I stepped out of the café and started gathering information, almost like interrogation.
It was necessary to get a feel for the atmosphere on the 5th floor.

“…Thieves? Well, I’m not sure.”
“Just choose the police.”
“Don’t talk to me. Don’t drag me into this.”

When I tried to talk about thieves, people showed obvious signs of reluctance.
They suddenly became defensive.

It was impossible not to sense that something was wrong with the Thief faction.

[Administrator] ─ There are still players who haven’t made their choice. Even if you think about it, you won’t come to a conclusion. It’s better to make your choice and proceed with the mission quickly.

The Administrator pressured me through a message.
Since there was no physical contact, I hesitated even more.

Of course, it affected my daily life.
With no money, I couldn’t do anything.
No meals, no accommodation, nothing.

Wheee-ooo! Wheee-ooo!

Then, I heard the sound of a siren.
It was a police car siren.

Wheeee-oo! Wheeee-oo!

A police car quickly sped by.
It zipped across the empty road.

I snapped my head around.

‘There are cars on the 5th floor?’

I didn’t expect police cars to be a part of the police-thief dynamics.
I rushed to follow the police car.

There was another player following behind me, just like me.
The number of players was surprisingly large, almost to the point of being absurd.

They sprang out of each building, like cockroaches.

‘It’s not like we’re chasing a disinfectant truck.’

The difference between us was that they knew about the police cars, but I didn’t.

“Who got caught?”
“There haven’t been any successful ‘arrests’ lately. Are they really going to try now?”

Their faces clearly showed that they had been waiting for something.
It was definitely an important event.

I perked up my ears among the players crowding together.
The casual chatter among them was far more valuable than the information I gathered through my inquiries.

“That must mean it’s pretty solid.”
“Well, you can’t just go around arresting people if you’re ‘the police’.”

The police car stopped at a hotel.
It was one of the accommodations where players stayed.

Police jumped out of the cars surrounding the hotel.

The players were clearly police officers, yet they were dressed in police uniforms.
It was such a strange sight.

‘Just like the pirates. Are they really getting that into being the police here?’

I had more questions.
They kept coming, one after another.

‘Was the structure like this on the 3rd floor? Could it be?’

Missions are divided into two types.
The challenge-type missions like on the 2nd floor, and the survival-type missions like on the 3rd floor.

I thought the 5th floor would be similar to the 2nd floor structure.
The Administrator had directly mentioned the missions.
I had expected that we would carry out missions suited to each faction in an arena-like space, just like in the Colosseum.

But no.
Something was going on in the city as well.

‘I’m not sure what it is, though.’

A player emerged from the hotel.
They were being dragged out by the police, clearly arrested.

“I—I’m not a thief! I’m not!”

It was an orc.
The orc shouted fiercely as it struggled.

The police were firm.

“You can confirm that at the station.”
“B-But if I go to the police station, I won’t come out!”
“If you’re not a thief, you’ll get out soon. If you’re really innocent, you can clear your name at the station. It’s better if you come quietly so we don’t get any bad feelings toward you.”
“You bastards! Someone help me! These assholes are…!”

The orc’s struggles were quickly suppressed.
It was shoved into the police car and taken away.

The players who had been watching shook their heads in awe and just observed.
It seemed like an overwhelming show of authority.

“Tsk, tsk. Looks like they’ve failed the thief mission three times.”
“……”

Someone muttered that and left.
No one seemed to expect the orc’s survival.

‘They’re probably expecting it to die.’

If you get caught by the police, you die.

The police have the power.
The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to choose the police faction.

While holding my smartphone, I hesitated.

“Heh, heh. Is this your first time seeing an ‘arrest’? You look so flustered.”
“…I just got here.”

A stranger whispered to me as he came up beside me.
There were no unfamiliar players on the 5th floor, but there was a particularly strange race.

The Citizens.

‘Cybernetic equipment, huh.’

The Citizens had always seemed off to me.
I felt a sense of rejection.

They were more unsettling than other races.
Humans who had replaced their limbs with machinery seemed even more bizarre to me than goblins.

If their entire body was made of machinery, like a cyborg or android, I might have found it easier to accept.

“You must need help. There’s a lot you don’t know yet.”
“…That’s true.”
“Have you gathered the necessary information?”

Instead of answering, I responded with a question.

“Is that an ‘arrest’? A police privilege?”
“It’s a bit ambiguous to call it a privilege. It’s a police mission.”

The man gestured.
He motioned to move to another location.

There were a lot of people near the hotel.
I guess arresting thieves wasn’t a common occurrence, as quite a crowd had gathered.

