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

Defiance of natural order of a single young Dragon soul.

Thomas Lowe was destined for a life of mediocrity as he worked a dead-end job in rural america. But fate seemed to have other plans for him. One card changed everything. A power beyond imagination. A prophecy that put him in the crosshairs of Ancient Clans and Noble Houses that have existed since the dawn of the first era.The name of that card was....

Gawain is dead and was transmigrated, but there was a slight problem during the process.
After floating for more than a hundred thousand years on a different continent, he felt that he might need a body to become a complete transmigrator, but he did not expect that…

- Description from Novelupdates

Eli Turner had perfected the art of coasting through life, gaming, lounging, and vibing with no grand ambitions beyond the next high. But his laid-back existence is upended when his laptop inexplicably transforms into a gateway to another world. What starts as a surreal escape becomes a perilous journey as Eli finds himself wielding a mysterious system that allows him to level up, fight monsters, and gain abilities beyond his wildest dreams.At first, the portal world feels like a haven, offering purpose and adventure Eli never knew he craved. Guided, or manipulated, by Azrael, a mischievous god orchestrating the game, Eli rises as one of the system's chosen players. But as the quests grow more dangerous and Azrael’s true intentions begin to surface, Eli struggles to balance the fantasy world with his life back home. His girlfriend, Sara, and his friends are left grappling with a version of Eli they hardly recognize, as the lines between his two lives blur.When the system expands to players worldwide, Eli crosses paths with others drawn into Azrael’s cosmic experiment: Yumi Tanaka, a fiercely disciplined Japanese student with a perfectionist streak, and Arjun Mehta, a charming Indian playboy with secrets of his own. Each carries their own burdens and ambitions, but all three must face the harsh truth: Azrael’s game is far more than it seems.As alliances are forged, rivalries ignite, and the stakes escalate, Eli must confront not only the dangers of the portal world but the growing rift between the person he is and the hero he’s becoming. In a game where every move is a test and every choice ripples across both worlds, the question remains: can Eli, Yumi, and Arjun uncover the truth before the system consumes them all?