Caught Boasting by the Faceless Mage Himself

His own defeat was painful enough, but the Pighead Squad Leader's victory made it even harder to bear.

At that moment, John finally understood that some people simply had all the luck.

After a bout of envy over Wendy's absurd luck—she had shattered the French Gambling God's confidence and made it into the qualifying round—John came back to himself and casually asked Laiya how the other contestants from the Governor's Office had fared.

Most of the Governor's Office staff had registered early, so they had already finished their preliminary matches. Wendy, unsurprisingly, had advanced.

Marda had also scraped through without facing a strong opponent, thanks to her wealth of practical experience—or rather, the card-playing instincts she had honed gambling for meal tickets with the soldiers at the Functional Group's base. Lunebo, known among the reconnaissance Mage Soldiers as the "King of Cards" and a "master of psychology," had won his match with ease. Miles, notorious for his underhanded ways, had upheld his reputation too, advancing through shameless deception.

Igodala's performance had been less impressive, but halfway through the match, his older brother Igonila could no longer bear to watch. He forcibly took over, crushed the opposition, and secured a spot. The results for the other Governor's Office members were less encouraging.

Laiya, who was giving John the report, had run into an expert card counter in the first round. Her opponent had read her every move and eliminated her.

Caroline had tried to calculate the optimal play for every hand using a probability model. The dealer warned her three times not to use external computing devices, but she ignored him, so the research fanatic was escorted out of the venue.

Balga, a Crown Tier powerhouse, had entered the tournament as well. But his opponents took one look at his fearsome