Nana took a deep breath and slid her hands along the finely buttoned shirt before they ran along the fabric of the skirt. Facing herself in the mirror she gave a final adjustment to the name tag squaring it up for what felt like the millionth time and tapping the nose ring to make sure if it was going to fall out, now was the time! Blonde did not fall as it normally would on any given day and was wrapped up in a single pony tail; her fingernails were an alternating combination of baby blue and light pink and with one final nod she was ready.

A flood of lights and sounds stormed through the eyes of the young manager and nearly knocked her over by the sheer magnitude of the excitement. It was by no means a small parlor which housed many aisles of exuberant diodes and the playful sounds of an arcade on steroids. Neon lights were flashing in every direction bouncing off the mirrors that lined overhead each row of games which added to the vibrant tiles, ensuring that anyone's mood upon entering the Palace was due for a good time.

Nana took her first step onto the crisp floor and began making rounds through the trenches of engrossed patrons. Ages varied from the elderly to middle-aged business men (and women!) who were hitting some extra traffic on their way home to even some of the younger kids who apparently had different ideas on how to spend an allowance. The first hour was spent with nearly machine-to-machine stops of introductions and getting to know the regulars. Not too long after the first of the big hand cycles some of the lights began popping off around the third aisle. A few of the girls on the floor ran to Nana and helped usher her into congratulating the most recent winner, a kind elderly woman whose height was roughly four foot nothing. She had won a trip to the Akabeko Steak House, all expenses covered for two. Shortly after dispensing the prize it was time to begin collecting raffle entries for the upcoming release night when the new pachinko machines were going to be installed. Naturally the regulars got their first take at the lots in the system, each getting three entrants to their name as opposed to the one for any guest.

Hour two rolled by just as quickly when a fire broke out next door and had the entire half of the parlor closer to the road hovering around the entrance and watching intently as if their mortgages were on the line. Nana had failed to rally them back to their seats but once it was extinguished the calm returned and not a moment too soon. Not before long the night had began to dwindle and the furious hustling of bodies began to thin out to a murmur of chatter amongst peers before the eventual sight of empty rows of seats against the white tiles beneath them. A long-winded exhale escaped Nana's lips once she began to approach the front door to lock it, when a man off in the corner caught her attention.

"Did you happen to win tonight?" She said with a smile as she waved and proceeded closer to the man who was intently hunched close to the pachinko booth.

No response came from the man who was actively playing. Nana had gotten past the first-night jitters and was honestly looking forward to filing her report, counting tonight's profits and scooting on out. She didn't think much of the non-response, maybe he hadn't heard her.

"I'm afraid we're at that point of the night where we're going to be locking up. If you could finish that game, we'll be opening tomorrow at the same time." She spoke with a smile and drew close enough now to where she could smell in the air that the man had not made the time to take any form of trip to the bath in some time.

It was when he turned and smiled over his shoulder with yellow teeth and messy hair that she noticed he had not been playing pachinko at all. Her scream filled the parlor and had the staff rushing on over, each in turn looking mortified at the man apparently pleasing himself right in the Palace. Before even thinking about it Nana picked up a nearby stool and smacked him square in the back.

"Naga! Byeontae!" The Korean may have been a little rough around the edges as she screamed smacking him but it was effective enough to scare him out of the parlor and off into the night. The stool was placed down and promptly sat upon as she pushed her palms to her forehead and shook her head.

"Aaaayeeee~~~!" She gathered herself up in one final breath and held out her thumbs up to the staff which looked relieved. Talk about a way to wrap up your first night.

Nana immediately proceeded to lock the front doors and turned off the lights in the main parlor before entering into the office for some time alone with the spreadsheets and labor reports. Occasional taps on the phone were made and before long she scooted back on the rolling chair and stood up with a yawn. Quarter to 2 am. She knew erratic schedules thanks to her idol days but this was going to be something else to get used to. She threw her heavy sakujan on and made out the rear exit to the Mustang that was waiting for her. She'd make a quick stop on the way home but there was no mistaking the electricity in the airs around her; all in all she was finally doing it. She was starting the rest of her life.