Six DeepSeek models, one Korean chapter

Every new reader's first ten chapters are free, translated by Crossleaf Standard, which starts on one inexpensive model. Before choosing which one, we did the obvious thing: wrote a short Korean chapter, sent it through every DeepSeek model OpenRouter offers, from the December 2024 build to the September 2026 one, and read the six results side by side with the price of each call next to it.

This is the write-up. Korean only; Japanese and Chinese got their own, wider comparisons later.

The short version

• DeepSeek V4 Flash (the April 2026 build) won on the page and on the bill. The most natural English of the six, the right register for a grand duke, every beat of the scene intact, for one leaf.
• The newest is not the best. V4.1 Flash, released in September, read a notch worse than its April sibling and spends most of its effort thinking before it writes, which shows on a long chapter.
• The old one is still respectable. The V3 build from March 2025 was a close second, one rank too low with its titles.
• Money bought nothing here. V4 Pro, at eight leaves for the same chapter, wrote a polished chapter and dropped the scene's best sentence.

So the free chapters run on Crossleaf Standard, and this model has a place in the picker for everyone.

The chapter

Our test text is the opening of chapter 2 of The Grand Duke Counts My Steps, the invented Korean romance fantasy on the demo shelf. We wrote it ourselves, in Korean, so no model could have seen a translation of it: 1,484 characters, nineteen paragraphs, a quiet scene. Seria keeps the household ledger for the first time; the maid already knows she skips breakfast; there is a locked drawer with one key; the grand duke watches her reflection in the window glass and notices the half apple she left.

It is short on action and long on the things that break translations: honorifics (각하), narration that leans on what is not said, and one sentence built on a contrast the English has to carry.

How we tested

Each model got exactly what a Crossleaf reader's chapter gets: our standard translation instructions, the book's glossary (Seria, Kael Ardent, Lisette, Edwin, with pronouns), and the chapter. No reasoning setting was sent, which is the app's default. The cost is what that call charges a reader, in leaves, from the same rates the app quotes with. One run each, no retries, no cherry-picking.

What each one cost

Model	Released	Thinking tokens	This chapter
DeepSeek V4 Flash	Apr 2026	0	1 leaf
DeepSeek V3 (0324)	Mar 2025	0	1 leaf
DeepSeek V3.2	Dec 2025	0	1 leaf
DeepSeek V4 Flash (0731)	Jul 2026	18,244	1 leaf
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash	Sep 2026	4,077	1 leaf
DeepSeek V4 Pro (0813)	Aug 2026	6,765	8 leaves

A typical chapter runs two to three times this length; on the Flash models that stays at one or two leaves, because a leaf is the smallest thing a chapter can cost. Six translations of the same chapter, and only one of them cost more than a leaf.

Two things stand out. First, the models that "think" spend most of their bill on the thinking: the July Flash build produced 18,000 tokens of private reasoning to write 700 tokens of English. Second, V4 Flash, which can think, chose not to on this chapter, and its answer was the best one.

How each one read

One sentence shows the whole spread. In Korean:

그는 발소리를 내지 않는 사람이었고, 그녀는 발소리를 듣는 사람이었는데도.

He is a man who makes no sound; she is a woman who listens for footsteps; and even so she did not hear him. The last clause is the point of the sentence.

Model	The line
V4 Flash	He was a man who made no sound, and she was a woman who listened for footsteps—and yet.
V3 (0324)	He was the kind of person who made no sound when he walked, and she was the kind who listened for footsteps—yet she hadn't heard him.
V4.1 Flash	He was a man who made no sound when he walked, and she was a woman who listened for footsteps—even so.
V3.2	He was a man who made no footfalls, and she was a person who listened for them, and still.
V4 Flash (0731)	He was a man who made no sound when he walked, even though she was a woman who heard footsteps.
V4 Pro (0813)	He made no sound when he walked, and she was someone who listened for footsteps.

V4 Flash keeps the contrast and the silence after it. V3 spells it out, which is fine. V4.1 Flash is close. V3.2 is awkward. The July Flash build turned the contrast into a cause. V4 Pro dropped it.

The titles told the same story. 각하, the address for a grand duke, came out as Your Grace from V4 Flash, the July Flash and V4 Pro; as My lord / His Lordship from V3, one rank low; as a bare Lord. from V3.2; and as Your Excellency from V4.1 Flash, which is an ambassador, not a duke.

