CASE FILE #0001 — IN DEVELOPMENT

DEATH
TRACE

死亡地圖：追查者

A city full of unmarked graves. Every death points somewhere. Every thread you pull tightens the noose around your own neck.

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LIVE TRACKING ACTIVE
3 HOSTILE UNITS NEARBY
LAT 31.2304° N — LNG 121.4737° E
CITY GRID SECTOR 7 / DISTRICT 4
00 — CASE BRIEF

The city doesn't forget.
It buries.

Lincheng. Population 4.2 million. A model city of urban development, efficiency, and order. Beneath its gleaming infrastructure runs a network of silence — cultivated, enforced, and lethal.

You are an unlicensed investigator. No badge. No bureau. No backup. You received a tip that should not exist: seven deaths in seven districts, connected by a pattern no authority will acknowledge. Someone is watching you already.

Collect evidence. Map the network. Survive long enough to tell the truth. But understand — the deeper you go, the less the city wants you to come back out.

⬡ CLASSIFIED — LEVEL 3 ACCESS REQUIRED
This investigation has been flagged for termination by Bureau of Internal Oversight. All associated persons are subject to active monitoring. Proceed with extreme caution.
325
Confirmed Deaths
Officially ruled accidental. None investigated.
29
Districts to Navigate
Each with its own power structure, informants, and dangers.
∞
Ways to be Discovered
Every action leaves a trace. Every contact is a liability.
0
Official Allies
Trust is a resource. It depletes faster than you think.
01 — CORE MECHANICS

Investigation
is survival.

Every system intersects. Gather too slowly and the trail goes cold. Move too fast and you're exposed. The city is a puzzle that kills you for solving it.

— 01
Evidence Architecture
Collect fragments — photographs, files, contacts, testimony. Pin them to your investigation board. Draw connections. The pattern only emerges when you hold the whole picture.
Evidence System
— 02
Threat Surveillance
Three hostile factions operate across the city. Track their patrol routes, safe windows, and informant locations. Being seen is not failure — being caught is.
Threat Network
— 03
City Navigation
The city is layered — alleys, rooftops, metro tunnels, back channels. Plan your route carefully. Every safe house has an expiry date once burned by a contact.
Tactical Movement
— 04
Contact Network
Informants. Fixers. Witnesses. Build a fragile web of trust. Every contact has a limit — press too hard and they vanish. Or worse, they talk to the other side.
Social Mechanics
— 05
Safe House System
Rest. Analyze. Recover. But safe houses are never truly safe. Stay too long and you'll find out exactly how compromised your location has become.
Base Mechanics
— 06
Truth Cascades
Each revelation unlocks others. Solve one death and the next becomes visible. But every truth you uncover accelerates the forces working to bury you.
Narrative Engine
02 — LINCHENG CITY GRID

The city is the
crime scene.

Incident
Safe House
Contact
Patrol Path
Safe Route
LINCHENG // TACTICAL OVERLAY // ACTIVE
SECTOR 4 — BLOCK 7
LAT: 31.2304° N
LNG: 121.4737° E
LINCHENG BAY PARK DANGER ZONE α DANGER ZONE β NORTH HARBOR CENTRAL GRID EAST QUARTER WESTSIDE SOUTHPORT LOWER GRID
03 — HOSTILE FORCES

They are not
hunting criminals.

Three distinct power structures. Each with its own agenda. All unified by one goal: your silence.

● THREAT: CRITICAL
FACTION — ALPHA / 暗衛局
The Bureau
of Internal Silence
A government body that officially does not exist. Specializes in reclassifying deaths, erasing witnesses, and maintaining the city's official narrative. They have access to everything — and patience for nothing.
Reach
95
Lethality
85
Visibility
20
● THREAT: HIGH
FACTION — BETA / 黑潮會
The Heichao
Syndicate
An organized criminal network embedded in every district. Economically indistinguishable from legitimate business. They don't kill investigators — they buy them. If that fails, they make them disappear.
Reach
78
Lethality
65
Visibility
60
● THREAT: MODERATE
FACTION — GAMMA / 清網衛
The Clean
Network Guard
Originally a civic security initiative. Now a privatized surveillance apparatus. They watch everything and report upward. Their danger is not violence — it is knowing exactly where you are at all times.
Reach
100
Lethality
30
Visibility
85
TRACE
"

The city knows who you are.
It knew before you arrived.
The only question is how much time you have
before it acts on that knowledge.

— LINCHENG CITY INCIDENT REPORT, CASE #0044 / FILED & SEALED
04 — ACCESS REQUEST

The case
is open.

Death Trace: Investigator is currently in active development. Sign up to receive classified dispatches — development updates, early access opportunities, and case file drops as we get closer to launch.

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