While Jin was moving swiftly and without much difficulties, others weren't quite like that. A lot of them were having a hard time in fact.

...

One of them was a middle-aged man. He was human. As he regained consciousness and found himself in the forest, he didn't ponder for a second before jumping down. Obviously, the grass had been stepped on. Then, as if on cue, all the flora around him began to twist and angrily rush towards him.

He smirked.

Now this was more like a trial. Crossing a forest had to be this difficult for him to be entertained. He took out his sword and began to slice whatever came at him as he kept running forward at top speed. Whether it be vines, grass, trees... He cut everything on his path as he ran.

He was smiling as he moved forward. It was difficult and intense but this was the kind of challenge he loved...

...

An old man awoke at a different place. He was standing on a platform too. He got up slowly and looked around thoughtfully as he massaged his long white beard. He took out a single pill from his spatial storage. The pill was glowing blue and red while exuding smoke. It looked ethereal.

He gazed at it for only a moment before he ate it. He felt warmth and cold at the same time as his body began to emit smoke. He felt himself melt as he was physically transforming. His entire being became smaller and smaller until he was no bigger than a finger

It took a few moments to regain his consciousness, the process being tough on the mind and very painful. Then, he proceeded to take out a disk from his spatial storage. This disk was a flying kite used by kids at the first stage of spiritual accumulation. It was a mere educative toy to help the younger generation understand the use of spiritual energy.

And yet, this toy would be his greatest asset in crossing this forest.

To a mature man, it was no bigger than a hand but to the finger-sized him? It was perfect. He sat upon it and sent his energy into it. A moment later, he was speeding on the disk through the forest.

...

Somewhere else, a woman awoke on a different platform. She saw the forest and smirked. Then, she took out a scroll and tore it. Smoke enveloped her as her appearance twisted and changed. Once the smoke faded, she was no longer a human but a big butterfly.

She jumped from the platform and used her newly-formed wings to fly through the forest.

...

A different old man had a different strategy. Since this was forest, he planned to blow up a path. He took out a few spiritual canons and loaded them with inflammable shells. Then, he began to fire wantonly at the forest in front of him.

"BOOM!" "BOOM!"

The sound of destruction resounded as fire, dirt and destroyed flora flew everywhere. He walked calmly on the now devoid-of-life path he made while pushing his spiritual canons forward. He planned to blow up the path all the way to the exit.

...

Another old man had a similar conception of things. However, instead of setting the forest on fire, he set himself on fire with hopes that forest would open a path for him. If the forest was sentient, it would be able to feel fear and what better than fire to install fear into it?

Turned out he wasn't wrong as the forest seemed to keep its distance from him as he walked. Every step he took burning down the vegetation under his feet and making the entire surroundings tremble.

...

Those were only a minority out of the champions who were in for the win. But aside from those, there were many who came here with the intention to die. Those who had traded their lives in exchange for benefits that would be given to their loved ones. Those people had other things in mind. They weren't here to escape the forest: they were here so that the others did not.

...

A very old lady was part of that group. As she gazed at the scenery outside the platform, she sighed. Never did she think she would die here...at The Peak. She hadn't even known of its existence beforehand. In fact, if not for taking this job, she never would have known. She wasn't someone worthy of knowing about it.

Yet, here she was.

She wondered about the others that were here. Who would end up winning? In the end, it wouldn't truly matter to her. Her Master was working for benefits and not after the final prize. At least, her son and daughter-in-law would have a better life. Maybe their kids would grow to be able to stand here not as a champion but a contestant? Who knows? She prayed for it.

Then, she took out the only thing that was in her spatial ring. A small wooden sculpture. It depicted a weird abomination with a weird shape. It was difficult to distinguish what it truly was. She didn't care though. Her job was very simple: bring it out and kill herself over it.

So, that's what she did. By using the first principle, coating, she sliced her own neck in one swift move without hesitation. She fell on the icon and her blood overflowed upon it. Then, the sculpture began to shake only to explode in the end. Her body was sent flying with many parts separated from one another.

Then, the silence.

Then, something else. Because the many scattered parts of her body began to move to reassemble themselves. They did it weirdly though. It was more like a big ball of flesh than anything at this point. And the ball began to roll down the path in the forest...

As it moved over the grass, it absorbed it and grew from it, leaving behind nothing but the soil.