VETERAN STATUS: 32 YEARS OF GAMING EXPERIENCE

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Lathe operator at 18. Red Team Security at 19. Senior IT Engineer at 44.

25 years as Sephiroth

32 years of gaming. 25 years in IT. This is the personal archive of Dan Gârboan — the story of how a factory worker chose IT to stay connected to gaming, and never looked back.

1993

Gaming Start

2000

Sephiroth Born

2014

Bachelor's Degree

25+

Years IT Career

EXPLORE THE VAULT SCROLL TO DISCOVER

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THE MANIFEST

Life Philosophy • Est. 2000

This is Sephiroth. This is who I am. This is why I exist in this form.

I. NEVER COMPROMISE PASSION

At 18, I was a lathe operator cutting metal in a factory. The work was honest, but it would have killed my connection to the digital worlds. I chose IT so I'd never have to log out. 25 years later, I'm still here. Still gaming. Still building.

II. MASTERY THROUGH DISCIPLINE

Factory work taught me precision. Gaming taught me pattern recognition. Red Team security taught me systematic thinking. Every boss fight, every production incident, every puzzle—they all follow the same logic: observe, decompose, execute, iterate.

III. IDENTITY IS NON-NEGOTIABLE

In 2000, I became Sephiroth. Not as a gimmick. Not as a phase. As an identity. From mIRC chat rooms to enterprise IT infrastructure. From teenage gamer to Senior Engineer. The name never changed because who I am never changed.

IV. LEGACY OVER TRENDS

I don't chase trends. I don't play the newest games just because they're new. I archive the worlds that shaped me. Final Fantasy VII. Tomb Raider. Mortal Kombat. These aren't nostalgia—they're foundations. This vault exists to remember that the past built the present.

"Work hard. Never compromise. Master the systems."

From factory floors to server rooms. From Midgar to production infrastructure. This is 32 years of gaming experience and 25 years of digital identity.

— Sephiroth / Dan Gârboan

⚔️ ORIGIN STORY

From Steel to Code

At 18, I was a lathe operator. At 19, I chose IT to never leave the virtual worlds. This is how Sephiroth was born.

1999

The Factory

Age 18. Working as a strungar (lathe operator) in an industrial factory.

"Eight-hour shifts cutting metal with precision machines. Physical work. Manual labor. But at night... I was exploring Midgar, solving tomb puzzles, fighting in Mortal Kombat tournaments."

Manual precision, physical exhaustion

Late 1999

The Choice

A realization hit me: I couldn't give up gaming. It wasn't just entertainment—it was a part of who I was.

"Factory work would consume my life. Evening shifts would kill my gaming time. I needed a career that would let me stay connected to the digital worlds. The answer was clear: IT."

The pivotal decision

2000

Birth of Sephiroth

Age 19. Adopted the name SEPHIROTH. Entered the IT world through Red Team Security.

Started working with Linux systems, learning SSH brute force testing, network security, and penetration testing in controlled environments.

"From cutting metal to cutting through authentication systems. From factory precision to code precision. The methodology was the same—just a different material."

2014

Academic Foundation

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science — Transilvania University of Brașov (Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics).

"After 14 years of hands-on IT work—from Red Team Security to systems administration— the degree validated what experience had already built. Theory met practice."

From practice to diploma

2000 → 2025

25 Years Later

From Red Team Security to Senior IT Engineer. From penetration testing to enterprise infrastructure.

The choice to enter IT wasn't just about career—it was about identity. 25 years later, Sephiroth remains. Gaming veteran, IT specialist, vault keeper.

Never had to log out

READ THE FULL ORIGIN STORY

Terminal-style narrative • Linux aesthetic • Red Team origins

> TECHNICAL SOUL

How 32 years of gaming shaped a Senior IT Engineer

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The Gamer

1993 - Present

└─ Tomb Raider puzzles taught me systems thinking and decomposition
└─ FF7's materia system was my first exposure to modular architecture
└─ RPG inventory management = early resource optimization training
└─ Boss fights required pattern recognition and adaptive strategies

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The Engineer

2005+ Years

└─ Infrastructure troubleshooting uses the same logic as solving temple puzzles
└─ Microservices architecture mirrors RPG party composition strategies
└─ Resource allocation applies gaming-learned optimization principles
└─ Incident response = real-world boss fight scenarios

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The Choice

1999: I was 18, working as a strungar (lathe operator) in a factory. The work was honest, but it consumed everything. At night, I played Final Fantasy VII, Tomb Raider, Mortal Kombat.

I realized something simple: if I stayed in factory work, I'd lose gaming. So I chose IT. Not because it was glamorous—because it meant I could stay connected to the worlds I loved.

2000: Started in Red Team Security, testing Linux systems with SSH brute force. Adopted the name Sephiroth. That was 25 years ago.

"I chose IT so I wouldn't have to give up gaming. It worked."