The Real Killer
01
Editorial Dossier · Game Overview & Case Archive
The Real Killer is a single-player detective mystery game and investigative visual novel where every episode puts you inside the story with a new identity, a ticking deadline, and a notebook full of conflicting accounts. Your first assignment, Case 01: Pylon 2, is playable from start to finish right in your web browser—free to the end, with no download and no account sign-up.
While many mystery stories stay fixed once you reach the ending, The Real Killer changes the culprit every time you begin anew. Each time you start a fresh investigation in Case 01, one of the five suspects becomes the real culprit. You visit the same rainy streets of Danwol City and meet the same cast of people, yet a different suspect fabricates an alibi and conceals key actions. Previous answers cannot carry you through; each investigation relies on comparing the statements and records gathered during that playthrough.
Because you work the case as a local newspaper reporter or insider without police arrest powers, progress comes from four connected investigative steps.
Time before the deadline is limited. You choose where to go across Danwol City—visiting the boarding house, the quarry hut, City Hall, the cable car control room, and the cruise pier. Moving between locations or waiting advances the hands of your wristwatch and spends remaining time slots, making your route and interview order matter.
Witnesses and the five suspects speak one sentence at a time. Bystanders share what they saw, while the culprit bends key times or movements to build an alibi. Gathering logbooks, call records, and sightings in your reporter's notebook highlights where two accounts of Wednesday night clash.
Whenever a line clashes with a photograph, document, or word card in your notebook, press Hold it and present the proof on the spot. Matching the contradicted sentence with the relevant evidence strikes out the false claim and opens up hidden movements and new leads.
At the close of each chapter, the Deduction Board in your notebook opens so you can place collected word cards into blank sentences and organize verified facts. When you close the investigation and name the culprit with supporting proof, your result receives one of three stamps—Solved, Not Proven, or Wrong Man—saved per suspect in the in-game Case Log.
Every episode in The Real Killer is a standalone murder case in a distinct city and setting, handing you a different credential at the start of each story.
Role: Yoon Ji-woo, City Desk Staff Reporter at the Danwol Daily
"Reporter Yoon, it's Moon Tae-seop. Sorry to call so late."
Returning from a reporting trip on Friday morning, you find a Wednesday late-night voicemail left by safety inspector Moon Tae-seop. That same dawn, the inspector was found dead at the bottom of the abandoned quarry. Police prepare to close the death as a fall, while City Hall holds a threat letter warning that the first sea gondola will plunge past Pylon 2 during the weekend opening ceremony.
Before the deadline runs out, you question five suspects tied to the cable car project and uncover who is lying about Wednesday night.
Play Case 01 on the WebExplore the Case 01 Setting & Suspects
Role: Lim Jung-min, Business Desk Staff Reporter at the Solpyeong Daily
"Reporter Lim, what brings you back at this hour?"
On the night before a local savings institution in Solpyeong faces suspension, anxious depositors line up outside through the cold night holding numbered waiting tickets. Before dawn, the managing director is found dead inside the underground vault room.
Carrying the press pass of Solpyeong Daily business reporter Lim Jung-min, you compare entry logs, waiting ticket sequences, vault key custody, and conflicting statements to find the culprit.
The first case is free to the end. Later cases open individually or in a three-case bundle in the official mobile app on the App Store and Google Play, where local store pages display regional terms.
