On June 10, 2006, at 14:33, an incident of an unknown nature occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, generating an abnormal Zone (the second disaster). The experiment is getting out of control. The generators located next to the station begin to release energy from the Earth's information field. Most of the people who are in the exclusion zone at this very moment die instantly. Various anomalies appear in various places of the Zone, which, when interacting with surrounding objects, produce artifacts — strange formations with unusual capabilities.
Soon, the Area begins to be populated by people who came here for artifacts. They call themselves stalkers. Legends are spreading among stalkers about a Monolith — a crystal from an alien world or from another dimension that fulfills any desires. From the rumors, it becomes clear that the Monolith is located inside the destroyed fourth power unit at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Stalkers seek to get there to ask the Monolith to fulfill their own desires