Young student Dima Koshkin, living in a small port city, feels lonely and lost in this life. Accidentally heard words about the freedom and responsibility that we bear for our choices give birth to a universal formula for human happiness. Now, knowing exactly how all people should act, Koshkin undertakes to test this formula in all spheres of life, not noticing how, in the meantime, the destinies of people close to him are collapsing, be it a drunken father or a friend on the verge of a mental breakdown. The key moment in testing Koshkin’s philosophy is a romantic relationship with a married woman, in which the game of freedom and responsibility becomes a way of mutual self-deception, erasing the boundaries of one’s own and other people’s pain. Each new day seems to ask the hero whether it is really possible to fit a spontaneous and unpredictable life into one philosophical concept. Published in the author's edition, preserving the author's spelling and punctuation.