The days after the G17 appeared and vanished into my Spatial Inventory passed in a strange rhythm. On the outside, Yuuka Hatsumina's life continued as normal: going to school, working part-time, doing homework. But inside me was tension and a new motivation: research.
In the mornings, I was a high school girl, trying to keep up with lessons and fit in (though still a bit awkwardly) with my friends. In the afternoons, I was a part-time worker at the ramen shop, learning to fold gyoza faster and carry ramen bowls more steadily.
But when night fell, when I was back in my small apartment, I returned to my most hidden role: the reluctant researcher of the "Drop Item Phenomenon".
Yuuka's laptop became my main tool. Yuuka was a good student, so her computer was decent enough to serve this unusual "research" purpose.
I started searching. The initial keywords were quite simple: "Drop Item", "Strange items", "Guns falling", "Tokyo supernatural phenomenon".
The results were chaotic. Official news, scientific articles (often just preliminary research, with many unanswered questions), blog posts, and also forums and social media.
I spent hours every evening, sometimes very late, reading. Reading everything I could find.
[New information about the 'Drop Item Phenomenon' has been processed and added to the System's World Database.]
Occasionally, when I read something important or a detailed article, the System would speak up emotionlessly, confirming that it had collected data from my "observation" (via the computer screen). It was like an automatic note-taking and data-categorization tool.
I looked into the law. Searching for "Japanese law regarding ownerless property", "Japanese gun control law", "New regulations on anomalous items".
The old laws, designed for a normal world, were almost powerless against this phenomenon. 'Drop' items were considered ownerless property, but due to their special nature, the government had enacted emergency laws. All 'Drop' items belonged to the state. Anyone who found one was required to report it immediately to the police or designated authorities. Keeping, trading, or using 'Drop' items without permission was illegal.
Especially guns. Gun ownership laws in Japan were already extremely strict. To obtain a license to own a gun (limited only to certain types of hunting rifles or air guns, not automatic pistols), you had to go through an extremely rigorous background check, mental evaluation, mandatory training, and police approval. Owning any type of handgun was almost impossible for ordinary citizens.
And now, hundreds of guns from "Drop Items" were flooding the streets.
My act of taking the G17... According to the law, I was committing a crime. Possessing state property. Possessing illegal firearms. The severity of the charges was not small.
Great. I thought dryly, my face grimacing. I haven't even gotten used to being a girl yet, and I'm already a major criminal.
But on the underground forums, the attitude was completely different.
"Why report to the police? They won't get there in time anyway!" "If you find something good, keep quiet and sell it. Enough money to live for a whole year!" "Laws are just laws on paper. Out there, whoever has the good 'stuff', they're king!"
There was a clear division in society. On one hand, the government was trying to maintain the old laws and order. On the other hand, the new reality was full of chaos, and a segment of the population was willing to bend the rules, even commit crimes, to survive or get rich from this phenomenon.
I read about other item disputes. Brawls, robberies, even murders, all because of an item that suddenly appeared. The death of the original Yuuka... surely fell into this category as well.
I also looked into the other types of items the System listed: Entity-A (moving doll), Machine-B (alters temperature)... Public information about these was very scarce, usually just rumors or vague police reports. The government seemed to be trying to keep the extent of their strangeness and danger a secret.
[Analysis: Data collected from the Internet regarding 'Drop Item' incidents and societal reaction indicates a contradiction between the effort to maintain order and the chaotic, uncontrollable nature of the phenomenon.]
I know that, System. I'm living in that contradiction right now.
My life continued. In the mornings, I still had to wake up early, put on my uniform, eat a quick breakfast, and run to the subway station. Sitting in class, I solved math problems, listened to literature lectures. During breaks, I sat alone, or occasionally exchanged a few simple words with classmates. They still thought I was a bit different after the accident, but no one seemed deeply suspicious.
In the afternoons, I stood at the ramen shop counter, smiling at customers, carrying hot ramen bowls (a bit more steadily now), folding gyoza (already as skilled as the original Yuuka). Mr. and Mrs. Tanaka were still kind and warm.
But when night came, I returned to my real world. The computer screen, the browser tabs, the lines of information about guns, about laws being twisted, about strange items.
This "little girl's" effort wasn't just about blending in with normal life. It was also about equipping myself with knowledge about the abnormal world existing in parallel. Every piece of information gathered was like a bullet, a useful item in my knowledge "inventory".
I knew that having a G17 in my Spatial Inventory was very dangerous legally. But I also knew that in the next 'Drop' incident, it could be the only thing that saves my life.
The understanding of the law and social situation only solidified my determination. I couldn't rely on the police or the government. I had to rely on myself.
And to do that, I needed to know how to use the thing I had risked my life to acquire.
Searching for information about the law and the 'Drop' phenomenon was also the first step in figuring out how to practice shooting. I needed to know the legal restrictions, the risks, and possibly even places (even if illegal) where people might practice.
Tokyo night was quiet outside the window. But in this small room, my mind was working at full capacity, collecting, analyzing, preparing for the unpredictable things that would "drop" in the future.
Yuuka Hatsumina's life continued, artificially normal. But beneath the surface, a silent war was being fought, a war to understand, to adapt, and to survive.
I, Yuuka, continued to surf the web, the browser tabs glowing in the darkness, painting a picture of a world that was ordinary, yet terrifyingly abnormal.