Ascendance of a Bookworm - Chapter 17 - Three Cheers for Mesopotamia!

In this world, there are those that are fortunate and those who are not.

Ethan Bellrose is neither; he is cursed. At nineteen, he has lived his entire life sheltered in his home as his fragile body blisters under sunlight, breaks under the slightest impact, and falls to any sickness.

However, the arrival of a world-changing digital service catches the hopeless young man’s eye: “Reincarnation Online”--a virtual reality experience that gives a new fantastical life to those who are unfulfilled with their current path.

For Ethan Bellrose, the choice is simple. Without hesitation, he orders the virtual reality headgear, choosing to abandon his current life and live forevermore in the world of fantasy, magic, and endless adventure–”Arcadius.”

Though what he finds is a world not full of leisure and trivial triumph, but a world just as alive and full of darkness, glory, and grandeur as Earth–if not greater.

Starting from square one as an infant, given a new name and family, this is the eventful life, full of dreadful lows and exhilarating highs, of “Emilio Dragonheart.”

[...Booting System…]

[Welcome to Reincarnation Online.]

[You will henceforth by the recipient of the Dragonheart System.]

[Please, enjoy your stay.]

This is the story of a modern man who transmigrates to 16th-century India in a parallel world after dying to save his first crush on a date. He regresses as a lowly-ranked soldier in the camp of Hemu, the last northern Hindu king, who is fated to lose and die at the hands of the Mughals.With his modern knowledge and past experiences, the protagonist alters the course of history, forcing the Mughals to surrender and retreat beyond the Ravi River, which is in modern-day Pakistan.As a reward, he is granted trading rights and becomes the emperor’s personal attendant. Using this opportunity, he sets out to reshape the empire. By promoting private enterprise, establishing trading company, and creating opportunities for the lower communities, he begins to shift India’s economy away from the feudal system toward modern capitalism.Despite fierce opposition, these reforms not only unify the majority of Indians but also position the empire as a rising power in global commerce, transforming India into an economic force.His journey is filled with trials, including internal turmoil, political strife, and the looming threat of invasion from the Mughals in the west and the Dutch and Portuguese in the south. As the emperor’s trusted aide, the protagonist not only rescues the crumbling empire but also forges his own path, eventually claiming the title of emperor himself.Join him on this incredible journey of empire's ascension, as he explores how India could have been in the 16th century if history had taken a different course. With just one battle's result, the fate of the entire world is transformed.

NOTE: cover art is a commission done by Ripcorez a fellow author on here and amazing artist. If you like his work, don’t hesitate to reach out to him with a request for a commission of your own

Samuel Foster would be turning 18 in two weeks. He grew up in a fairly normal low case family home with his parents and two younger siblings. The thing out of the ordinary was he knew for as long as he could remember he would be getting married at 18 to a girl he never had met before due to a promise his family had made.

Lena Scarlet, Princess Scarlet was feared by many, respected and loved by everyone near her. Deadly as she was calm, her one annoyance in life was the arranged married he father decided upon before she was born. Being fiercely independent and trained to protect herself, she never felt the need for a relationship or marriage as she fully capable of taking care of all her needs.

However, a promise was a promise and whether either of them liked it or not, their parents were at least going to force them to live together before calling the wedding off.

Please give the book a chance. I’m not the greatest of synopsis writers, as I am sure some of you can tell and the book may be slow at first due to the setup and lead in. But I promise it will getting more interesting as it goes along.

Scene excerpt from the story:

“You didn’t happen to think it was important to tell before now?! The princess was furious with the other woman.

“I..” She paused for a second to swallow,

“I never thought that it would come down to this. I promise though that they wouldn’t do anything terrible.”

“They said the same thing to my father.. but they were wrong. I don’t trust anyone’s word.” The princess replied standing up. The more her anger rose, the darker her eyes got.

“You should just be fortunate that I am not my father. Do you know what he did when faced with a similar situation?” with no reply, she continued

“He killed almost all of them. You could say it was a massacre. Me, I won’t got that far, but if anything happens to him, I will personally kill the person who touches him.”

Luo Yi, a high school dropout in his original world, was isekai’d into the world of the Witcher 3. Starting out as a weak boy named Roy in the village of Kaer, Lower Posada, he was determined to grow stronger, no matter what it took. The first step toward becoming a legend was to kill. And his first kill was… a rooster. ‘You gain 1 EXP.’ Of course, Roy had his own cheat system like all the other isekai protagonists. His first step to becoming a legend started now…