Chapter Text
Yue Yuezhu woke with a head-splitting headache — the kind usually reserved for finishing a major project solo while the boss was off getting drunk seventy-two hours before a deadline. It felt as if needles were stabbing into her eyeballs; her skull was on the verge of an explosion, her brain scrambled and melting out of her ears.
When she finally managed to crack one eye open, she wasn't met with the blue light of a monitor or the clutter of her cubicle. Instead, she found herself in a dilapidated hospital room defined by peeling paint, rusted bedframes, and a mattress that felt as though it had been stuffed with uneven aluminum cans.
Before she could even process where in the world she was, a nurse marched in and began word-vomiting at her.
"Little Comrade, you are finally up! You received a big shock and have been out for four days. We know your parents sacrificed themselves for the Motherland, but you must be strong and recuperate. Their blood runs through your veins! Don't worry about the hospital fee; the military has taken care of it. I'm going to call the doctor — I'll be right back."
Before Yuezhu could even part her lips, the nurse vanished — "what the fuck?" she thought — returning a moment later with a doctor in tow.
"You had a severe shock," the doctor noted, his tone clinical yet hurried. "Being born two months premature, your body couldn't handle the trauma and you passed out. We will keep you under observation for three days; if everything is alright, we will discharge you. Don't get lost in your grief. Your parents are heroes, and you are their daughter. Be strong."
With that, the pair fled the room as if they were terrified Yuezhu might actually start crying in front of them.
Yuezhu's mind went blank. Heroes? Dead? Sacrificed? What was happening? She was a low-level 996 worker with a dead-end job — someone who hadn't even called her parents in years because they preferred her male cousin. Then the cold, jagged realization hit her with the force of a crashed server.
Shit! Just her luck! She had probably — almost 100% — transmigrated.