Ruby, 92 51 bytes, score 8

->e{'$><<(""<<'+(e.bytes.map{|x|[1]*x*?+}*"<<")+?)}

Try it online!

How

In Ruby, the string operator << converts an integer to a codepoint, and appends the corresponding character.

Starting with the empty string, we can append all characters of the original string as numbers, and send the result to standard output ($>).

  Using puts works without brackets, but the score is the same.

Ruby, 92 50 bytes, score 8 7

->e{'$><<$==""<<'+(e.bytes.map{|x|[1]*x*?+}*"<<")}

Try it online!

How

In Ruby, the string operator << converts an integer to a codepoint, and appends the corresponding character.

Starting with the empty string, we can append all characters of the original string as numbers, and send the result to standard output ($>). Using $= (deprecated variable warning) to avoid wrapping the string in brackets, and saves 1 character.

Ruby, 92 bytes, score 8

->e{'$><<(""<<'+(e.bytes.map{|x|([111]*(x/111)+[11]*(x%111/11)+[1]*(x%111%11))*?+}*"<<")+?)}

Try it online!

Ruby, 92 51 bytes, score 8

->e{'$><<(""<<'+(e.bytes.map{|x|[1]*x*?+}*"<<")+?)}

Try it online!

How

In Ruby, the string operator << converts an integer to a codepoint, and appends the corresponding character.

Starting with the empty string, we can append all characters of the original string as numbers, and send the result to standard output ($>).

Using puts works without brackets, but the score is the same.