Story 3

“It starts like this. When the Dream Snatchers hit you on your chest with their special tube, you lose consciousness. You fall into a deep sleep for 24 hours. Then, when you wake up, you lose all your hopes and dreams. You will then live in depression until you die,” Shifu (mentor) explained to Jihyo. “If the victim has enough will power to wake up within the first 24 hours, then all hope is not lost. But that is rare. Once infected, usually there is no cure.”

Jihyo frowned. “Who are these people? Why are they doing this?”

Shifu sighed. “These people are from the Dark Side. Their leader is an evil force who calls himself Mukk. He does around luring children away, and turn them into these monsters.” He paused, and looked at Jihyo in the eye.

“You know that red pendant you always carry around?” he asked. Jihyo nodded, holding up the pendant she wore on her neck for as long as she remembers. She never took it out.

“There are six others around. You have to find the other six carriers and join forces with them to defeat Mukk and his Dream Snatchers before they cloud the entire world in darkness.”

“But… but why me? Who are those people? How do I find them?” Jihyo ask, her mind exploding with questions. For all her life, she have lived here, in this Martial Arts House on the peak of the mountain. She has been practising martial arts, but she did so just because she lived here. She was never told why her parents left her here. From what she knows, Shifu found her left alone, sleeping at the doorstep. She already carried the pendant since then.

What Shifu never told her was this: Jihyo’s father was one of the seven swordsmen- the people who swore to bring down Mukk. The succeeded, but after some years, the Dark Side took revenge. Jihyo’s mother was a fortune teller. She foresaw that both she and her husband would die, so she sent Jihyo away before the revenge started. She wrote in the letter then Jihyo carried with her, to raise her child without telling her the truth until the need arises. So now, it is time for the truth to be revealed. He told her everything.

“From the moment you were born to your parents, you are destined to be part of the seven swordsmen,” he said, answering the first question. "For the second and third question,” he said, “you can refer to this paper. You carried it with you when you arrived, I supposed your mother wrote it for you. It may not be accurate, since it was almost 20 years ago, but you can use it to guide you. If fate has it that the 7 of you will unite, then you will find them. The future of the world lies on the seven of you.”

Jihyo nodded, a new found determination settling in her heart. They always said the two most important days of your life is the day you are born and the day you find out why. She found out why today. She is going to follow her parent’s footsteps, to achieve what they couldn’t achieve. She glanced down at the crumpled, yellowish piece of paper.

Yoo Jae Suk, Ji Suk Jin, Kim Jong Kook, Kang Hee Gun, Ha Dong Hoon, Song Ji Hyo, Lee Kwang Soo and their respective villages. The nearest person was Kang Hee Gun, who was in the village at the foot of this mountain. She decided to find him first.

She arrived in the village the next morning. Although it was early, it was bustling with activities. For a moment, she felt lost. There were too many people. She only had his name, so she had to ask around. Many people replied with an ‘I don’t know’, and some gave the wrong directions. She sighed tiredly. But even though it was hard, she knew she couldn’t give up.

By afternoon, she was too tired to continue. After all, she had just hiked down the mountain. She checked into an inn, had a quick meal and fell asleep.

She woke up a few hours later, because of the heat on her chest. She instinctively held out the pendant and realised that it was glowing. It was so weak that she wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t looked at it closely.

“No way…” she muttered. It had never glowed before for as long as she wore it. Suddenly, she had a hunch. “Could it be…?”

There was a gentle tugging by the pendant, like it wanted her to follow it. So she did.

She ended up by a dessert store.

“Welcome,” the shop attendant greeted her. As he bowed, she noticed that he was wearing a necklace, but she couldn’t see the shape of the pendant.

“Perhaps… are you Mr Kang Hee Gun?” she asked the shop attendant.

He frowned, studying her carefully. “How did you know my birth name?” he asked.

“Birth name?”

“I go by Gary now,” he said, gesturing to his store’s sign board, which wrote ‘Gary’s Dessert Store’. “It’s easier to remember.”

Jihyo nodded. So that was why so many people didn't know Hee Gun.

“So, how may I help you?”

Jihyo thus explained to him about needing his help to fight off Mukk and his Dream Snatchers.

“I’m