JSon not exactly working? More clarification? maybe?

Hey guys, I just wanted to test this JSonEncode / Decode thing and apparently I am really confused

local HttpService = game:GetService("HttpService")
 local numb = 1
local characterStats = {}
local json = HttpService:JSONDecode(characterStats)
print(json)
print("Works")
table.insert(characterStats, "hello"..numb)
numb = numb + 1
json = HttpService:JSONEncode(characterStats)
print(json)
print("(2) works")

I did that ^ hoping that "numb" the variable would add + 1 and it would save but I am very confused with this and that is why I came here.. To get clarification on JSon, Can someone help me figure out how to use JSon?

You set the characterStats immediately before decoding it. You need to use the saved value or whatever you used, and it needs to be a string. Other than that, it should be fine.

Hope this helps!