Six years have passed since Yegor Zotov’s expedition excited ordinary people and revived interest in Zone Three-Eight. But Yegor’s dashing team mysteriously disappeared into the anomalous expanses. All search parties disappeared without a trace. Gradually, the Zone devoured an unprecedented influx of naive, romantic stalkers. Everything is back to normal. But years later, something strange is happening here again. A new predator was born in the Zone. The Brown Hermit is the name of a tramp who time after time goes into the Zone and plays his cruel game there. He hates greed, although he loves money. He cannot stand people who are thoroughly saturated with vices and sins, but he himself is hopelessly sinful. But one day, in his cunning plan, an anomalous joker appears - an old wanted stalker. And the monotonous game, in which dozens of lives are at stake, receives a powerful impulse of excitement. But who is the main player in Zone Three-Eight?..