I had tested my ability with books.
That was only the beginning.
Next, I tried something different—chess.
The result stunned me.
It wasn't just knowing the rules or common strategies. Entire patterns unfolded in my mind. Openings, midgame transitions, endgame calculations. I could see moves ahead, not as guesses, but as inevitabilities.
It felt as though I had played for years.
That's when I realized something important.
This ability didn't just help me learn.
It altered how I thought.
My decisions, my actions—they adjusted themselves based on what I absorbed. Knowledge wasn't sitting idle in my mind. It was shaping me.
I needed better tools.
A laptop would be ideal—everything at my fingertips. But this wasn't the internet age yet. Access was limited. Information wasn't instant.
So I adapted.
For the next few days, I moved between bookstores and libraries. Quietly. Consistently. I focused on anything related to computers—programming, mathematics, logic, systems.
Page after page, concept after concept.
Slowly, something clicked.
I wasn't memorizing anymore.
I was building.
Code began to feel natural. Structures made sense. Whether it was a simple website or a basic game, I could already see how the pieces fit together.
The realization sent a familiar thrill through me.
But it wasn't enough.
There was something I had always been curious about—something just beyond the surface of systems and rules.
Security. Control. Access.
People called it hacking.
I didn't think of it that way.
To me, it was just understanding how things really worked.
And now—
It felt closer than ever.