Second Chance: A Journey to Success

Both Chelsea Ortega and I had just signed with the talent agency as rookies. Our manager asked us to choose a career path- would we rather become a pop idol or pursue acting?

Chelsea chose to become a pop idol, while I chose acting.

Later, Chelsea was accused of slacking off and got eliminated from several reality talent shows. Then, after rumors about her and a popular young actor spread, she was relentlessly attacked by his fanbase, eventually leading her to quit the industry.

Meanwhile, I won the Best Newcomer Award. Directors praised me endlessly, new film offers kept pouring in, and even the most acclaimed actor in the industry publicly expressed interest in working with me.

Chelsea grew jealous. During a company dinner, she got drunk, drove, and caused a fatal car accident, killing me.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back at the moment when we had to make that fateful choice.

This time, Chelsea eagerly spoke first, choosing to become an actress.

"Sienna Mendoza, now it's my turn to reach the top," she said.

What she didn't realize was that there was no easy road to success, no matter which path she took.

1.

I was reborn on the very day our manager, Karol Morgan, asked us to make our choice.

Karol said we both had great potential, and the company wanted to focus on developing us.

But with limited resources- and to avoid us competing for the same roles- one of us would pursue becoming a pop idol, and the other would become an actress.

In my previous life, Chelsea eagerly jumped at the chance to become a pop idol. She dreamed of shining brightly on stage, while I was just an unnoticed, struggling actress.

This time, Chelsea was the first to speak again, but she chose acting.

That was when I realized- she must have been reborn too.

Karol looked at me, as if waiting for my response.

I smiled faintly and replied, "Then I'll be a pop idol trainee."

Chelsea looked at me triumphantly and whispered, "Sienna, now it's my turn to shine."

I didn't respond.

Since she wanted to reach the top, then she could take on all the suffering I went through.

She would soon realize that, in this industry, no matter which path she chose, success was never easy.

2.

In my previous life, after Chelsea made her choice, the company focused all its efforts on her, promoting her as their rising star and sending her to compete in various talent shows.

She thought she would become an overnight sensation, a dazzling celebrity.

And she did gain fame. During her very first show, she went viral online because she couldn't keep up with the dance routine.

"What a cute little girl! Is she just uncoordinated or what, haha?"

"Which agency signed her? She's pretty, but honestly, she's not too bright!"

"If she can debut, maybe I should give it a shot too?"

Most people were making fun of her, but Chelsea didn't mind. After all, bad publicity was still publicity- if people were talking about her, it meant they were paying attention.

Besides, she was indeed beautiful, so she made it into the top sixteen.

Of course, when it came time to form the final group, she was eliminated. The show had only kept her around for the ratings; had she actually debuted, people would've accused them of rigging the results.

The company didn't blame her, though. She'd gotten plenty of exposure, so they sent her to another show, hoping she would train harder and improve for next time.

But she just repeated the same routine, playing up the "pretty but clueless" act.

Unfortunately, it backfired- she was eliminated early.

She tried again, and the same thing happened.

Over and over, until the audience lost interest. In an industry flooded with fresh talent, there was never a shortage of pretty girls, let alone "pretty but clueless" types.

Karol advised her to stop drawing attention with antics and focus on her craft, to wait until her singing and dancing skills improved before trying again.

But Chelsea wouldn't give up. She refused to buckle down and practice, instead trying to ride the coattails of other celebrities. In the end, she got herself trending again by getting involved with a popular young actor.

The result? She was chased out of the industry by angry fans and put on ice by the company.

As for me, I turned down the web series the company had tailored for me and started out as a background extra, determined to hone my acting skills.

Because I worked hard and took every role seriously, I caught the eye of a director, who gave me a small speaking part.

Then, that director recommended me to another crew, where I landed the fourth female lead in a small web drama.

It was a low-budget production, but my character was well-written, and soon I had my first group of fans. They affectionately called me "our girl".

After that, another director cast me as the third female lead in a major film, and I won the Best Newcomer Award.

I became the industry's newest rising star, with offers pouring in. Even Cormac Wall, the most acclaimed actor in the industry, publicly invited me to be his leading lady.

So this time, Chelsea was desperate to steal my life and become the true center of attention.

But she didn't know that the acting path was just as full of thorns- it was nowhere near as easy as it looked.

3.

Now it was my turn to train as a pop idol. I knew I wasn't as pretty as Chelsea, and my skills weren't as strong, but my advantage was my determination and willingness to work hard.

Once again, I turned down the company's offer to send me straight onto a talent show. Instead, I asked if I could spend some time training first to improve my singing and dancing.

Karol agreed- she appreciated artists who stayed grounded and focused.

