Are there any novels where the protagonist has to suffer along with the rest of the cast for their achievements, and only succeed through hard work or their personality as opposed to some bs cheat? A little luck is fine but not one where literally everything is going their way. For example LMS or (at least the beginning of) AWE
Experimental Log of Crazy Lich not exactly what you are looking for but MC does not have any cheat and all his power is from his effort but you are not show his staring point so it does feel like he is powerful. If you want more you might need you search tragedy tag
Pursuit of the Truth. Though he does get a cheat object but just later, between 400 and 600 chapter, it is know what it does and it is not that cheaty as purifying the soul as in Desolate Era. Spoiler: Su Ming cheat is used to deceive things. Being useable to let him get a cultivation method even if he shouldn't be talented enough to get the method. Divine Throne of Primordial Blood. MC has a cheat that is passive and he use it in spectacular ways because he can think. Both books made the MC suffer a little at the beginning but later they are fine.
It's much harder than I think it would. CN Xianxia mc and JP Isekai mc mostly have ridiculous cheat powers. Goblin Slayer MC has no cheat.
Most xianxia cultivator are cheater in some ways. Their first turning point to became cultivator was by founding heavenly items or techniques that allow them to cultivate to such degree that they can go toe to toe with talented people. -Wang Lin from Xian Ni, he is a mortal who's really suck in cultivate Qi Gathering, it's almost impossible for him to cultivate without help from Heavenly Bead spring water. Glad in mid story Heavenly Bead didn't used frequently anymore, there's another another criteria to breakthough to the next level and that's Comprehension, it was in this field that Wang Lin talent shine, he was clever person who honed his intelect through thousand years live, battle, and death experiences, especially his loved ones. -Su Ming from Beseech The Devil (or Pursuith of the Truth if you want), he's a youngster who can't cultivate because he can't receive mnemonic chant from statue of his Barbarian tribe, that because he's not born from that tribe and he's not a Barbarian either. It was Black Stone that allow him to deceived the statue to gain mnemonic chant so he can cultivate and deceived many others, that Black Stone also open gate to a room that have alchemy receipes of heavenly pills that allow him to attain high level in pill concoction skill. -Meng Hao from ISSTH, he's what you call a destiny child, he's very blessed since childhood, it's just that he didn't remember or forgotten his past. His cheat item is a multiplier mirror that allow him to multiplier almost everything from pills,materials, even spiritual artifacts. -Han Li from RMJI, he's a boy who does have a bit talent in immortal cultivation (a person who have spirit root is rare to be found in mortal communites) but it was a Small Bottle that help him raise countless spiritual plants and allow him practice pill concoction skill. Han Li is an addict pill-popper who eat medicines like candies because without those pills his cultivation wouldl be slow and almost impossible to upgrade. -Zhang Xiaofan from Zhu Xian, he's not very bright kid almost innocence (and pretty dense), he was trained in both top prestige arts, because that dual cultivation arts and his mediocre talent that his cultivation is slow, it was when he found Tian Shu hevanly tome that his cultivation become synergy and skyrocketed. - and many more examples, almost xianxia even wuxia also have cheat item, just take a look at Condor Heroes Trilogy. I didn't say that those cheat items are bad, it's just without those items MC will not became what they are today. With those items they side stepped the so called talent and beat countless genius. From billion upon billion souls in their world only them can become Transcendence level existence, they are very blessed by author with luck and thick plot armor. p,s sorry for wall of text, I always want to write this, can't help myself.
If you don't mind the suffering happening before the story starts, then The King's Avatar. He's already in the top 10 in the world when the story starts though. Max Level Newbie, unless you count talent as a cheat. Royalroad series. ------------------------ He Who Fights With Monsters. He could be said to have cheats, but they're not unique to him. Homicidal Aliens are Invading and All I Got is This Stat Menu, same here. Female MC. Data Dragon Danika. It's got a lot of SoL and romance elements to go along with the action though. Female MC. Farming For Gold. Another one that's mostly SoL with some action and light romance. Male MC this time though. The Devil in White: An AA Online Novel. She's a pure support character though. Female MC. Seven, unless you consider talent and good teammates to be a cheat. Female MC. After The Mountains Are Flattened. Another one where the MC already conquered the world in his field before the series started. As such, he has tons of cheats that he earned over the course of his career. It doesn't stop him from training like mad whenever something new takes his interest though, and he's a very hard worker in general.
Pretty sure LMS is cheat protagonist. I mean the guy gets a special snowflake class, can do 4 professions in 1 / 10th the time people who dedicate all their time to a single profession can. All while being able to pull off things Olympic athletes couldn't in real life despite gaming almost all day. More like cheat being disguised as hard work. As for my suggestion, try this one: Tensei Shoujo no Rirekisho