]
[Total points = 304]
"Those bullets sound cheap for such a big bastard," He remarked, though happily.
Winston then scanned the perimeter, hoping to find another barracuda to shoot at, but he wasn't as lucky this time around. It was as if the universe was mocking him now, because earlier on he fought a full-grown barracuda using a simple, 9mm pistol, but now that he had a bigger, much more powerful gun on his hands, the coral reef around him was as calm, and serene as ever! Nevertheless, he didn't quit on the hunt.
With a bit of caution, he crawled out of his hiding spot, and continued to explore the "mountainous" area of coral reef that stretched above the City of Fik. Thanks to the recent expenses, he had quickly reached the conclusion that he needed to pile up more system points if he was to sneak into the city, and hope to survive there for a long time.
The math was simple, he had to upgrade the 9mm Starfish Destroyer to the maximum, because it was the type of weapon that he could pull out, aim, and shoot quickly if he was ever in danger. Especially in a confined space.
Alternatively, he tried to bug the system to give him more purchase options, other than the remaining Short-barreled, Silver Devil revolver, which was the gun that he hadn't bought yet, but the system wasn't cooperative.
[Your purchase options are serialized,] She said. [You need to buy every available gun that I offer you, for a new set of purchasable guns, or weapons to unlock.]
"Fabulous," He sneered, and stuck to his original plan. "I gotta max out the Starfish Destroyer, god damn it."
Winston continued to hike across the coral reef, and about a half an hour later, he ran into a group of creatures that he would otherwise wish to avoid. Crabs! Thirteen of them!
Coral Crabs, to be exact. They were big ones too, almost as big as him, so he was very hesitant to pick a fight with them!
Not only could they crawl faster than him, but they were accustomed to squeezing into small holes across the coral reef as well, so he wouldn't be able to hide from them if he needed to. If he got cornered by these crabs, he might as well shoot himself to get it over with, because the crabs would tear him apart anyway.
Just as he tried to figure out if he should attack them or not, one of the thirteen crabs, perhaps two feet away from him, pulled out a gun!