After years of running missions and causing chaos in Los Santos, I still catch myself looking for little shortcuts to make the grind smoother, like topping up GTA 5 Money before jumping into a long session. The funny part is that GTA V is insanely obsessed with realism in a thousand tiny ways. Engines tick as they cool down. Sand sticks to tires. Shoes slap pavement with the right weight. But then you stumble into one of those "wait, how did we all miss this." moments. In the HD universe, car keys basically aren't a thing.

The moment you can't unsee.

It usually hides in plain sight because most of the time you're not thinking about ownership. You're thinking about escape routes. Or the next setup. Or whether the cops are about to spawn a helicopter right on top of you. Then a weird scenario pops up, like a scripted character approaching a vehicle that's clearly "theirs," and everything falls apart. Instead of a normal unlock animation, you get the same old routine: tug the handle, fail, and immediately go full caveman. Smash glass. Yank someone out. No hesitation. It's absurd, and it's way funnier when it's not some random NPC, but a guy who should absolutely have a fob in his pocket.

Why the game keeps choosing violence.

Under the hood, it starts to make sense. The systems are built around "theft" first, and "property" a distant second. Doors have simple logic: unlocked means hop in, locked means force entry. That's it. There's no third state for "lawful owner, please open politely." The animations are incredible at selling a crime sandbox. Hotwiring looks right. Window punches feel weighty. Even the awkward pause before the character commits to breaking in is familiar. But the game doesn't have a clean, everyday alternative, so every locked door turns the player and the AI into the same kind of problem-solver.

Los Santos runs on illusions.

What's wild is how long this stays invisible. The city is packed with cars, and the scripts usually keep things moving by leaving doors conveniently unlocked. You're also conditioned to steal, so you don't question the loop. It's only when a glitch, a mod, or a strange mission setup makes the simulation hiccup that you notice how empty everyone's pockets must be. Nobody's clicking a button. Nobody's fishing out keys. They're just obeying a ruleset that skips normal human behavior. If you want to stock up before diving back into the mayhem, you can buy in-game currency through GTA 5 Money for sale and keep the session rolling without the extra grind.