But she didn't give me much time. Talent shows were the main gateway to stardom at the time, and if I missed this wave, it would be much harder to debut later.

I had only taken dance lessons for a short time as a child, so my foundation was practically nonexistent. Singing, on the other hand, was something I was decent at, so I decided to focus on improving my dancing first.

Seeing how determined I was, Karol arranged for one of the company's top dance instructors to train me. From then on, I threw myself into practice, burning the candle at both ends every day.

Of course, I knew this path wouldn't be easy. There were countless times when my knees were bruised and sore, but I never gave up.

By then, Chelsea had already signed on to star as the female lead in a web drama tailor-made for her by the agency.

But she wasn't satisfied with just that. She wheedled and pressured Karol until she landed the fourth female role- the one that had made me popular in my previous life- planning to double her chances.

The next time we met, Chelsea tilted her chin at me and said, "After all that fuss, you're still hiding out in the company training?

I'm about to join the crew for my first show as the lead. Want me to sign something for you before I hit it big?"

I gave her a cold smile and didn't bother to reply.

Did she really think I turned down that web drama just because I was afraid my acting wouldn't be up to par?

She had no idea that the script itself was a total disaster.

4.

After months of training late into the night, I finally started to see some results. My dance moves were no longer stiff and awkward.

At the same time, my stamina improved- I could sing and dance at the same time without running out of breath.

Karol was in a hurry and didn't give me any extra time. She sent me straight into a talent competition- one hundred trainees, with only ten spots available to debut.

Just like in my previous life, I wasn't considered outstanding among the trainees- not even as pretty as Chelsea.

"Someone at this level wants to compete with us?"

"She dances worse than I did back in school."

Right from the start, some of the other trainees mocked me with their snide remarks.

But I just tuned them out. I told myself to focus on working hard and leave the rest up to fate.

Unfortunately, I only made it to the top thirty.

I was a bit discouraged- this was even worse than Chelsea's result in her first competition in my previous life.

But at the same time, I felt a little happy. I'd gained some fans who noticed my efforts and left encouraging messages on my account.

For the first time, someone recognized my singing and dancing- though Chelsea wasn't among them.

The moment Chelsea heard I'd been eliminated, she called to gloat, "My first show is almost wrapped up.

You've been training for so long and just made it to the top thirty. If you don't have the talent, don't waste your time. If you want, you can always play bit parts with me."

Chelsea burst out laughing. Nothing made her happier than seeing me down.

"Is that so? Well, congratulations,"

I replied, not wanting to say more before hanging up.

Almost wrapped up, huh? Good. She'd soon find out that being an actress wasn't as easy as she thought.

In my previous life, when Karol first mentioned that web drama, I'd stayed up all night reading the original novel to prepare for the role. My conclusion? The female lead was written as a sanctimonious do-gooder- way too selfless to be believable.

Audiences these days were picky; that kind of character just didn't win people over.

Plus, the novel was already hugely popular, with a loyal fanbase. They'd been protesting the adaptation online from the start, vowing to criticize whoever played the lead.

Back then, I'd turned down the role, saying my acting wasn't strong enough and I didn't want to embarrass the company.

Karol was understanding and gave the opportunity to someone else in the company. After all, most people would jump at a chance like that.

As far as I knew, the show was a complete flop.

Now, I was genuinely curious to see how Chelsea would handle it.

5.

After my first failed audition, Karol, wasting no time, sent me to another competition.

With the experience I'd gained, I trained even harder and put in more effort than before.

This time, things were different. From the very beginning, I received some recognition and support from people online, including my fans.

"Isn't that the girl from the last competition? Her singing and dancing seem even better now!"

"Really? She does look familiar."

"It's her- Sienna. I remember her. She's improved so much!"

"That's right! Our hardworking and ambitious little Sienna- highly recommend following her, you won't regret it!"

Reading the lively comments, I told myself I had to work even harder to live up to their support.

I wasn't a naturally gifted contestant, but hard work could beat talent when talent didn't work hard.

Step by step, I pushed forward, collecting more injuries along the way.

Still, I felt lucky, because I was gaining more and more fans. My fans even called themselves "Siennas".

Meanwhile, Chelsea's web drama, "As Promised", finally aired.

Just as I expected, it flopped. The production was shoddy and low-budget- hardly anyone watched it except for die-hard fans of the book.

Worse still, those fans tore into Chelsea online, saying her acting was terrible and that she'd turned the heroine into a holier-than-thou phony.

Others said the character was already written that way, and Chelsea was just playing herself.

Reading the cutting online remarks, I cracked up on the couch.

Was this the kind of notorious fame Chelsea had been hoping for?