Reborn With a Money-Making System: Ruined Actress to Nation's Treasure-Chapter 100: The Cat Lady’s Viral Ad

"Alright then," he said, leaning back slightly in his chair. "Show me what you’ve got, Ms. Orszebet. Start whenever you’re ready."

"Okay, let me take off my coat first," I said.

As soon as I removed my coat, I revealed a high-school uniform underneath. The uniform looked a little worn since I was wearing Helcia’s old one, but since both the blazer and skirt were black, it didn’t look too bad.

I chose to wear it because I wanted to really feel like a high school student, someone who was still young, foolish, and prone to making mistakes, like falling for the wrong boy.

The judges looked a little surprised when I showed up in a high-school uniform, but they didn’t say anything since it wasn’t against the rules. Besides, it wasn’t unusual for actresses to bring props to an audition.

Still, it was pretty rare for a rookie to do that. Most beginners didn’t really understand how the audition process worked yet, and honestly, many were too shy to try something that bold.

The cameras in the studio were already on, meaning I could start the audition anytime.

I took a few deep breaths before saying, "Alright, I’ll be performing Scene 23, the part where Mia gets bullied by her classmates."

After seeing the judges nod their heads and open the page of the script I mentioned, I immediately fell to my knees.

"What did I do wrong to you?" I lifted my head, gazing at an imaginary person with teary eyes. My lips quivered slightly, as if I were trembling from the cold.

It was the scene where the female lead, Mia, got bullied by Dion’s group of friends without him knowing. They dragged her into the bathroom and poured two cups of orange juice all over her.

Maybe because I had seen one of Helcia’s memories of experiencing something similar back in high school, it became easier for me to connect with the role.

Not long after, I heard one of the staff say, "Nothing," she said coldly. "I just think you look like the dirt under my shoes. And seriously, you had the nerve to get close to Dion? Like some cheap little whore."

Mia was an orphan who lived with her grandmother, and the only reason she could attend this school was because of a scholarship.

Because of that, she often became a target for bullying, and it got even worse when Dion started showing her a bit of attention.

Oh, how typical.

If the male lead were truly a good person, he wouldn’t have let Mia be bullied in the first place.

"I’m not flirting with him!" I shouted, focusing again on the scene, and sounded more desperate. "I—I don’t even like him! And I don’t know why he gave me an orange juice in the first place!"

Yeah, this whole scene happened just because Dion gave Mia a box of orange juice. I know teenagers can be dramatic, but seriously? How could someone bully another person over something so small?

I started acting, pretending that someone was pulling off my blazer, then shouted, "No! No! Please don’t ruin my uniform! I can’t buy a new one!"

I felt a little silly, like I was doing pantomime, but I guessed it looked convincing to others because, from the corner of my eye, I noticed the judges watching me closely.

"No! Please, don’t tear it apart!"

I began to sob softly while pretending to grab my ruined blazer off the floor. For people with money, buying a new uniform was nothing. But for the poor—like Mia, or even me back then—it was a luxury.

We used to buy uniforms two sizes too big so we could keep wearing them as we grew older. Because for people like us, every inch of fabric mattered.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I clutched the blazer tighter. In the next scene, the group of cruel teenagers left the bathroom, leaving Mia all alone. That was when I began to cry harder.

I imagined someone had killed my kittens by running them over with a car, and that thought alone made it so easy for me to cry. I pictured myself holding poor little Lingo’s lifeless body in my arms instead of the blazer.

This kind of crying technique honestly sucked, but it was the fastest way to make myself cry and fully sink into a sad scene.

As tears streamed down my face, I looked around helplessly, pretending that Mia was searching for someone or anything to comfort her, only to realize she was completely alone the whole time.

My crying sounded and looked so natural that the judges held their breath and didn’t give any signal for me to stop.

Oh, come on! I was starting to get tired of crying, someone please just say "cut" already before my eyes turn puffy.

Finally, after what felt like forever, I heard Eric say softly, "Cut."

I exhaled shakily, wiping my face with the back of my hand. My nose was red, my eyes were swollen, and my makeup was probably a mess, but I didn’t care.

"T-That was such an incredible performance!" Eric was the first to clap and stand up, quickly followed by the others.

On the other side, I was still trying to stop my sobs, but it was hard because I was still too deep in the role. My chest ached from holding back tears, but at least I could still hear their voices clearly.

The series director, who was sitting next to Eric, also stood and said, "Honestly, I didn’t expect too much at first, but you completely exceeded my expectations."

I recognized him as one of the judges from the first round. And even though my first audition had gone well, that didn’t necessarily mean my acting would be this good when it came to the real deal.

"Thank you," I said softly, wiping my tears with the back of my hand.

Fucking hell. The image of my dying kittens was still so vivid in my head that it was hard to stop crying right then and there. Thankfully, no one seemed bothered by it because actors breaking down after emotional scenes wasn’t exactly unusual.

"I honestly don’t have many comments because you were already perfect, Ms. Orszebet," Eric said with a smile. "And since you still look young despite being, well, too old, I think you’ll have no problem playing a high schooler."

I twitched the corner of my eye at his words. Calling me too old when Helcia was only twenty-four was just ridiculous.

"But I still can’t decide on the final result yet since there’s one last round tomorrow," Eric said with a polite smile. "I can’t promise that you’ll be the one I choose, but just remember that you’ve already made it onto my recommendation list. So, congratulations, Ms. Orszebet."

I bowed slightly and said, "Thank you very much."

After they allowed me to leave the room, I quickly walked out. The other actors waiting outside looked a little shocked, probably because my eyes were swollen and red from crying.

They must’ve thought the judges had scolded me so badly that I broke down in tears. I just gave them a small smile and hurried straight to the bathroom.

I let out a sigh of relief when I saw the bathroom was empty, but I clicked my tongue when I noticed how terrible my eyes looked through the mirror.

Pulling out my phone, I opened my messages and typed quickly.

[Me: Henry, send me a picture of my kittens.]

If anything could calm me down right now, it was their tiny faces.

A few seconds later, my phone buzzed.

[Henry: Sent 1 picture]

I smiled brightly when I saw my kittens curled up together, sleeping soundly. Just like that, all the tears in my eyes disappeared.

However, my moment of peace instantly shattered when dozens of notifications from the Zentra App flooded my phone as soon as I turned on my mobile data.

I clicked my tongue in frustration. Of course, I’d forgotten to log out of my account again.

In the end, I decided to open the app for a while, only to find that people had been tagging me over and over again under the videos of Rosélle Beauty’s advertisements.

The ad had actually been released two days ago, but it seemed to have gained a huge number of views just this morning.

Once the advertisement reached a wider audience, people finally realized that the "kittens’ mom" who often made skincare or makeup videos with her cats was actually a model, or at least, that’s what they believed for now.

I opened the comment section and was taken aback when I saw so many people cheering me on.

[@MakeupAddict22: OMG it’s the cat lady! I’ve been following her since she used her kittens as blending sponges ( just kidding). Her makeup always looks so soft and dreamy.]

[@lunalightbeauty: That shimmer shade looks so good on her skin tone! Can someone tell me what palette she’s using??]

[@puddingandmuffin: My favorite influencer?? I’m crying OMG! Give her kittens a modeling contract too!]