And when the duke says "eat it later" and the narration adds that it was not an order but a confirmation, five models wrote confirmation. V3.2 wrote verification.

Our ranking, made before we looked at the prices: V4 Flash, then V3 (0324), then V4 Pro and the July Flash build about level, then V4.1 Flash, then V3.2.

Read them yourself

Two excerpts, first in Korean and then in each model's English, in the order we ranked them. Nothing is edited; these are the translations exactly as they came back.

The opening

Korean

장부는 잠겨 있지 않았다. 잠겨 있는 것은 서랍이었다. 세리아는 새벽에 깼다. 본가에서는 늘 그랬다. 하녀들이 오기 전에 일어나 있으면 아무도 그녀를 깨우러 올 필요가 없었고, 깨우러 올 필요가 없는 사람은 잊히기 쉬웠다. 그런데 이 집에서는 그녀가 문을 열기도 전에 복도에 리제트가 서 있었다. "일어나실 줄 알았어요." 리제트는 쟁반을 들고 있었다. 차 한 잔, 버터를 바르지 않은 빵 두 조각, 사과 반쪽. "영애께서는 아침에 많이 안 드시니까요." 세리아는 아침을 많이 먹지 않았다. 그것을 리제트에게 말한 적은 없었다.

DeepSeek V4 Flash

The ledger wasn't locked. What was locked was the drawer. Seria woke at dawn. She always had, at the main house. If she was up before the maids came, no one needed to come wake her, and people who didn't need to be woken were easy to forget. But in this house, Lisette was already standing in the hallway before she'd even opened her door. "I knew you'd be awake," Lisette said. She was holding a tray. A cup of tea, two slices of bread with no butter, half an apple. "My lady doesn't eat much in the morning." Seria didn't eat much in the morning. She had never told Lisette that.

DeepSeek V3 (0324)

The ledger wasn’t locked. It was the drawer that was locked. Seria woke at dawn. She always had at the main house. If she was up before the maids arrived, no one needed to come wake her, and people who didn’t need to wake her were easily forgotten. But here, Lisette was already standing in the hallway before she even opened her door. "I thought you’d be awake." Lisette was holding a tray. A cup of tea, two slices of bread without butter, half an apple. "The young lady doesn’t eat much in the mornings." Seria didn’t eat much for breakfast. She had never told Lisette that.

DeepSeek V4 Pro (0813)

The ledger was not locked. It was the drawer that was locked. Seria woke at dawn. At the main house, it had always been that way. If she was awake before the maids came, no one had to come wake her, and a person who did not need to be woken was easily forgotten. But in this house, before she even opened her door, Lisette was standing in the hallway. "I thought you would be up." Lisette was holding a tray. A cup of tea, two slices of bread without butter, half an apple. "You don't eat much in the morning, my lady." Seria did not eat much in the morning. She had never told Lisette that.

DeepSeek V4 Flash (0731)

The ledger was not locked. The drawer was. Seria woke at dawn. She always had, at the main house. If she was awake before the maids came, no one needed to come and wake her, and anyone who needed no waking was easy to forget. But in this house, Lisette was standing in the corridor before Seria had even opened her door. "I thought you would be awake," Lisette said. She was holding a tray. A cup of tea, two slices of bread without butter, half an apple. "My lady does not eat much in the morning." Seria did not eat much in the morning. She had never told Lisette that.

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash

The ledger was not locked. It was the drawer that was locked. Seria woke at dawn. It had always been that way at the main house. If she was already up before the maids came, no one needed to come and wake her, and a person no one needed to wake was easy to forget. But in this house, Lisette was standing in the corridor before she had even opened the door. "I knew you would be awake." Lisette was holding a tray. A cup of tea, two slices of bread with no butter, half an apple. "You don't eat much in the morning, my lady." Seria did not eat much in the morning. She had never told Lisette that.

DeepSeek V3.2

The ledger was unlocked. It was the drawer that was locked. Seria woke at dawn. She always did. Back home, if she was awake before the maids arrived, no one had to come to rouse her, and those who didn't have to rouse her were easily forgotten. But in this house, Lisette was standing in the hallway before she even opened the door. "I thought you might be up." Lisette was holding a tray. A cup of tea, two slices of bread without butter, half an apple. "Since milady doesn't eat much in the morning." Seria didn't eat much for breakfast. She hadn't told Lisette that.

