Like Norse D&D;, but it’s Korean

It’s one of the more unlikely recipes for online gaming: Take one ancient Norse myth about the end of the cosmos. Add a helping of manhwa, the Korean equivalent of Japanese manga graphic novels. Stir in 27 million players, more or less. And there you have it -- the phenomenon known as Ragnarok.

In this online role-playing game, participants take on the identity of two-dimensional characters who travel through a 3-D world of castles, forests, deserts and ruins. Players advance in their chosen career (knight, alchemist, wizard, assassin etc.) by fighting monsters; to slay the fiercest creatures, players must band together into “guilds.” (To find out more, visit iro.ragnarokonline.com; the cost of playing is about $10 to $14 a month.)

Ragnarok began in 1998 as a graphic novel by Seoul-based Myung-Jin Lee. “When I started the manhwa, I didn’t focus on just Korean readers,” says Lee, who served as art director for the online game. “I wanted to create a story that would be a hybrid of Western and Korean cultures, one that could cross national boundaries.”

Though it’s clear Ragnarok is popular internationally, exactly how much so is the subject of debate. Gravity Corp., which runs the game, claims 27 million users in 21 countries, including more than 1 million in the United States. But David Cole of the market research firm DFC Intelligence says the U.S. figure is probably closer to 100,000.

Whatever the real number is doesn’t much matter to gamers such as 15-year-old Orange County resident Dylan Gerstel. He says he plays about 20 hours each week because he enjoys “getting to interact with many different types of people.”

And it’s clear the franchise is growing: Last month, the online game expanded; 10 volumes of the graphic novel have been published in the U.S., with 10 more being translated; and negotiations are underway to release a related animated TV series in America.