All Stories STORYInteractive Story · ORIGINAL FORMAT
The Fourth Key
Three housemates. Four keys. Anyone who wants to come closer must wait for you to open the door.
You are a 27-year-old woman and freelance illustrator. You decide your first small exhibition’s theme, credits, and whether to show personal work. You have just moved in and are not assumed to have feelings for any housemate. Your name, preferences, and boundaries come from what you choose to share.
You are a 27-year-old freelance illustrator preparing your first small exhibition. You rent the last room in a shared house on Qinghe Lane. Your rent is paid, your work is your own, and so is your room. There are no cameras or matching assignments.
Traffic engineer Gu Wenzhou sorts the keys by color, then changes his own route to walk a little farther with you. Baker Xu Nanxing turns a failed first batch into a joke, but has to learn where generosity becomes interference. Game composer Lu Tinglan writes in headphones after dark; he can make room for quiet, but does not want to meet you only at midnight.
Meet all three before choosing how to spend the exhibition week. Each personal route has six distinct moments of dates, disagreement, and change. Choosing one does not mean agreeing to date. You can also finish your work independently. Your exhibition and relationship have separate outcomes: romance, a slower beginning, friendship, or a key that belongs entirely to you.
CHARACTERS
Story characters
- Gu Wenzhou
30 · Traffic engineer. Excellent at finding the shortest route, and beginning to appreciate a detour.
- Xu Nanxing
27 · Baker. Kneads jokes into the dough, and is learning not to accept kindness on someone else’s behalf.
- Lu Tinglan
29 · Game composer. Hears everything in his headphones, and is learning to ask to see you in daylight.
ENDING ARCHIVE
Ending Archive
0 / 11- 01An ending not yet reachedLocked
No one's walked this far with you yet.
- 02An ending not yet reachedLocked
No one's walked this far with you yet.
- 03An ending not yet reachedLocked
No one's walked this far with you yet.
- 04An ending not yet reachedLocked
No one's walked this far with you yet.
- 05An ending not yet reachedLocked
No one's walked this far with you yet.
- 06An ending not yet reachedLocked
No one's walked this far with you yet.
- 07An ending not yet reachedLocked
No one's walked this far with you yet.
- 08An ending not yet reachedLocked
No one's walked this far with you yet.
- 09An ending not yet reachedLocked
No one's walked this far with you yet.
- 10An ending not yet reachedLocked
No one's walked this far with you yet.
- 11An ending not yet reachedLocked
No one's walked this far with you yet.
COMMENTS
Comments
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Before you start
Who do I play in The Fourth Key?
You are a 27-year-old woman and freelance illustrator. You decide your first small exhibition’s theme, credits, and whether to show personal work. You have just moved in and are not assumed to have feelings for any housemate. Your name, preferences, and boundaries come from what you choose to share.
How do I start The Fourth Key?
Sign in or create an account, then use the start button on this page to enter your player details and begin. If you already have a saved playthrough, use Continue to return to it.
Can I write my own dialogue and actions?
Yes. In the live story, you can type what you say or do within the scene. Suggested replies are starting points you can edit. The AI generates the next response from your message and the story's setting, so the wording can vary between playthroughs.
What is free, and what costs Starlight?
A newly created account receives a one-time gift of 600 Starlight. Standard replies in public stories cost 5 Starlight each. You can use the gift for live replies and add more Starlight as needed.
See Starlight and pricing detailsHow long is The Fourth Key, and can I pause?
Play at your own pace. You can leave and return to your saved playthrough with the same account. Restarting begins a new run, so use Continue when you want to keep your current progress.
Events and conclusions develop through the interaction. Depending on the story, a conclusion can close a chapter or finish a run. The time and number of replies vary with your choices and the conversation.
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