"Do you want to play a game?"
Long Ren excitedly presented his craft to the confused yet intrigued Yun Ning. Confused as to what kind of game it could possibly be, and intrigued about why it excited Long Ren so much.
"Sure, what kind of game is this?" She asked and followed Long Ren's footsteps, kneeling on the floor and facing the wooden table
"I call this game Jingo, definitely made it myself." Long Ren blatantly declared with no shame. No copyright in this world to hunt him down, so everything goes.
"You play it like this," He prodded the middle block of the bottom tier and pushed it out of the wooden tower.
The tower trembled a teeny-tiny bit but remained sturdy. Long Ren took hold of his piece and added it to the topmost layer, forming a new one.
"First to topple the tower loses, any questions?"
"Nope," Yun Ning responded, poking out a piece of her own and placing it on top, just like Long Ren had done. Although there are many other rules and mumbo-jumbos, they can just learn as they go.
…
A while later
"Isn't this too easy?" Yun Ning said as she poked out her 15th piece. Everything had been smooth sailing for the both of them, the tower hadn't even shown signs of performing a timber.
Long Ren nodded, feeling rather deflated. It appears as though they were playing on easy mode. He only now came to the realization that they actually are, being a cultivator and all that.
Greater balance, quicker reflexes, and improved power control. Basically, even the most difficult of tasks that Long Ren performs on Earth would suddenly be much simpler and easier.
A testament to his growth and change, if you will.
"Let's try for the tallest then," Long Ren said. They might as well finish because they had already come so far. When there is no piece remaining, it will probably be decided who lost.
…
"Aaand, done!" Long Ren exclaimed, a tad bit of excitement had returned to his face. He just removed the last possible piece of the tower and "completed" the game.
The tower had reached a staggering 69 cm tall, more than doubling its initial height.
Most of each layer consists of only one remaining block, with only the 3 topmost layers having 3, hence the absurd height it reached.
(A/N: The dimensions of a Jenga block are 1.5 x 2.5 x 7.5. In sum, [54 - 8* = 46] (*three uppermost layers plus additional non-single layers). 46 multiplied by 1.5cm is 69 cm…how coincidental.)
Long Ren dusted his hands and marveled at the tallest Jingo tower he had ever played with. In his previous life, even if he tried stacking them one by one, it definitely won't stand as perfect as this.
He wished he had a camera to take a picture of this, a weirdly accomplishing moment. He then turned his attention back to Yun Ning and said, "So, a tie then?" He proposed.
None of them even slightly shook the tower, and Yun Ning only "lost" because there were no longer any more puzzle pieces. Or did she?
"Nope," She said. She waved her hand in front of the tower while grinning. Qi started to gather in her palms as she froze the entire structure, with the exception of one piece from the second-lowest layer.
She effortlessly took the piece and formed a new layer. Her hand waved once more as the tower's ice layer crumbled, bringing back the perfectly intact Jingo tower.
…
"Ok, that's literally cheating!" Long Ren exclaimed.
Yun Ning shrugged, "You didn't mention no powers in the rules," She said as she whistled with innocence.
Long Ren felt dumbfounded, 'Of course it is not on the rules! No one has powers there!' He thought as he scolded his dumb brain. 'Should've added them,'
No matter. Long Ren started his turn and followed along her footsteps. He used his own and stacked another block on top.
They went back and forth, utilizing their qi control and absurdly powerful techniques to play Jingo, stacking the highest tower possible.
In the end, every layer below the 3-topmost consists of only one block, meaning the game had fully concluded, as no one would win nor lose.
"Should've just ended it with a tie, you know that right?" Long Ren sighed, going back and forth just becomes tedious after a certain point.
Yun Ning smiled wryly, "But leaving with a tie would be unfulfilling," She said. She had always been a bit competitive, whether in sparring or anything. If there can be a winner, she wants to be it.
"How about rock paper scissors then?" Long Ren said,
"What't that"
"We throw out rock, paper, or scissors with our hands. Rock beats scissors, paper beats rock and scissors beat paper, simple," Long Ren explained.
"Mn," Yun Ning nodded. Simple enough.
"We go at shoot, ok?"
"Rock, paper, scissors…shoot!"
Long Ren opened his palm and threw out paper, while Yun Ning threw out scissors.
…
"You can see what I'm throwing out can't you?" Long Ren said wryly, he could barely notice Yun Ning immediately changing her hand right after he shot out paper.
"Hehe..." Yun Ning grinned, Yep, she indeed responded quickly enough to alter her outcome in response to Long Ren's motions and hand position.
Long Ren declared Yun Ning the winner, as she won fair and square, kind off. Nonetheless, they enjoyed their moments and passed the time, and it's all that matters, isn't it?
Long Ren cleaned the table and asked for another wooden block. He carved the wooden block hollow and made it act as Jingo's placeholder.
"Can I have that?" Yun Ning asked before Long Ren got to store it in,
"Hmn? Sure, it's your wood anyway," Long Ren nodded and gave Jingo to her.
She grabbed it and stored it in her ring. Her face seemed to glow with happiness as she smiled in delight, prompting Long Ren to smile as well.
It's as simple as cutting out wood. He had no idea why it made her this happy but as long as she's happy, he's happy.
…
(A/N: SoL, oh SoL)