The apple

Korean

"앉아라." 그는 방 안으로 들어와 창가의 자리, 어제 그가 서 있던 곳으로 갔다. 밖을 보는 것이 아니라 유리에 비친 그녀를 보고 있다는 것을, 그녀는 조금 늦게 알아차렸다. "사과는 남겼군." "……네." "반쪽도 많았나." "아닙니다. 그냥 나중에 먹으려고요." "그렇다면 나중에 먹어라." 그가 말했다. 명령이 아니었다. 확인이었다. 그는 그녀가 사과를 먹는지 안 먹는지를, 오늘 저녁쯤이면 알게 될 것이다. 세리아는 그것을 어떻게 아는지 묻지 않았다. 묻지 않는 것도 그녀가 잘하는 일이었다.

DeepSeek V4 Flash

"Sit." He came into the room, to the seat by the window, the place where he'd stood yesterday. It took her a moment too long to realize he wasn't looking outside—he was watching her reflection in the glass. "You left the apple." "...Yes." "Even half was too much?" "No. I was just saving it for later." "Then eat it later," he said. It wasn't a command. It was a confirmation. Come evening, he would know whether she'd eaten the apple or not. Seria didn't ask how. Not asking was another thing she did well.

DeepSeek V3 (0324)

"Sit." He stepped inside and moved to the spot by the window, where he’d stood yesterday. She realized a moment too late that he wasn’t looking outside—he was watching her reflection in the glass. "You left the apple." "...Yes." "Half was too much?" "No. I was saving it for later." "Then eat it later," he said. It wasn’t an order. A confirmation. He would know by tonight whether she ate the apple or not. Seria didn’t ask how he knew. Not asking was another thing she was good at.

DeepSeek V4 Pro (0813)

"Sit." He came into the room and went to the place by the window where he had stood yesterday. She realized a little late that he was not looking outside but at her reflected in the glass. "You left the apple." "……Yes." "Was half too much?" "No. I was just going to eat it later." "Then eat it later," he said. It was not an order. It was a confirmation. By this evening, he would know whether she ate the apple or not. Seria did not ask how he would know. Not asking was also one of the things she was good at.

DeepSeek V4 Flash (0731)

"Sit." He came into the room and went to the window, to the spot where he had stood yesterday. She realized a moment too late that he was not looking outside but at her reflection in the glass. "You left the apple." "…Yes." "Was even half too much?" "No. I only meant to eat it later." "Then eat it later," he said. It was not a command. It was a confirmation. He would know by evening whether she ate the apple. Seria did not ask how he would know. Not asking was another thing she was good at.

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash

"Sit." He came into the room and went to the seat by the window, the place where he had stood yesterday. That he was not looking outside but at her reflection in the glass, she realized a little late. "You left the apple." "...Yes." "Was even half too much?" "No. I was only going to eat it later." "Then eat it later," he said. It was not an order. It was a confirmation. By this evening, he would know whether or not she ate the apple. Seria did not ask how he would know. Not asking was another thing she did well.

DeepSeek V3.2

"Sit." He entered the room and went to the spot by the window, where he had stood yesterday. A moment late, she realized he wasn't looking outside, but at her reflection in the glass. "You left the apple." "...Yes." "Even half was too much." "No. I was just saving it for later." "Then eat it later," he said. It wasn't an order. It was a verification. He would know by tonight whether she ate the apple or not. Seria didn't ask how he would know. Not asking was also something she was good at.

What we are doing with this

• New readers' free chapters are translated by Crossleaf Standard, which starts on the model that won here. Every new reader gets ten of them.
• V4 Flash replaced V4.1 Flash in the model picker at the time. The newer build is not the better one for this work. Since 3 Oct 2026 neither is offered by name: both run inside Crossleaf Standard.
• Anyone can pick a different model for any chapter, as always; this decides only the default for the free ones.

The caveats, stated plainly

One chapter, one scene, one language, one reader ranking it. That is enough to choose which cheap model gets the free chapters, because the gap was not close and the price gap was enormous. It is not enough to call V4 Flash the best DeepSeek in general. Round two of our blind bake-off, with judges who do not know which model wrote what, is how we make that kind of claim; if a blind round runs, this chapter goes into it.

Japanese and Chinese got a wider treatment on the blog: Sixteen models, one Japanese chapter and Sixteen models, one Chinese chapter, beside the Korean one.