"Murphy! Darkholme!" A roar awakened him from his sleep, "Napping on the job! Deducting your bonus! Lazybones! Have you finished your reply yet?"
In the pest control office, Murphy opened his eyes to a mountain of letters in front of him.
Goblins, fox spirits, little imps...
"Bang!" A spherical mass of flesh sat before him, his thick lips spraying saliva as he babbled non-stop.
In his eyes, Murphy saw his own reflection.
Pale, weak, with messy hair and heavy dark circles, looking like he was on the brink of kidney failure from excessive overwork.
[Almost like Alexis...]
What am I doing here? Why do I have to do this boring job?
Why should I listen to this ugly woman nagging?
He wanted to stand up.
Suddenly, a heavy pressure surged.
Can I afford to quit my job? How will I survive without money? How will I earn a living? What about the mortgage? What will my parents say? What will the relatives think? Should I still go to class reunions?
"Life is tough without money."
"Just endure it, it will pass."
"We all go through this. Just survive these years, and it will be fine."
"Young man, it's right to endure hardships."
"Money is hard to earn these days. Be grateful that you can make ends meet."
"Do you have a house? A car? How many digits in your salary?"
"Sorry, I don't like men without ambition."
[Hmph]
"Bang!" Murphy, unknowingly, stood up and punched the fleshy ball in the face.
"Go to hell!"
...
The sky had darkened unknowingly, and he arrived at his home.
Pushing open the door, he saw a woman breastfeeding a child.
As he entered, the child suddenly started crying loudly.
"Close the door! The wind is so cold!"
He quickly shut the door, "I brought dinner, with your favorite dish..."
"What dinner! The child has a fever, and you don't even take a glance. What are you busy with all day? We don't even see any money."
He approached and saw a little red face that seemed somewhat familiar.
[Tom?]
"I quit my job. I can help you take care of the child these days..."
"What?! You quit? Are you crazy? That was such a good job. Sitting in the office with air conditioning and tea, and getting paid for it. Why did you quit?!"
"You said I'm always busy and we never see any money, right?"
"Where will you earn money if you quit? What else can you do? Go and apologize to your boss, maybe you can still go back..."
"That's impossible now..."
"Murphy! You're crazy! How are we going to live now?! How will we survive?!"
"I'll figure something out. I'll find another job. We'll face it together."
"Together? Murphy! Can you be more mature! Stop dreaming! What else can you do? Manual labor? How will you support us?"
"Do you know how much it costs for baby formula each month? Do you know how much it costs for education? Do you know how expensive a school district house is?"
"Murphy, stop dreaming! Everyone trades their dreams for money, everyone sells their time. Why can't you?"
"How noble is your pride? How much is your dream worth? Accept the reality! You're just one of the many!"
"Admit it, Murphy! You're just a mediocrity! An ordinary person! In the end, you'll achieve nothing!"
"..."
[Ready to give up?]
"...No."
...
Under a bridge, he huddled in a shabby shack, whittling a stick.
"Hey, old man, what are you doing?"
"Making a wand."
"A wand? More like a walking stick, right?"
He stopped responding.
"Hey, why aren't you talking?"
"Look, guys, this guy still thinks he has magic."
"Hey, old man, show us a big trick."
"I want to see fire-breathing."
"That's acrobatics, dummy."
"Hey, old man, we're talking to you."
"This old guy's crazy, let's beat him up!"
His shack was torn down, and he was stepped on by several teenagers, but he still held onto that stick.
"Give it here!"
Someone snatched the stick away.
"A wand, my ass! Idiot!"
The stick was snapped in half.
[Ready to give up?]
"Hmph."
Someone grabbed his hair, "Aren't you a magician? Show us a trick!"
"Fine." he said, "Close your eyes first."
He picked up the small knife he used for whittling the stick.
A slash, across several throats.
"This trick is called 'Cutting Breath'."
...
"This guy's a dark wizard!" A jailer clanged down a plate of rotten food, "Killed someone, deserves to die in Azkaban."
"You're a dark wizard?" Several bizarre shadows in the cell looked over.
"No."
"Then are you a good person?"
"No."
"Then what are you?"
"I'm Murphy."
"No, you're not Murphy..."
In a corner, a shadow showed his face, "I am. You're an imposter, living with my name, my appearance. You're a thief, a robber..."
He walked towards the shadow, stabbing a knife into its heart.
"So what?" he asked.
"Aren't you guilty? Don't you have a conscience?" the shadow struggled and wailed.
"Conscience? I'm not a good person."
"Murder!" Someone screamed.
Countless dementors swarmed him, pinning him to the ground.
Dumbledore stood at the trial stand, "Murphy Darkholme, do you plead guilty?"
[Ha!]
He slowly stood up, letting the dementors frantically suck the air, but still standing upright.
"Plead guilty? I'm not a bad person."
...
"Most of your cells have aged, increasing the risk of cancer throughout your body. You could get cancer at any time."
"From the imaging, it looks like a tumor, in a position that allows surgery. Will you do it?"
"I'll have the surgery."
"There are two cysts in your lungs, irregular edges, likely malignant, but difficult to operate on. How about radiotherapy?"
"Okay."
"Colon tumor, needs to be removed and then a stoma created. You'll have to live with a bag from now on."
"I'll have the surgery."
"Stomach, needs some removal..."
"Lymphatic system tumor, only chemotherapy..."
"This dose will be large, you might swell up, lose hair, and become very weak..."
"This time it's the esophagus, you'll only be able to eat liquid food from now on..."
"Pancreas..."
"Small intestine..."
"Liver..."
"Brain..."
On the hospital bed, a person swelled with fluid sat, covered in various devices and bandages.
"My God," someone visiting said, "That's so pitiful..."
"Lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys... There's no good part left in the body."
"Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, complications, infections... The immune system is almost destroyed, relying on drugs to fill the gaps, coughing, headaches, breathing difficulties, fainting are common..."
"It's so painful, it might be better to..."
"Yes, why bother? Go home, eat something good, enjoy the last moments of life, isn't that nice?"
"Murphy, it's hard for us to see you suffer like this..."
"With your condition, we can't treat you here anymore. Please try another hospital."
"Experimental therapy? With your condition, you'll probably die..."
"The success rate is very small, we advise conservative treatment, go home and spend time with your family..."
"Why are you so stubborn? Give up the illusion, seize those last moments. Why torment yourself and others?"
"This is a terminal illness, don't you understand? Terminal! There's no hope left!"
"...No hope?"
[Ready to give up?]
"No."
___________________
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