At thirty years old, left without a job, without any clear prospects... And now, it seems, without a wife. Collapse - or is it the last chance to get involved in an adventure? The writer Anton Smirnov, who has lost his former popularity, accepts an invitation from an old friend and sets off to the endless virtual expanses of the cold seas in search of fame and profit. At first, "Gardarika" seems like a simple toy. But everything will change when Anton realizes that the squabbling of clans will soon result in war in the real world, and some friends and enemies will seem vaguely familiar. As if he had already read about them in a book. Or maybe... wrote?