Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 218 Should we admit defeat?

"Murphy! Darkholm!" A roar jolted him awake. "Falling asleep at work! Bonus deducted! Lazybones! Have you finished writing your reply?"

In the Pest Office, Murphy opened his eyes to a mountain of letters piled up before him.

Goblins, vixens, little devils...

"Bang!" A spherical mountain of flesh sat down in front of him, its thick lips spitting out saliva as it chattered incessantly.

He saw his own reflection in the other person's eyes.

Pale, thin, with messy hair and heavy dark circles under his eyes, he looked like someone who had worked himself to the bone to the point of kidney deficiency.

[Comparable to Alex...]

What am I doing here? Why am I doing this boring job?

Why should I listen to this ugly woman's nagging?

He wanted to stand up.

Suddenly, a heavy pressure surged up.

Don't I want to quit my job? Don't I want to live anymore? How am I going to earn money? Should I stop paying the mortgage? What will my parents say? What will my relatives think? Should I still go to the class reunion?

"You can't do anything without money."

"Just bear with it, it will pass."

"That's how it is for everyone. Just get through these few years and things will be fine."

"Young man, it's only right that you endure some hardship."

"Money is so hard to earn these days, it's good enough to make a living, and people don't even know how to appreciate it."

"Do you own a house? Do you own a car? How many digits does your salary have?"

"Sorry, I don't like men who lack ambition."

【Oh】

"Bang!" Murphy stood up at some point and punched the fleshy ball in the face.

Fuck you!

……

It got dark sometime during the day, and he arrived at his front door.

Pushing open the door, I saw a woman breastfeeding her child.

As soon as he entered the door, the child suddenly burst into tears.

"Close the door! It's so cold outside!"

He quickly closed the door. "I brought some food, there's something you want to eat..."

"What kind of food is this! The child has a fever, and you haven't even glanced at him. I don't know what you're busy with all day long, and I haven't seen a penny of money from you."

He leaned closer and saw a bright red little face.

That face looked somewhat familiar.

[Tom?]

"I quit my job, so I can help you take care of the kids for the next few days..."

"What?!"

"You quit your job? Are you crazy? It was such a good job, sitting in an office all day, enjoying air conditioning and drinking tea while getting paid, why did you quit?!"

"Didn't you say you're so busy every day that you don't see a penny of money?"

"Where will you make money if you quit? What else can you do? Go apologize to your boss and see if you can get back..."

"It's impossible..."

"Murphy! Are you crazy! Are we going to starve?! How are we going to live like this?!"

"I'll find a way. I'll change jobs, and we'll face this together."

"Together? Murphy! Can't you be more mature! Can't you stop dreaming! What else can you do? Go back to manual labor? How are you going to support us?"

"Do you know how much it costs to buy baby formula every month? Do you know how much it costs to send your child to school? Do you know how expensive school district housing is?"

"Murphy, stop dreaming! Everyone is exchanging their dreams for money, everyone is selling their time, why can't you?"

"How noble is your self-esteem? How much are your ideals worth? Accept reality! You're just one of the masses!"

"Admit it, Murphy! You're mediocre! You're just an ordinary person! You'll only ever amount to nothing!"

"..."

Should we admit defeat?

"……No."

……

Under the bridge, he huddled in a simple shack, cutting a wooden stick.

"Hey, old man, what are you doing?"

"Make a magic wand."

"A magic wand? More like a walking stick?"

He stopped talking.

"Hey, why aren't you saying anything?"

"Look everyone, this guy thinks he has magic."

"Hey old man, how about you perform a magic trick of disappearing into thin air?"

"I want to see fire-breathing."

"That's acrobatics, you idiot."

"Hey, old man, I'm talking to you."

"This old man's a bit arrogant, let's beat him up!"

His shack was demolished, and he was trampled underfoot by several street thugs in their teens, but he still held that wooden stick in his hand.

"Give it to me!"

Someone stole the stick.

"Give me back my wand! You idiot!"

The wooden stick was broken.

Should we admit defeat?

"Oh."

A hand grabbed his hair. "You know magic, don't you? Show us something!"

"Okay," he said. "Close your eyes first."

He picked up the small knife used for cutting wooden sticks.

With a single stroke, the knife sliced ​​across the necks of several people.

"This move is called the Breath-Severing Technique."

……

"This guy is a dark wizard!" A jailer slammed down a plate of spoiled food. "He killed people; he deserves to die in Azkaban."

"Are you a dark wizard?" Several strangely shaped dark figures looked over from inside the cell.

"no."

"So you're a good person?"

"no."

"Then what are you?"

"I am Murphy."

"No, you're not Murphy..."

From the corner, a dark figure revealed its face. "I am the real one. You're the imposter. You've impersonated me, you live with my name and my appearance. You're a thief, you're a robber..."

He walked towards the shadowy figure and plunged a knife into its heart.

"So?" he asked.

"Why don't you feel guilty? Don't you have a conscience?" the shadow struggled and wailed.

"Conscience? I'm not a good person."

"Murder!" someone shouted.

Countless Dementors pounced on him, and he was pinned to the ground.

Dumbledore stood on the judge's bench. "Murphy Darkholm, do you plead guilty?"

【ha!】

He slowly stood up, letting the Dementors inhale frantically, yet he still kept his body upright.

"Confess? I'm not a bad person."

……

"Most of the cells in your body have aged to varying degrees, greatly increasing the probability of cancer in your tissues. You could develop cancer at any time."

"Based on the imaging, it appears to be a tumor. The location is suitable for surgery. Should we proceed?"

"Let's have surgery."

"There are two cysts in the lungs with irregular edges, which are more likely to be malignant tumors, but surgery is difficult here, so radiotherapy will be the best option."

"it is good."

"It's a colon tumor that needs to be removed, and then a colostomy will be performed. You'll have to live with a bag for the rest of your life."

"Let's have surgery."

"Some of the stomach needs to be removed..."

"Lymphoma, chemotherapy is the only treatment option..."

"This dose will be very large. You may experience swelling all over your body, hair loss, and become very weak..."

"This time it's your esophagus; from now on, you can only eat liquid food..."

"pancreas……"

"Small intestine..."

"liver……"

"brain……"

On the hospital bed sat a person whose body was swollen with edema. He was covered in various instruments and bandages.

"Oh my God," someone came to visit, "it's so pitiful..."

"The lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys... all the internal organs... there's not a single healthy spot left on my body."

"Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, complications, infections... the body's immune system has been mostly destroyed, relying entirely on medication to patch the holes. Coughing, headaches, difficulty breathing, and fainting are all common occurrences..."

"It's so painful, why not..."

"Yes, why bother? Don't make things difficult. Go back and eat something good, spend your last days happily, wouldn't that be better?"

"Murphy, it hurts to see you in so much pain..."

"We cannot treat your condition here. Please try another hospital."

"Experimental therapy? Given your condition, you'll most likely die..."

"The success rate is very low. We suggest you opt for conservative treatment and spend more time with your family..."

"Why are you so stubborn? Wouldn't it be better to give up your illusions and seize those last moments? Why torture yourself and others?"

"This is a terminal illness, don't you understand? A terminal illness! There's no hope left!"

"...Is there no hope?"

Should we give up?

"No."

(End of this chapter)