What you seem to be missing is that what counts as "a challenge" will vary from individual to individual. When I argue that soulslikes should have better accessibility options (including difficulty settings) I'm not saying that I want the game to not be challenging -- I'm saying that the difficulty should adapt to meet the players where they are to maintain a challenge for them.
You could say, well, there IS an easy mode; just spend days grinding out levels. That kind of sucks, though.
Also ...
> This is not gatekeeping
[goes on to write a paragraph that could be used as the definition of gatekeeping]