Classroom of the Elite is a psychological thriller set in Tokyo Advanced Development College, a government school isolated from the outside world to train the country's future leadership. Students are divided into Class A (elite) and Class D (outcasts), and each class's monthly budget depends on collective behavior and grades. Only the class that reaches the top by graduation is guaranteed a place at any desired college or job. The plot examines human inequality through special exams that function like a game of chess, where physical strength is replaced by blackmail, rule manipulation, and espionage, forcing unstable alliances and betrayals to avoid expulsion.