Julianna Garland was not one to wallow in despair, however.
After a brief moment of disappointment, her excitement returned.
At least she had a one-month trial period.
Over the next month, she planned to ramp up her land-clearing efforts without taking any breaks.
By seizing this window to level up her digging, sowing, and harvesting skills as quickly as possible, the quality of her crops should naturally improve as well.
In a month, even if her abilities couldn’t compare to a Planting Master’s, she would still be much better off than she was now.
Having thought this through, Julianna’s excitement reignited.
Today, she had finished sowing, found the spring, and diverted its water to irrigate the wasteland.
After all this bustling about, the sky had already turned dark.
There was no need to rush the digging.
She planned to properly enjoy the newly discovered spring tonight, go to bed early, and recharge so she could wake up bright and early tomorrow to dig!
She went to the spring, washed her hands and feet, and put away her hoe.
Then, she returned to the house to grab a basin and other tools, fetched some water, and headed back into the wooden cabin to boil it.
Once the water had boiled and cooled down, she took a sip.
Perhaps it was because this spring water felt like a reward for her hard work, but Julianna actually found it to have a sweet aftertaste.
It was far more delicious than the purified water on Novus.
She used the water from the Heartwell to prepare a bath.
Amidst the rising steam, it felt as though every pore on her body had opened up.
For her, this was easily the most relaxing and comfortable night she had experienced since her rebirth.
Later, after washing up and lying back in bed, Julianna finally had the peace of mind to check her stats.
Digging: 2711 (Skilled Digger).
Experience Progress Bar: 0.9%.
*Keep it up!
Only 99.1% more progress needed to achieve the Master Digger milestone.*
Sowing: 488 (Proficient Sower).
Experience Progress Bar: 49%.
Mission 1: Successfully sow wheat seeds.
Reward upon completion: Mystery Lucky Bag.
Mission 2: As long as you breathe, the digging never stops.
Please continue to improve your professional skills and become a leader among farmers.
Note: Upgrade to Master Digger level to be rewarded with corn seeds.
Mission 3: Harvest rice and enjoy the fruits of your labor for the first time.
Note: Successfully cook rice to receive soybean seeds as a reward.
Aside from the three consecutive missions, Julianna’s vision nearly went black the moment she saw her two experience progress bars.
Based on the digging experience percentage, to advance from her current level to a Master Digger, she would have to swing her hoe a staggering three hundred thousand times—and they had to be effective digs, too. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
“There really is no such thing as a free lunch in this world.”
Julianna shook her head.
Her gaze then fell upon the communicator on her wrist, and she muttered to herself, “It’s been a long time since I logged onto the Interstellar Net…”
She had always harbored an inexplicable fear of Novus.
Perhaps it was because she had been saddled with medical debts the moment she was reborn, or perhaps it was her underlying unfamiliarity with this era.
Furthermore, coming to Earth Star after inheriting her estate felt like a disguised form of self-exile.
This further distanced her from the current age, leaving her feeling utterly out of place on Novus.
Beyond that, however, after acquiring the Earth System and finding a glimmer of hope in her new farming life, her curiosity about this era began to stir.
The seed of exploration was just beginning to sprout.
After a moment of hesitation, Julianna decided to log onto the Interstellar Net to take a look.
Upon entering her virtual ‘home’ on the Interstellar Net, she was surprised to find that Lawyer Sutton had replied to her message.
Judging by the timestamp, Lawyer Sutton had left the message about two hours after she last logged off.
He first congratulated Julianna on settling down on Earth Star, then politely added that if she ever needed legal assistance in the future, she could contact him directly.
In addition, he mentioned two things.
First, the inheritance procedures for Earth Star were fully completed, and the property rights had officially been transferred to Julianna.
The relevant documents were registered on the Novus main domain network and were publicly available for her to verify online.
However, the name transfer meant that Julianna was now liable for property taxes.
According to the laws of Novus, Astral Domains could be privately purchased and owned, but the tax rate was set at five percent of the previous transaction amount, payable every five years.
The second matter concerned the details of Julianna’s recent hospital bills.
For Lawyer Sutton, this was arguably the most trivial commission he had ever handled since he began practicing law independently.
Cedric Sutton’s message read: “Following my negotiations with the hospital, you will receive a very handsome discount on your medical expenses.
Furthermore, taking your current financial situation into account, Ms.
Garland, the hospital is willing to grant you a three-year interest-free extension for the payment.”
As long as Julianna cleared the debt within three years, her personal credit score would remain unaffected.
Attached to Cedric’s message was an itemized hospital bill.
Julianna didn’t dare look at the specific charges.
Instead, she skimmed straight to the bottom and saw the final discounted figure: 15,000.
Ever since her rebirth, she had been racking up debt before earning a single cent.
Yet, the moment she saw the medical fee, Julianna heaved a massive sigh of relief.
The medical technology at the First Sector Hospital was light-years ahead of anything else on Novus.
Commensurate with its cutting-edge technology, the hospital’s exorbitant medical fees were equally famous throughout the Astral Domain.
She had been hospitalized for days and had undergone numerous examinations.
She hadn’t even dared to open the original billing statement they had sent her.
For the Aeturnum Firm to successfully haggle the price down to 15,000 was a silver lining in her misfortune.
Although she was still penniless and 15,000 was an astronomical figure, there was no doubt that Cedric had been of immense help. This story is hosted at g.com.
Even though he didn’t go into detail about the process, Julianna was boundlessly grateful to him.
Unfortunately, Cedric hadn’t brought entirely good news.
On Novus, no one could escape taxes.
Now that she had inherited Earth Star, even if she only had to pay every five years, figuring out where that money would come from remained a massive headache.
By comparison, the 15,000 hospital bill was hardly worth mentioning.
She stared blankly at Cedric’s message, fraught with worry.
Before long, another message popped up from him.
“Ms.
Garland, are you online?”
Julianna replied, “Yes.”
Shortly after, Cedric invited her to his private space on the Astral Domain Net, and Julianna accepted.
The moment she accepted the invitation, she materialized in Cedric’s living room.
As expected of a renowned lawyer, Cedric was quite wealthy.
Even though it was just a virtual home on the Astral Domain Net, he had expanded it to an enormous size.
The living room’s decor featured clean lines and a primary color palette of black, white, and coffee.
Accentuated with a few creative ornaments, the space exuded an understated elegance and luxury amidst its minimalism.
“Please, have a seat, Ms.
Garland,” Lawyer Sutton said.
Julianna nodded and sat down.
The Interstellar Net completely scanned each user’s physical traits to generate their avatar in the network.
Julianna hadn’t bothered applying any virtual disguises before arriving, so Cedric noticed her changes at a glance.
After just a few days on Earth Star, her face was covered in red bumps of varying sizes—the result of bug bites sustained while clearing the land.
Lawyer Sutton froze for a moment.
Then, taking in her attire, he realized she was clearly getting ready for bed.
“I apologize for the intrusion,” he said after a brief silence.
Julianna shook her head.
“Lawyer Sutton, I received your message.”
Cedric hummed in acknowledgment, then hesitated.
“It looks like you’ve been having a…”
“I’ve actually been doing quite well,” Julianna said honestly.
Her words caused Cedric’s calm expression to stiffen for a fraction of a second.
His brow twitched, revealing a hint of surprise.
But a moment later, he quickly masked his astonishment and said, “Ms.
Garland, I invited you here to discuss the tax situation regarding Earth Star.”
Seeing Julianna nod, he continued.
“According to the laws of Novus, the taxation policy for private planets is based on the value of their most recent transaction.”