The moment she realized her identity and current circumstances, she could no longer sit still.
She had to be discharged immediately!
The original owner’s parents had not died of work-related causes, meaning they left behind no compensation or subsidies.
After Julianna Garland’s parents passed away, the local district government staff had to step in to handle all the funeral arrangements and related affairs.
Since she was under the legal age of adulthood at the time of their deaths, she had only managed to finish her education and survive this long by relying on government subsidies applied for through the community welfare agency.
But right now, she was unemployed and still drowning in student loans.
Being admitted to the hospital meant racking up a medical bill of God knows how much!
According to Julianna Garland’s original memories, Novus wasn’t a single planet, but an Astral Domain composed of over a hundred planets of varying sizes.
Among these, the Central Astral Domain was the largest and most prosperous region in Novus.
It was exceptionally affluent, boasting highly advanced medical care and technology.
Job opportunities were abundant, but the cost of living was correspondingly steep, making it a true paradise for the rich.
However, in the original owner’s memories, Earth was a concept belonging to a distant, ancient era.
To the current inhabitants of Novus, the time when Earth existed was simply referred to as the Earth Era.
According to the history of Novus, the late Earth Era was ravaged by floods and droughts, followed by a mysterious plague.
This unidentified disease first infected flora, leading to the mass extinction of plant life, before mutating to infect fauna, wiping out countless animal species.
Eventually, the virus jumped to humans, decimating Earth’s population within a span of just ten years.
The survivors found no hope in the aftermath; instead, they were plunged into a prolonged Ice Age.
Under such harsh conditions, a fraction of humanity fled Earth to search for a new, habitable Astral Domain.
After several planetary migrations and nearly a millennium of wandering, they finally settled on Novus.
Through a lengthy period of recovery, reproduction, and development, humanity eventually established the massive scale of the current Astral Domain.
Compared to Earth, the surviving population here was uniformly governed by the primary planet of Novus.
Some of the general laws and regulations were similar to the Earth in Julianna Garland’s memory, though their enforcement was far stricter and more absolute.
Technology here was highly advanced, far surpassing that of the Earth Era.
Entertainment, medical care, and overall civilization had made incredible leaps forward.
However, there was one glaring difference from Earth: the severe scarcity of natural resources.
Because Earth had been ravaged by the mysterious virus, the vast majority of plant, animal, and biological life had already gone extinct before the surviving humans could flee.
For instance, the common fruits and foods from Julianna Garland’s memories now mostly existed only in historical records and legends.
Even in the basic scientific encyclopedias stored in her inherited memories, the names of numerous plants and animals had been completely lost to time.
The discovery of a new species would often cause a massive sensation across Novus, with news of it potentially spreading throughout the entire Astral Domain.
Just as she reached this conclusion, a sharp DING echoed in Julianna Garland’s mind like a system prompt.
Her vision went black for a split second, and she thought she heard a voice inside her head declare, “Initiating—”
“Initiating what?” she asked.
She shook her head.
When she strained her ears to listen more closely, the voice seemingly left behind a final phrase: “Insufficient conditions.”
Julianna Garland dug at her ear, assuming her frail body and severe malnutrition were causing auditory hallucinations.
By then, the voice had vanished without a trace.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
“Ms.
Garland.”
While she was still reeling from the shock, a sudden knock at the ward door startled her.
After she called out a response, a young girl in a nurse’s uniform pushed the door open, clutching a stack of documents in her arms.
“Oh, wonderful!
You’re awake, Ms.
Garland.
Are you feeling any discomfort?
The doctor performed a comprehensive full-body examination on you last night, with a specific focus on scanning your brain.
We didn’t find any parasitic strains or organisms present, but your brain’s neurons were abnormally active yesterday.
They exceeded the maximum normal human threshold by over ten times!”
The nurse was wearing a surgical mask and a specialized pair of goggles over her eyes, completely encasing herself in a full-body isolation suit.
“We ran various substance and radiation tests to determine the cause of your heightened neural activity—”
Before the nurse could finish, Julianna Garland immediately interrupted her.
“Wait a moment.”
The nurse looked at her in confusion.
“Is something wrong, Ms.
Garland?”
Julianna Garland asked with a trembling voice, “Since I’ve undergone so many tests…
what about the medical bill?”
Hearing this, the nurse let out a relieved smile and patted her chest.
“Oh, so that’s what you were worried about.” Behind the specialized transparent goggles, the nurse’s eyes crinkled into happy little crescents.
“Rest assured, Ms.
Garland.
The Novus First District Hospital would never abandon a patient simply over medical fees.”
Her words did absolutely nothing to ease Julianna Garland’s anxiety, because the nurse immediately followed up with, “We operate on a ‘treat first, pay later’ policy.
All of your previous examinations have been compiled into an itemized bill.
It will be sent to your personal account shortly, and the total amount will simply be deducted from your balance.”
With that, she held up the folder in her hands.
“The expenses from last night’s tests have already been itemized and printed.
I was just about to hand this over to you.”
Julianna Garland froze, too terrified to reach out and take the folder.
“What if…
what if I can’t afford to pay it?”
The nurse looked genuinely surprised.
“Why wouldn’t you be able to pay?
The hospital bill will automatically be deducted from your line of credit first.
You don’t need to pay in cash.”
Information regarding credit accounts in Novus instantly surfaced in Julianna Garland’s mind.
Everyone in Novus was born with a credit account, but the limit was strict.
If a citizen failed to repay their debt within the allotted timeframe, they would be declared legally bankrupt.
Once a person’s credit went bankrupt, they would be exiled from their current planet and barred from participating in any aspect of normal life or work.
The consequences were incredibly severe.
She hadn’t expected to be on the verge of bankruptcy the moment she transmigrated.
Just as despair threatened to swallow her whole, the nurse continued speaking.
“Besides, Ms.
Garland, you might not even need to use your credit account.
Haven’t you heard?
A group of lawyers came knocking last night specifically looking for you.
They said an older relative of yours passed away, leaving a massive inheritance for you to claim!”