Recommendations Harem novels without an OP protagonist, fortuitous encounters and with interesting female characters

So, I've been out of the loop when it comes to Asian novels for a while and wanted to see if anything new and interesting had cropped up in the meantime.

What I'm basically looking for are novels with a male protagonist that ends up with a harem that fulfills the following criteria:

• a protagonist that isn't overpowered, he doesn't stumble upon fortuitous encounters or finds rare artefacts every time he takes a stroll and the antagonists aren't mentally challenged - the MC should actually have to put in some work and effort to advance, a victory should actually feel like a struggle, and he should even be allowed to fail and make mistakes from time to time
• the protagonist isn't be a sociopathic murderhobo, nor a completely herbivore pushover, I'm looking for stories where the protagonist at the very least feels like a real person with emotions, wants, fears and needs
• the girls don't fall over themselves to jump the protagonist and are definitely not okay with sharing the affections of the protagonist from the get go - the protagonist actually has to make an effort to woo the women and there is going to be friction between the various female characters, at least initially
• the women aren't just notches on a bedpost - they should have distinctive and developed personalities, agency and actually feature in the plot instead of meeting the protagonist, falling in love and then being swiftly forgotten for the next 500 chapters

I'm somewhat stumped for good examples that fulfill the abovementioned criteria - arguably Japanese novels fulfill some of the criteria (non-OP protagonist, focus on the female characters, romantic tension), but fail in terms of the protagonists being complete wusses that let everyone walk over them. There are exceptions, mainly stuff like Rokujouma, Shinmai (and pretty much other stuff from this author) or Campione.

One cultivation novel I did find that fits my criteria for the most part is Ave Xia Rem Y (A Very Cliche XianXia Story) - but it's an English one and published over on RoyalRoad, so I'm not really sure it counts.

Anyway, I'd be grateful for any recommendations you may have that think are interesting.

 

I wonder if this one fits you
'Regressor Instruction Manual'
I think this has all of what you listed..

 

First of all, thank you for the recommendation. If it's not too much of a bother, could you perhaps give a brief impression of the novel and why you think it would fit the criteria?

Thanks in advance.

 

Hehe, i don't know it's just that novel perfectly fit of what you want.. Im even amaze how you can really find a novel that fits all your criteria. Truly amaze. xD
But i dropped this because of stocking more chapter to read and don't want to read back again. so i don't know much..

 

Genjitsushugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki (How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom)
- protagonist is OP in using pen
- kingdom management (who doesn't love this genre)
- interesting female characters(its up to you to find out or else spoilers)

 

City of Sin
Age of Adepts

 

Nigh Impossible