"Pay to Ace" realistically depicts the middle school entrance exam process while highlighting modern-day family and educational problems that are rampant in society. Not your ordinary entrance exam story, "Pay to Ace" is a drama about winning in life that features kids fighting to get into their dream middle school. What do we need to teach our children today so they can sail through the future?

Keito is a reporter for a weekly magazine. The magazine covers everything from corruption by politicians to entertainers' scandals. She watches out for the next big scoop. Keito is also rich and enjoys her work, as well as her love life. One day, Keito's mother suddenly dies. Anna was a single mother who raised Keito alone. She worked as a movie critic. Right before her death, Anna mentioned something about Keito's father. The name she mentioned is that of a Hollywood star.

Juzo Kimura is a wandering Ronin with a past. 15 years later, after winding up in Edo, he becomes a sword teacher to support his wife and daughter. But he has a dark side to him; at night, he becomes an assassin for hire. The fates of men living double lives cross in the shadows of Edo.