Asset

using UnityEngine;

public class WeaponController : MonoBehaviour
{
  // Drag Assets from Project onto these fields in the Inspector
  [SerializeField] private Sprite     weaponIcon;
  [SerializeField] private AudioClip  shootSound;
  [SerializeField] private GameObject bulletPrefab;
  [SerializeField] private Material   glowMaterial;

  void Start()
  {
      // Use the assigned Asset — no runtime search needed
      GetComponent<SpriteRenderer>().sprite = weaponIcon;
  }

  public void Shoot()
  {
      Instantiate(bulletPrefab, transform.position, transform.rotation);
      AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint(shootSound, transform.position);
  }
}

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections.Generic;

// Runtime asset manager — load by key, cache for reuse
public class AssetCache : MonoBehaviour
{
  private static Dictionary<string, Object> _cache = new();

  public static T Load<T>(string path) where T : Object
  {
      if (_cache.TryGetValue(path, out var cached))
          return cached as T;

      // Resources.Load looks under Assets/Resources/
      T asset = Resources.Load<T>(path);
      if (asset != null)
          _cache[path] = asset;
      else
          Debug.LogWarning($"Asset not found: {path}");

      return asset;
  }

  public static void Unload(string path)
  {
      if (_cache.TryGetValue(path, out var asset))
      {
          Resources.UnloadAsset(asset);
          _cache.Remove(path);
      }
  }
}

// Usage:
// var tex = AssetCache.Load<Texture2D>("Textures/hero_sprite");