Why CN MC I've read other than My House of Horror never encountered hardship? Must the author try to depict the MC as cool/awesome, either literally or through the story, everytime? I really hate it when everything always goes right for the MC. That being said, recommend me some story where MC actually faced hardship where the asspull/deus ex machina doesn't feature prominently. Let him be defeated, crippled, or whatever. I don't want MC who always beat whatever problems in front of him. I don't want the author to be saying, "Look at my MC! he is really strong/smart/awesome!" every chapter. requirements: 1. Male protagonist preferred 2. No yaoi 3. The genre is not josei or shoujo if romance is one of the main genre. Otherwise fine. 4. Not xianxia, but xuanhuan is alright 5. CN preferable. At this point I am almost giving up CN novels due to too much novel that I don't like inside it.
Pursuit of the Truth Kingdom's Bloodline Zhui Xian These 3 novels are the best examples where MCs are not just some godlike glorified chick magnets aka moron. They change in reaction to events, feel and can lose.
Strange Life of a Cat -the only one CN that ive ever read and can proceed reading till the last translated chapter. -its very slice of life-ish.
Reverend Insanity The Dark King These two are just what you're looking for imo. Especially the Reverend İnsanity. He is not luck. He suffers a lot. Minimum plot armor. He is allways planing. Of course he can't be all knowing. He fails he tries other ways. He is a gem among other bullshit lucky idiot mcs who is only alive because of plot armors. The Dark King is good to. İt is a story about a kid who is innocent but smart becomes a smart and cunning adult. He changes a loot. Every mistake a chance for him to learn. İf you read Reverend Insanity it will surely restore your faith in chinese stories.
+1Lord of the Mysteries You have to read a bunch of chapters to really dive into hardships, but it's simply amazing. (MC is a good guy, not a genocidal psychopath like many CN stories)