My Infinitely Long End-Of-The-World Regression Journal

A month had already passed since I entered the Lost Forest. Bit by bit, I was becoming somewhat accustomed to the impossible training Viola offered every day. But every time I got used to it, the training increased in difficulty.

When I started becoming accustomed to the running exercises, Viola made me start running with weights tied to my ankles, arms, and new clothing.

Ah, right…the clothes. Among many things she gave me, Viola had given me…a new set of clothes. A classic black and white suit and pants, crisp, clean, and…even through a week of training, it was in perfect condition.

I had gone from a random man in a convenience store cashier's outfit to a random man in an expensive suit, wandering and training himself to death in a forest.

"I'm sure that if anyone saw me, they'd think that I'm some sort of Abnormality myself…"

Well, it was needed, otherwise I'd have been running around naked for the past week.

Maybe as a token of my progress, or because my original clothes had been near-shredded by the fourth week, Viola had suddenly presented me with this surprising gift a few days ago...

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"This is…a suit?" I stared at her in confusion, holding the expensive-looking clothing with a questioning gaze. "How did you even get this? And how is it perfectly fitting for my measurements?"

Viola smiled, shaking her head. "Oooh, don't worry so much about this and that, disciple~! Just wear it! Wear it, now!"

I could see Viola's eyes practically glistening as she stared at me expectantly…I also felt a little bit of hunger in her gaze.

I got the feeling that Viola was starting to look at me a little differently these days…but I didn't mind. I looked at her the same way sometimes, too.

How could I not? Her lithe, but firm muscles, her bountiful, bouncing breasts and ass, her alluring, plush lips…

It was perverted, but what could you expect? I was focused, and I treated her like my master, but I was still a man stuck in a forest with a beautiful woman. Her form-fitting clothing didn't help.

I moved to change behind a tree, but Viola put a hand on my shoulder, smiling gently.

"...just put it on right here, disciple."

"But-!"

I paused, thinking if I even cared that much. Viola has already seen me at my weakest, near death…and she was there every time I had to dry off my clothes after sitting under the waterfall.

I guess it didn't really matter much if she saw me change clothes or not.

"Yeah, yeah." I replied with a sigh, giving in to the idea. I started taking off the barely coherent rags that were once my magnificent…! Employee uniform.

I could feel her eyes trailing along my body, memorizing every inch of me. I could see a faint blush on her eyes out of the corner of my sight, and she seemed to be fidgeting.

"There's no way she gave me this outfit just to see me naked for a little bit, right?"

Not that I didn't enjoy her attention, but it definitely felt intense. Like she was a starving lion stalking her prey…I wondered again how long Viola had been stuck in this forest before meeting me.

Would she really look at me like that if she had been here just for a day?

She looked especially enchanted when I took off the lower portion, her blush intensifying as she saw my member, free from my underwear.

She gasped at the size of it. "Oh my, disciple…just like I thought, you're big…"

She didn't bother to hide her perverted words, and I didn't comment on them.

I couldn't help but blush, in return. I had never shown that part of me to a woman, so…her reaction did make my chest swell with a little bit of pride.

I tried my hardest not to let my member swell, too.

I quickly put on the suit, trying my best to dismiss the strange tension that had begun to grow between us.

As I did, I patted the outfit, my eyes wide. It was surprisingly…light? It felt like I didn't have a stuffy formal outfit on, but a simple t-shirt.

"Woah…this actually feels pretty comfortable!"

Viola placed her hands on her hips. She was the one swelling with pride now, back to her usual self.

"Hehehe…come on, disciple. Of course, it feels comfortable! I've had tons of time to perfect my sewing skills…how do you think I made an outfit like this? I definitely didn't wake up with it on."

I hummed, still looking a little skeptical…no matter how good she was at sewing, was it really possible to make such a perfect suit in a forest??? I couldn't even imagine where the materials or equipment came from to make this. It was just another oddity on the pile of oddities that was my master.

Still…

"Well, thanks. I'm not really a suit guy, but this doesn't feel as stuffy as I thought it would."

"Good! It was worth it pouring so much of my inner energy into it while I created it, then."

I stared at Viola blankly.

"Inner…energy?"

It could've just been another of the martial terms she chose to randomly bring up…but this was the first time I'd heard such a word from her.

As if immediately confirming my suspicions, she covered her mouth, chuckled nervously, as if caught.

"Maybe I said something a little too early…ah well. You'll find out soon enough, disciple."

And then she disappeared.

I was left standing there…at least I had the comfort of my snazzy new clothing.

-----

Now I did everything with the suit on. Even during the waterfall training, it seemed to dry out much quicker than one would expect after leaving the flow of water.

Speaking of, the 'mental training' under the waterfall had been increased by forcing me to dodge some weak attacks from Viola - pebbles thrown strong enough to leave indents in the stone wall behind me - and speaking with her at the same time.

