Dimensional Storekeeper

Chapter 202: Too Short to Play Billiards?

The moment Yan Shu’er heard that sharp, echoing “clack!” from the new room – something between a rock slamming a plate and a spirit beast snapping its jaws – her imagination ran wild.

What was that?

A collapsing shelf? Some weird store contraption activating? Another weird machine thing?

Did something break? Did the boss break something?

Half starving, half nosy, Yan Shu’er slurped her way toward whatever disaster was probably happening.

Green surface.

Wooden edges.

Bright colored balls arranged across it in no particular order anymore. A stick in Hao’s hand. Holes at the corners and sides. It looked part ritual altar, part trap array… and somehow, also like a dining table.

Her brows furrowed.

“Boff…,” Yan Shu’er said, mouth half-full of noodles. She pointed her chopsticks at the table.

“Whuff… wha’s this?”

Hao leaned on the cue stick, resting his chin on the top of it.

“It’s called billiards.”

“It’s a game.”

“Game?”

“…”

Hao stared at her blankly for a second.

Right.

She wouldn’t know that word.

They fought, trained, schemed, cultivated, argued with elders, and occasionally risked death for fruit.

But “games”? Not a thing. Or maybe that was just him stereotyping.

They probably had something similar – just not called that.

He scratched his head.

“It’s like… a competition, but nobody dies.”

“Something you do for fun.”

Yan Shu’er still didn’t fully get it. But she nodded anyway.

“…Alright.”

Hao exhaled. “Much better if I just show you while explaining.”

“Go sit in that corner chair and watch.”

Yan Shu’er padded over, still holding her noodles, and plopped down.

The seat let out a click, then slowly began to rise as Hao turned a lever on the side, adjusting the height.

Her eyes widened immediately.

“Wh – hey! What did you do, boss?!”

“I didn’t give it permission to lift me!”

“Is this chair possessed?!”

Hao didn’t even look back.

“That’s just how chairs work in here.” he said flatly, walking toward the table.

“Don’t worry.”

“You’ll live.”

Hao readjusted his stance. “Alright. Watch closely, Shu’er.”

“This is called billiards. Or pool. Or whatever name sticks. Doesn’t matter.”

He leaned down and gestured to the colored balls scattered across the table.

“The goal’s simple. You use this stick – called a cue – to hit the white ball, which then hits other balls. If the right ones go into the holes, you win.”

He paused. Looked back at her.

Then he pointed at the black one near the center.

“That’s the eight ball. You don’t shoot that one in until the very end.”

“Do it too early and – boom, you lose. Game over. Everyone hates you. The table probably explodes.”

He paused.

“…Okay, not really. But seriously, just don’t shoot it in by accident.”

“The others are either stripes or solids. You pick one group and try to pocket all of them.”

He pulled the cue back, lined it up with care, and made another shot.

One ball rolled to the side and bounced off the edge. Another tapped the corner pocket and sank with a satisfying plop.

“You see that? Skill.” he said, straightening up and glancing over his shoulder.

“You understand, Shu’er?”

“…Shu’er?”

He blinked.

Yan Shu’er was still in the chair, cup cradled in her arms like a sleeping baby.

Her eyes were closed. Her breathing calm.

Her soul had clearly ascended somewhere peaceful.

Enlightenment state?

Couldn’t she at least wait for me to finish talking before finishing her eating?

’She was definitely awake at the start.’

Hao sighed and turned back to playing.

’No way I’m explaining all that again.’

However, Hao did in fact end up walking her through the whole thing all over again.

Yan Shu’er, now wide awake, nodded seriously with her arms crossed.

“I think I get it now, boss.”

Slower.

With gestures.

With full commentary.

She grabbed a cue stick from the dispenser – something Hao had already told her about during the re-demo, complete with a “just put your hands there” and a dramatic cue-pop for flair.

“Wanna duel with me, boss?”

She smirked. A little gremlin spark in her eyes.

Hao blinked. Duel?

Bro, she’s not about to smack or pierce me with the cue stick, right?

He eyed her warily.

She held the stick with both hands – wrong grip, crooked angle, no sense of aiming – but absolutely ready to commit violence if needed.

Still…

As he observed her stance, Hao realized a new problem.

She wasn’t exactly… tall enough.

Not enough reach.

Was he supposed to grab a chair from the storefront and boost her up.

[Host, there’s an auto-adjusting floor platform installed in this room. If she’s registered as a player and holding a cue stick, the platform beneath her will rise accordingly for proper gameplay.]

Hao smiled. ’Now that’s nice, system. So anyone can play.’

’Good. Good.’

“You can take the break.” Hao said, gesturing to the table.

’Girls first, after all.’

“Break?”

“You’re the first to hit. The white ball.”

Yan Shu’er’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“If you’re looking down on me, boss… letting me go first ’cause you think I’ll mess it up – then I don’t want it.”

“…But I’ll take it.”

Of course she would. She’d been itching to try it ever since she saw that first shot.

She rushed over to the front end of the table – what Hao mentally called the “head spot” because that’s where breaks happened.

No sooner had she grabbed the cue with both hands and lined up to strike…

Her face fell.

She couldn’t reach.

Her grip slipped. Her stance crumpled.

“…Eh?”

The excitement drained from her like a deflating dumpling.

Was she really not gonna get to play? Just because of her height?

But then – suddenly – her view shifted.

Everything was getting lower. No, she was getting higher.

“Wh-what’s happening?!”

’Am I getting bigger?! Is this part of the noodles?!’

She looked down and saw the faint glow of a circular panel beneath her feet.

She stared up at Hao.

He casually pressed something on the side of the table.

“Convenient, right?”

Yan Shu’er nodded quickly.

She didn’t say anything, but she was buzzing inside.

She gets to play. She gets to play!

Then the table clicked.

Balls that had been scattered across the surface vanished in a blink of light.

In the next second, they reappeared – perfectly arranged into a triangle, just like earlier.

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