The task given to Mark is gaining in scope, and new forces are entering the Game. In the Zone, the interests of truly large players are increasingly intertwined, wanting to directly or indirectly use it in their own interests. But the Zone is a lady with character and does not tolerate the weak, so the choice of those who find themselves in it is small - fight or die. Heraclitus was right when he once said: “Struggle is the father of everything and the king of everything.” Only in it can you find out what a person is worth, what he is made of. Only in it, like steel tempered in fire, can an unbending will and an indestructible spirit be forged. The tougher the fight, the deeper the essence of each person will be revealed, and the task of Mark will be to find a deeply secret group of mercenaries just for those who are not looking for simple paths. However, it is not easy to accomplish it even in the ordinary world, so what can we say about the Zone, where the enraged laws of the universe seem to have conspired and turned nature itself against the stalker? It is here that Mark learns what lengths he is ready to go to fulfill his duty, but will he be able to withstand inhuman conditions and achieve his goal?..