Jake didn't even sleep well after the game and kept thinking about the final game, but he couldn't think of anything, so he went the other day to train again with his team.

Jake saw that everyone was acting normally with him and no one had noticed anything wrong, he even broached the subject indirectly with Coach Mike who found it all very strange and thought that Jake was fine as always.

In fact, Nathan and Lucas who were very happy with this situation, with yesterday's game almost nobody realized that Jake had played badly, the reason for this was that Jake had said he would normally play for a few games after scoring over 120 points in 2 games.

So your teammates would have a greater opportunity to stand out with Jake playing like that, in this last game everyone thought Jake was just giving his teammates more opportunity.

Nathan and Lucas who got into the game with the losing Elite team played very well both in attack and defense and so helped the team to win, everyone thought this was a difficult game different from what was expected.

So Coach Mike was happy with the performance of his two new players and Nathan and Lucas were even happier because they could catch Coach Bill's attention so they could be at the University of North Carolina with him in a few years.

After a day of training, Jake got even more confused because he managed to play well in training as usual and scored 40 points causing his teammates to be discontented.

After all, it was not necessary to score so many points in a training game with his teammates, then Jake did the same of the last days in his marathon training, so Jake thought this was an isolated case.

But at home, he sometimes remembered what Lola said after the final game, that she was worried that Jake might be bad at the final game because of the bandits raiding his home.

This was really shocking for Jake, especially since he knew after hearing from the system and the cops that the attackers were aiming for him and his mother.

So Jake thought for a while that even if he had a system like in fantasy stories and his strength was greater than most people, that was the reality and someone with a gun could end his life and his mom's life, just like every dream of his second chance.

Jake also realized that his luck could not really do any miracles and that even if he learned a fighting technique and his stats were at maximum he would still be a normal human being.

After thinking about it for a while even though he was a little scared he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his heart, because deep inside he could never really get out of his mind the thought that all he was living was a dream.

So after thinking about it and resting for a day he returned to his normal routine, Jake had only a few weeks before the New York marathon and would need to continue his training if he wanted to secure the victory.

Even though he was still worried about his performance in the competition after what happened in the final game, in training everything was back to normal and nothing seemed wrong.

So he thought it might just be a normal day that he couldn't play his best as all athletes had, after all, he wasn't a machine, it was just that it had never happened because of the system.

Even so, Coach Mike has been a little worried since Jake came to ask if he had played badly in the final game, so he decided to give Jake a break until after the break.

The rest of the team still had to train hard, especially Lucas and Nathan who were fighting for a place in the starting lineup, but Jake who had just been through a stressful and dangerous situation in his life and was the best player on the team deserved to rest.

Jake accepted the coach's good intentions and stopped going to the basketball team trainings after classes so he had more energy to train before the marathon, in classes besides Joseph who was always by his side after what happened nothing had changed.

Joseph knew that Jake was living with Eva in one of his grandfather's houses, while his father was looking for a good and safe home for Jake and Eva to live in, so he left his studies and his girlfriend aside and got closer to Jake again. because he was worried about his friend.

Jake was also very thrilled about it and happy to have a friend like Joseph, even Liza in her last team training was worried about him.

He was a little sad because it seemed that after the breakup Jenny no longer cared about him, Jake knew that even Liza seemed to be disappointed with her friend who claimed to like Jake very much.

If something similar had happened to Jenny, Jake wouldn't hesitate to look for her to find out how his ex-girlfriend was, but it seemed that Jenny didn't think the same way.

In fact, before that Jake still had Jenny in his heart, he hoped that after being in a better living condition she could look for him, or she could take courage and challenge her parents.

But now he understood that he no longer existed in Jenny's heart, so Jake reinforced the thought that he'd better not get involved in any relationship until after a few years.

Jake liked Lola very much, but he just saw her as a dear friend, after all for Jake the age difference between them and the fact that she and her father worked at her mom's restaurant made her someone Jake didn't even think about dating.

That's because Jake had a mental age of almost 50 now, but his actual age was 16, and Lola was out of those two, if Lola was the one who took the initiative and said she liked him, Jake could change his mind, so Whether this relationship could work was entirely in Lola's hands.

After more than a week of training, the New York Marathon was a few days away, so Tiffany and John showed up to talk to Jake.

Tiffany was worried about Jake and Eva for what happened a few weeks ago, even though they had talked on the phone, it was different from talking in person.

Tiffany looked tired and a little pale at this meeting, she was worried about Jake and Eva who were her friends, she also had to worry about her company and Clara's company that could be sold if they couldn't find a solution.

In addition, Clara was also a little depressed after her marriage ended and what was happening at the company, it was as if everything that had happened in the last 10 years was for nothing.

So she was getting stressed by her friends and tired by the work that increased.

John was also worried about Jake but was concerned only if Jake's sports performance could fall that showed the difference between business partners and friends.

"How are you doing, Jake?"

"I'm fine, Tiffany, luckily I have a lot of friends who helped and are helping my family after what happened."

"If it wasn't for all these problems that came up suddenly, Clara and I would be there to help, too."

"It's okay, Tiffany, I know very well that the problem you are experiencing is much bigger than mine."

"Do you think you'll be fine for this marathon, Jake?"

"I can't say for sure, John, I know I'm going to finish the competition, but I don't know where I'll be."

Jake had always known that John and Alan were different from Tiffany and Clara, which is why Jake didn't think of having regular sponsors after getting rich with his investments.

But as time went on Jake realized that this was impossible, he needed to sponsor John and Alan now and would need the support of larger companies after joining the NBA.

There was no billionaire in the world who would refuse tens of millions in sponsorship just because they didn't like working with people who fought for them.

"That's great, I'm sure you can bring us a nice surprise in this marathon too, Jake, so I want to be in New York this time to support you with Tiffany."

"I don't think it's a good idea, John, you know at least for these two marathons it was Tiffany who solved everything and organized everything."

"I know that, but it was an order from my superiors, I'm sure Tiffany won't mind that another company that sponsors Jake is in this marathon."

"I really don't care Jake, I saw here just to tell you that because of the problems you know well, I won't be able to go to New York with you this time, my city workers that will solve everything, now John here it can also help. "

"That's great so I'm going with Jake to New York for sure."

So Jake had to accept John's request, he himself thought it wasn't fair to John and Alan's company being set aside, as he knew that Tiffany was in trouble was good for everyone.

So the other day, Jake said goodbye to his mother and went to New York to prepare for the marathon, he didn't have to worry about a few days of school absences and had no more training with the basketball team and so can go before.

John said he would go the day before the marathon, Jake would only rest for the next two days and be rested and prepared for the marathon.

He still could not run the 50 km with the new speed and so decided to run only 20 km with the fastest running speed, so he was sure to shorten his time and still complete the marathon.