Welcome to The Zone, Iruma-kun!

Chapter 1

Iruma dashes through the swamplands, his boots sloshing against the water as he runs towards the relative safety of the Skadovsk. The blaring alarm from the stranded ship was drowned out by the ever growing roar of thunder. The entire area illuminated by a red hue as both stalker and mutant rush towards safety.

He was with two other stalkers several minutes before it began, taking part of a hunting expedition that was taking place at Izumrudnoye where it was reported that several mutants were in the area. What they failed to mention however...

GWOOOOOARRR!

Was that the mutants in question were bloodsuckers.

"AHHHHHHH!"

"DAMNIT GOPHER, HAUL YOUR ASS IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!"

"I'M TRYINNNG!"

"WELL TRY HARDER!"

"WE'RE ALMOST THERE! JUST A BIT FURTHER GUYS!"

As the three stalkers get near the entrance, they see other stalkers rushing in as well.

"GUYS LOOK OUT! BLOODSUCKERS INBOUND!"

GWOOOOAARRR!

Hearing the sudden noise, they all reach for their weapons before firing at the general direction of where the noise was. Not bothering to see the outcome, the trio rushed inside and soon collapsed on the floor. Shortly after the ground begins to rumble, with many flashing lights adorning the afternoon sky as the emission is about to reach a critical point.

At the bar, the stalker known as Beard makes one last transmission before communications shut down. The radio crackles with interference as he tries to make his voice heard.

"Attention, Attention! An emission is about to occur! Seek shelter immediately!"

At this point everyone has already arrived at the Skadovsk, now waiting out the momentary hell. The emission would only continue for at least another few minutes, but there would be no doubt that The Zone would claim more victims. Regardless, it was just how life was in The Zone.

And as Iruma stayed on the floor of the Skadovsk catching his breath, this was how his life was now. Not that it made any difference.

Iruma Suzuki was born to very selfish and carefree parents, who were quick to drag him out into the harsh world as soon as he turned one. He was used as bait, lived in the forest, ate leaves and bugs and worked for unsavory people. He was, for all intents and purposes, someone who could not say no.

But he was a kind-hearted boy, one who would never dare to lay his hands on another person. He was quick to help others and to show kindness and respect, and never would he hold any grudges. A model son wasted on horrible parents.

It was only until he turned 10, when his parents decided to send him to The Zone. When asked why they wouldn't join him, they went with the excuse of only having enough money for his equipment. The plan was relatively simple: go out and find these so called "artifacts", smuggle them out of the Zone, and sell them for a high price. It was a simple plan that should have taken only a few months at best.

It has been four years since then, and since then Iruma lives his life as a S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Four years ago, he abandoned his name, opting with his stalker name "Gopher"

Four years ago, he learned how to shoot his first weapon

Four years ago, he learned the harsh realities of The Zone and how a human life is insignificant in comparison.

Four years ago... he had his first taste of combat.

Since then he has seen many things, learned different trades, hunted many mutants and completed many jobs. He has had conversations with many stalkers and sat with them by the campfire. He has visited many places and found many artifacts, his weapon knowledge is second to none.

The Zone had changed him, for better or for worse. He was still a kind-hearted young boy, but now tainted by the blood of those who tried to cut his life short. He never liked harming anyone, nor did he ever wished death to anyone no matter how deserving they were of it.

But never in his entire life did he feel anything as he did before going into The Zone. He learned to become independent and assertive, to become more aggressive in his goals. In his mind, a surge of mixed feelings went through him. Anger, sadness, pain, happiness, faith, perseverance and many other words were only a few of the things he was feeling.

Right now, however, as he lied there on the floor of the Skadovsk, with his vision blurred by his lack of stamina and the rumbling from the emission, with his hunting rifle by his side there was only on thing on his mind. A desire, one that up until this point he had not even considered because of how far it was. One that The Zone, in a way, was able to grant to him.

A desire to be free... to be free of his former life.

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Hellos Hellos! Kalbern here!

Well if you were expecting a chapter from the other story... then I'm sorry. Now don't misunderstand here, I am not abandoning Smokin Hero, in fact I have already started on the next chapter.

Now let me give the gist of what's goin on right now. I have currently started working at a different job, and have been busy with IRL issues. It was a bit stressful and I was not in the right state of mind to continue at the moment. However, things are now looking up and I have been steadily getting things back under control. So this was what I decided to do.

I didn't work on Smokin Hero that much mostly because I did not feel that the quality of it would stay as it was as I am right now. However, it did get me in the mood to try this one out. Knowing that STALKER 2 is coming out soon and Iruma-kun is highly popular, I thought "eh, why not?", right? This was something that I wanted to try out along with Smokin Hero and I am anxious to know what you thought of this.

Now I know Iruma sounds a bit OC in this, but for those who do not know about the The Zone, it is a place where anything can happen and it could be close to a pilgrimage of human meddling. The Zone is a hell of a place, fellow STALKER.

Again I apologize for not giving the next chapter of the other story, but rest assured that it will come by June.

Until then, thank you for taking the time to read this little tidbit of mine and I'll see you guys soon.