I nodded and followed him.
He looked incredibly intimidating, but I didn’t feel the need to be on high alert.

‘I’m not a thief, nor a police officer yet.’

A police faction player wouldn’t be able to trigger an ‘arrest’ on me.

‘If we’re talking about strength, I’m probably stronger.’

By passing through the 4th floor, I had reached the point where I wouldn’t be at a disadvantage against most races.
There was no need to be intimidated from the start.

He led me through a narrow alley to a building.
It was an old building.
There were some garbage around it.

“There are many buildings like this in the city. Abandoned buildings. You can use them at your discretion, although you won’t get help from the Administrator.”
“……”

Was he trying to scare me?
Not to expect help from the Administrator?

‘You came all the way here just to tell me that?’

I was dressed in regular clothes.
I couldn’t rule out the possibility that he might be a martial artist.

But was he provoking me?

‘Don’t judge by appearances.’

Just because he looked sneaky, it didn’t mean he was going to stab me in the back.
I’ll stay suspicious but keep my ears open.

“Why did you approach me?”

I tried to hide my awkwardness.
I didn’t want to look like a newbie who just arrived on the 5th floor.

But it seemed that it was obvious to the 5th-floor players.

‘Maybe they have a way of telling.’

Just like the goblins on the 4th floor.

“Heh heh. People who are indecisive about their class show it on their faces. They can try to hide it, but it’s impossible not to show it.”
“……”
“The Administrator hasn’t given us any information, so it’s frustrating, right? That’s showing on your face.”

The man chuckled.
It wasn’t a pleasant laugh.

“I’ll explain it simply.”

He began to explain the structure of the 5th floor.
As he said, it was simple.

‘There’s a main mission.’

For applicants, players are summoned to the field.
They are split into factions of police and thieves, each receiving their respective missions.

The police faction gets minor rewards for easy tasks, while the thief faction gets rewards based on difficulty.

“There’s a ‘survival prevention’ option. Even if you fail the mission, you don’t have to worry about dying.”
“…But there’s got to be something. Like how that orc was connected to death earlier.”
“Heh heh. That’s right. The Thief faction has penalties. Penalties that don’t compare to those of the police faction.”

In this city, only police faction players can live comfortably.
Thief faction players cannot enjoy the peace of the city.

“Whenever a thief faction player fails a mission, a clue about them is spread to the ‘police station.’ Once a thief has more than three clues out there, they can’t refuse the police ‘arrest’ order.”
“…What happens if you get arrested?”

I asked, recalling the orc from earlier.
The man showed his silver teeth as he spoke.

“You already know, don’t you?”

It’s not just about the missions.
Thieves can’t let their identities be exposed to the police in the city either.

“The Thief faction is at a severe disadvantage.”
“That’s how big the reward is.”

The man went on and on explaining the advantages of the Thief faction.

A list of rewards you can never get in the Police faction.
Equipment, artifacts, bonus points.
He emphasized the artifacts.

“You know how valuable artifacts are, right? They’re not comparable to regular equipment.”
“Do you have any?”
“No. I don’t have any. Artifacts are different from gaining just one extra skill. In terms of performance, they’re overwhelming.”

Artifacts can also be transferred to others.
They become especially useful in specific situations.

‘That’s something the Illusionary Tome can’t use.’

I agreed on the performance side.
Thanks to the Illusionary Tome, I’ve gained quite a lot.

Without the Tome, I would have gone through a lot more trouble.

“……”

I observed the man closely.
I was trying to read his expression to figure out if he was telling the truth or lying.

He grinned, not hiding his emotions.
He was confident, like he dared me to figure him out.

‘I think he’s telling the truth.’

That said, not everything he said is true.

I can’t distinguish between truth and lies.
Before the Tower of Struggle, I wasn’t a detective or a criminal investigator…

‘I trust my experience up until now.’

There are certainly good people out there.
But players who approach Earthlings first are all bad.

‘There hasn’t been a good one.’

Suddenly, a player on the 5th floor approaches to help me?

‘That’s not possible.’

He didn’t just outright oppose me.
Since I’ve made it to the 5th floor, he must think I’m not an average player, even if I’m Earthling.

‘He’s hinting at an alliance.’

Is he a thief?
Do thieves gain something when they recognize each other?

Would he offer to help a clueless new player?

‘Other than the convenience of backstabbing, does he have any other advantage?’

None.
I asked with a grin.

“I have one question.”
“What is it? Ask anything. If we’re going to be allies, I should tell you what you need to know.”
“Is it possible to ‘report’ a thief to the police?”