An ancient ring, allegedly belonging to Judas and stolen from a museum by a thief nicknamed Student, inexplicably changes his life: he moves up the hierarchical ladder of the criminal world, comes up with a new form of criminal activity - racketeering, and creates the first organized crime group. But in the distant past, the ring has already changed human destinies: the slave Modus experienced a meteoric rise and a terrible fall... How will the fate of the Student and other people turn out? And who is behind this museum artifact?