Lastly, fighting. It was still the deadliest part of it all, but I was getting used to it. I didn't fight anything directly yet. Most of the gigantic creatures that Viola put me up against were tricked or dealt with in some sort of special way.

I thought I had understood Abnormalities already, but I was wrong. If I threw away the mindset of only using brute force, there were always many options on hand, as long as I had the knowledge.

Viola knew a lot, so I gave myself some extra training. At nights, when we sat around the campfire together, I'd have her tell me about what she knew. And I learned a lot…enough to give me some starting ideas on dealing with the Flood Dragon.

It was incredibly productive. I felt like I had progressed leaps and bounds…and honestly, I felt like I had ended up in the forest for a few months, maybe close to a year.

I ran like the wind through the forest, easily avoiding bushes, tree branches, and anything in my way. I was a blur, but Viola still easily followed, gliding along the trees like she was defying gravity.

"One-handed pushups, switching between your hands, two sets of 500 each!"

Viola's voice echoed through the forest, and I immediately got to the ground. I could feel the immense weight in my suit weighing me down, but I had long since gotten used to it.

I grunted and groaned as I powered through the exercises. At this point, such a complicated, hard exercise was just the basics, but I easily handled it. I finished extremely quickly and began running again at full speed. Sweat dropped off of my body easily, but I didn't voice any complaints.

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"Well, you're doing well. I mean, as my one and only disciple, of cooourse you would! I just didn't expect you to hang on so stubbornly."

Viola casually spoke while tossing a barrage of small rocks at me. Each and every rock moved ridiculously fast, like a speeding arrow, they even whistled through the air as they flew towards me.

I moved my body just slightly enough to dodge each and every rock, while focusing on keeping my mind completely silent. Every one of my senses was tuned in to their maximum.

"There's no way I can give in, master. You know that, already."

I found that even joking was rare for me these days. I felt more and more like a student truly serving their master.

"It's a good attitude to have. I've always loved that determination of yours, disciple…it's why you look so good in a suit. You're a real business man!"

She giggled at her own pun, while throwing a particularly vicious rock at my head - wait, was that a boulder?!

I took a deep breath, sucking in my gut as I stepped back slightly, reaching a fist forward to punch the core of the rock. It split in half, cracking and falling into the river in front of me.

…then a pebble flew from behind the large rock, smacking me clean in the forehead. It was strong enough to knock me off my feet, sending me sailing down onto the riverbed.

I groaned, still dizzy from that one hit. She really could flick rocks like they were damn cannonballs.

"But you still have a lot to learn. Trickiness just isn't your forte, maybe. You might just have to learn to deal with deception the hard way. Ah…I don't mind that too much, It's also cute when my disciple messes up from time to time."

Viola walked up to me, offering a hand to easily pull me up.

"Still, I think you're ready. Ready to take on a bit more of a…challenge. Maybe the best challenge that I can give you right now."

I gulped. Viola already gave me hell when she was just having fun, but her purposefully challenging me was another nightmare.

"You really don't have to prepare something like that for me, master-"

"Oh, don't worry about it so much. At this point…I'm confident in saying that you're strong, disciple. Sure, you're a little clumsy, but you're no master, so I expect that. And you are still pretty naive despite all that battle experience…but you're strong, surely. Your true last weak point may be that inferiority complex of yours."

She moved her hand to my bangs and face, which never quite had a chance to grow, even in all this time. She was the one who constantly cut them.

I didn't know what Viola did before the world went bad, but it made me think that she had to have been some sort of very dedicated cosplayer, that she had all of these styling-related skills.

It felt like she was worrying over me, fretting over me for no good reason. Still, her care wasn't annoying. Because I cared about her, too.

I somewhat knew why she was treating me like this so suddenly, putting aside her strict Master personality. But I didn't say anything about it, not yet.

Instead, I gave her the words she wanted to hear.

"Alright, then. Bring your challenge on, master."

There was no hesitation in my voice, even though I felt some fear in my heart for what that challenge would mean.

"You're so eager, aren't you?" She grinned, then flicked me on my head. It wasn't hurtful, just playful. "Not today. It'll take some time to prepare a test so special…since you've been working so hard for these past few months…let's rest for today. There is…something I wanted to tell you, too."

I caught a peek of her eyes underneath her bangs. They…wavered. For the first time, they looked oddly…human. Too human.

Maybe I had just come to idolize my master. Funny, after how strangely I started off looking at her. But what can I say? Spend half a year with someone in a forest, and you get closer to them.

Then my gaze trailed to her face. Most of it was constantly hidden behind her hair, but at moments like these, I noticed her true beauty. Her pale skin, her flush cheeks…all marred by that unknown emotion.

"...sure."

I couldn't find it in me to joke about it. We walked back to camp and I stared at my master's back, watching her sway on her feet while she fidgeted. She looked honestly nervous…at least, that was what I thought that emotion was, at the time.

I couldn't have been more wrong.