Originally, I had planned to buy a laptop first—and only then begin executing my plans.
Resources.
Connections.
People.
None of it would come overnight.
But everything had to start somewhere.
Z City had its own version of a cheap electronics market—crowded, noisy, chaotic. After some searching, I found what I needed: an old laptop, functional and unremarkable.
₹10,000.
A new one would have cost four or five times that. For now, this was enough.
More than enough.
The moment I powered it on, I understood something.
The limitation was never the machine.
It was the user.
I navigated the system like it was an extension of my thoughts. Setting up environments. Writing code. Creating simple websites—it all happened naturally, without hesitation.
I wasn't experimenting anymore.
I was operating.
Curious, I moved into security—controlled environments only. Public labs. Practice servers. Legal test platforms designed to be broken.
Firewalls. Encryption. Access control.
One by one, they fell apart—not because they were weak, but because I could see how they were built.
It felt… effortless.
I decided to test myself properly.
I registered on a well-known cybersecurity competition platform—ethical hacking, capture-the-flag style. For my username, I chose a name that amused me.
Mr.Fool.
The tests began.
Identify vulnerabilities.
Exploit weaknesses.
Secure systems again.
I passed every stage.
Qualification confirmed.
Before shutting down, I hardened my own system.
Encrypted storage.
Masked identity.
Layered protections.
Just to be safe.
I closed the laptop and leaned back.
And now, for the first time, I had the right tool in my hands.